Extra Tracks at North Station?

MBTAVideoClips wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 11:14 am How often do they even raise the bridge? I've seen what looks like preparation to do so, but never actually saw it raise.

Oh yeah those bridges go up and down constantly. Only the smallest of boats (like mine) can fit under the lowered bridge. They probably go up and down 20 times a day in the summer.

They go up and down all the time during the boating season. If you hang out at Paul Revere Park you will hear the bridge sirens constantly

I can confirm. I've lived within earshot of the horns and they go up & down very frequently, though my brain got pretty good at filtering out the sound. IIRC, it's less frequent on weekends (maybe just Sunday), when the bridges default to the "up" position and are only lowered for inbound trains. That could also totally be a false memory.

The bridges default to up in the summer, and only come down for train crossings.

The layout of slip switches and crossovers at Tower A is essentially unchanged from the original construction of the new North Station before 1930. The sharp switch angle was necessary then to get maximum track length on the commuter coach yards on either side of the main tracks. Also, the original 23 track layout had baggage & mail on the east side, plus freight access to industries along Causeway St. and interchange with the Union Freight. The design depended on segregating most arrivals and departures east to west (Eastern, Western, NH Division, Fitchburg). Hoosac Tunnel Diamond beyond the Prison Point Bridge survived till the end of loco-hauled commuter trains because it avoided sawing back & forth to move between BET/freight yards and the Charlestown side. Likewise the diamonds for the Mystic Wharf track.

In the space between the drawbridges and the Prison Point bridge (not gonna look up the current name) there's room for a much more efficient layout designed for the present number of platforms and the current operating environment (three double main lines plus NET moves). Longer turnouts would require less maintenance and allow a wider range of equipment (remember the Rotem teething troubles?). But it would cost $$$ and disrupt service. And the T doesn't have the internal resources to do it incrementally - design and build would have to be contracted out. AFAIK the T has never publicly mentioned this, but I'm sure there have been a lot of sketches on napkins...

You're referring to Tower A interlocking, specifically the "front ladder" south of the Prison Point* (the bridge pretty much spans the "back ladder."). A new track layout, including revival of the "fast track" to FX avoiding the ladders and much the FX crossovers is anticipated to come with the new bridges. As mentioned, this would also tie in tracks 11 and 12 at North Station.

*It is currently the Gilmore Bridge, but I suspect more folks will know what you're talking about by referring to it as you did.

Yes, I mean the "front ladder", though that's the first time I've heard that name. I saw a story about the rebuilding only a few days after I posted. I sincerely hope the work comes out better than the average MBTA project...