Framingham questions

At one time there were 2 yards in Framingham - Nevins which was the old B&A yard and the former New Haven Yard north of the B&A. Are both yards still in use by CSX and how are they used?

Do any MBTA trains lay over in Framingham and if so do they use one of these yards?

Are there good locations for photos / train watching esp. any switching in the yards?

Thanks in advance,

Jon

MBTA trains layover in Worcester,

CSX still uses both of these yards, Nevins Yard (on the B&A , west of Framigham station) and North Yard (directly north of the framingham station)

There is good spot to watch CSX in the North Yard is at the DMV parking lot in Framingham

others can fill in more info....as i have only been there once

There's a 3rd yard in Framingham, the CP yard (named for GM's former Canada Products assembly facility, I think), where, until the E Brookfield auto unloading facility opened, GM unloaded mulitlevels. Toyota apparently still unloads autos there but now it's often used to stage wb train Q437. The CP yard is fenced off and is not accessible for photos. However, exiting trains are easy to photograph as they enter the main at CP-22 just west of the T station.

MBTA trains never layed over at Framingham in any yard such as is used at Worcester or Franklin. At rush hour, Boston-Framingham-Boston turns will use the 4th iron to clear the main between runs to ease congestion.

Another place you can watch the trains from is the roof of the municipal garage across the street from the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

I was told at one time by someone the the CP yards are actually in Hollston. Is this true?.....does anyone know?

Paul

The CP yard straddles the Framingham/Sherborn town border on what Conrail called the "Holliston Industrial" track. In the Conrail era, the line, formerly the B&A Milford branch, ran to the Axton Cross chemical plant in Holliston until the early '90s when Axton Cross plant was shuttered. One of the last CR trains to Axton Cross consisted of a single tank car of either hydrochloric or sulfuric acid bracketed by idler box cars and U23Bs.

On a map I have, the CP yard straddles the intersection of three towns: Framingham, Ashland, and Sherborn.

I've heard that there may be some auto business coming back to Framingham, in addition to the Honda traffic still there.

Why would they do that if the whole point was to get out of Framingham in the first place? Are they having that much trouble in East Brookfield?

ProRail wrote:I've heard that there may be some auto business coming back to Framingham, in addition to the Honda traffic still there.

For some reason many Hondas were being re-routed to Framingham to ease congestion in Jersey, not sure if this is still happening.

ProRail wrote:Why would they do that if the whole point was to get out of Framingham in the first place? Are they having that much trouble in East Brookfield?

The main reason was money. The East Brookfield operation is an attempt to cut labor costs. The "East Brookfield Spencer Railroad" is a non-union out-fit which took jobs from us in Westboro & the CP Yard. Most of us on the B&A feel that they are an accident waiting to happening. In fact, they have already opened up at their switch and occupied the main-line without authority on a couple of occasions.

The plan was to expand East Brookfield but the town is very upset with the current operations. (Many articales about thi have been in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette).

I heard Toyota was grandfathered into Framingham and is not obligated to move, so they must continue to be served there. That ruins the CSX plan to get out of Framingham. So if they can't close down in Framingham, they might as well use the facility for whatever else is needed besides Toyota.

consist wrote:I heard Toyota was grandfathered into Framingham and is not obligated to move, so they must continue to be served there.

Yes, that's the popular word around the railroad is that they are grandfathered-in, but unfortunately sometimes this company doesn't put the customer first.

yes, you are correct in that they probly did that to save money....because i currently work there.but do not blame the employees,as we are mostly new to railroading and at the time of hiring at least i was not aware that there was a "union". but as time went on i heard rumors that CSX and others were upset about non-union work and let me just say that i wish the union would come in and help us get in the union.i now see what most railworkers get for pay and benifets and i can say that i do not make nowhere near that much! and yes there have been a few instances with problems in our yard but agian this comes from inexspereance and also the good old saying that "you get what you pay for". plus you need to remember that this yard is just 1 yr. old. problems will get hemmed out intill a good working model is esstablished. please do not get mad at the employees from EBSR, get mad at the owners and management of this railroad.

yesterday in Framingham, i caught two engines in Nevins yard, putting a train together and they then left the yard w/ 19 cars heading west towards Ashland, what local was this?

MBTA F40PH-2C 1050 wrote:yesterday in Framingham, i caught two engines in Nevins yard, putting a train together and they then left the yard w/ 19 cars heading west towards Ashland, what local was this?

Could have been either B722 or B723.

i thought there were no local jobs during the days on the weekend