Fitchburg Line Upgrade Discussion

I'll have to ask today, but I think there is a new interlocking eventually going in
between Brandies/Roberts and Kendal Green.

D

I took a closer look today and the second head is not staggered. It is not a distant signal. An additional interlocking between Waltham and Lincoln seems a little much.

0525/08-29-2014 showed 1 paver and 2 rollers in the CPF-335 lot, so asphalting the road to the Extension layover may be getting close. A 0635 drive-by showed structural steel verticals northeast of the new signal cabin at the Bemis Road, Fitchburg, OHB. Mebbe to create a ROW-level signal truck parking area?

8-29-2014 Saw this J.F White convoy going down Main Street in Waltham today

https://www.flickr.com/photos/25664139@ ... otostream/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The flatbed was full of new rails https://www.flickr.com/photos/25664139@ ... otostream/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It then turned down Linden Street probably to drop off at Beaver Street Rail crossing.

Crews were spotted working across Moody Street crossing in Waltham yesterday and are working at the Beaver Street crossing today. Also new conduit has been installed across South Street.

9-6-2014 Crews laying a section of track on the outbound side just West of Beaver Street crossing in Waltham.

The switch to the Central Mass branch was removed over the weekend.

sery2831 wrote:The switch to the Central Mass branch was removed over the weekend.

I crossed Beaver St. twice today at a very slow crawl. There was a crew working on the crossing with jackhammers. The east side lane (into Waltham) was closed so they were squeezing two lanes of traffic on one lane and the entry road to the office building right there. I saw two track panels that must be for the crossing. The CM switch was in place and there were several pieces of MOW equipment on it. It almost looked liked they cleared some brush further up the CM. I didn't have time to stop for a closer look.

You are right, my mistake. The branch remains connected. They removed the power switch and replaced the switch with a hand throw.

GP40MC1118 wrote:I'll have to ask today, but I think there is a new interlocking eventually going in
between Brandies/Roberts and Kendal Green.

D

The plans I have seen refer to this interlocking as "Future Work" with no other date shown. It will go in the area of the old Mass Broken Stone switch (just west of Rt. 20 OH bridge). There are even allowances for a connection to the Central Mass.

DAW

Busy last week on the Waltham stretch. New conduit has been installed for signals across Moody Street and a excavator was spotted along the row near the outbound Waltham station platform, also row machines were spotted near South Street.

From my vantage point on the Ayer T platform I couldn't determine exactly what track work was going on Sunday but it looked like the crossover from main track 2 to the siding at west wye near Moore's was being removed. If so, will 23K depart by backing out the east wye or will cars no longer be parked on the siding south of main track 2?

Dunno when it actually happened, but the new CPF-FG WLs just east of the Bemis Street UGB were active on 09-29-2014 during a ~0700 drive-by.

This weekend...

The power switch to the Watertown Branch at West Cambridge was retired this weekend
too and converted to a handthrow. Line is out of service, as is the lead to the old East
Yard.

D

GP40MC1118 wrote:This weekend...

The power switch to the Watertown Branch at West Cambridge was retired this weekend
too and converted to a handthrow. Line is out of service, as is the lead to the old East
Yard.

D

Why did they retain the switch at all? They'll never need to shove something down there or on the yard lead with no freight left and Alewife MOW on the other side of the tracks. The last time I ever saw anything occupying the leads was almost 8 years ago when a string of empty (PAR?) hoppers sat there for weeks on end.