Grafton & Upton Railroad (G&U) Discussion

Well, that's generally good; the win in the first decision is excellent, because the LPG facility was probably the biggest stake. It's damn near a decisive victory for the G&U. And on topic of the remand decision for the Wood Pellet issue, it still seems fairly good for the G&U. Some of the activities they're carrying out with the pellets might end up not being pre-empted, but I believe the very core of it will. In other words, they're still going to be able to offload and wrap pellets at the very least.

Can we have some simultaneous translation from legalese to common American English?

CannaScrews wrote:Can we have some simultaneous translation from legalese to common American English?

How's this?. . .

Town of Grafton wrote:NO FAIR! UR A POOPYHEAD, JUDGE! GIVE US A DO-OVER OF THE DO-OVER!

CannaScrews wrote:Can we have some simultaneous translation from legalese to common American English?

United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit wrote: Here, the proper focus of the Board should have been on
the question of whether the activities — vacuuming, screening,
bagging, and palletizing — facilitated the physical movement of
"passengers or property" (here the transfer of the pellets from
rail to truck), rather than cost efficiency. The questionable
nature of the Board’s rationale is revealed by a simple example.
Under the Board’s rationale, the transloading facility would be
exempt from regulation if it had been constructed and operated by
the rail carrier at the ultimate destination at a retail store.
Under the Board’s reasoning, the retail facility would be exempt
because postponing the bagging and other operations would have made
it feasible to transport the pellets more efficiently in hopper
cars. We think that sweeps too far. The Board’s efficiency
rationale would result in a vast regulatory gap in which state and
local regulation would be eliminated simply because the facilities
were economically connected to rail transportation.4

The way I read this is: "Hey STB, can ya' come up with a better reason than "efficiency" as to why the bagging is a necessary part of rail transportation".. Other'n that everything looks kopasetic. If the "Gang of Seven" want's to pursue it even further, it's on their dime.

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G&U Press Release via the Friends of The Grafton and Upton Railroad's facebook page

An extra out of Middleboro tonight for the Grafton & Upton. One set plus
F40 1013 and 5 MBB Coaches (507, 518,524,530,1518). Guess the 1013 was
repaired enough to provide HEP for Polar Express duty.

D

GP40MC1118 wrote:An extra out of Middleboro tonight for the Grafton & Upton. One set plus
F40 1013 and 5 MBB Coaches (507, 518,524,530,1518). Guess the 1013 was
repaired enough to provide HEP for Polar Express duty.

D

So no flatcar mounted generator this year?

Apparently not...

D

What a nice photo/video opportunity this will be. A T screamer pulling a MBB consist. You might never get to see that again after this holiday season. Do they operate the train in reverse by cab car or do they put another loco at the back? I'd love to see the G&Us F unit coupled to the back.

Hopefully this sets a precedent that shows the T's old screamers are still viable for tourist operations, I'd love to see them stay around for a while longer.

The biggest downside of using a screamer in typical tourist train settings is how fuel-hungry they are. Maine Eastern used a pair of screamers for the first couple of years, but the fuel consumption was unsustainable and they switched to a pair of FL9s which use significantly less fuel.

Is it possible that they plan to use the 1013 just for HEP?
Would it have to be run at extra high idle to just provide that? Thanks..

Any news as to what is going on at the G&U.

st687 wrote:Any news as to what is going on at the G&U.

Well...the Polar Express trainset got returned to the T. There's not been any recent flare-ups with Grafton lighting money on-fire making nuisance legal claims. And it's damn cold out so fewer people are out and about spotting the line.


Business as usual I would assume until ground thaw starts more yard improvements construction and maybe sees some progress with that Hopedale bridge raising that's holding up Milford-end reactivation. Friends o' G&U Facebook group has a couple new pics of yard activity taken within the last 2 weeks.

BTW for those who didn't see it in the Conway Scenic discussion, the purchase by Jon Delli Priscoli fell through.

viewtopic.php?f=126&t=90306&start=1035#p1365662

A 1345/01-24-2016 North Grafton drive-by showed railcars on one of the LPG stubs -- covered hoppers and not tanks, but still railcars.