Grafton & Upton Railroad (G&U) Discussion

I noticed on 12/27/18 that the long disconnected G&U connection turnout from the MBTA track at Cedar St Milford has been removed and the track has been straight-railed and reballasted there. Guess G&U might install a new switch on this track to facilitate a direct move toward Forge Park/Franklin?

It would certainly make sense rather than have a switch back. I've never seen that area in person but it certainly seem plausible to construct a curve (albeit a sharp curve) with a switch located just north of the bridge and have it tie into the G&U somewhere behind the Pheasant Run Apartments. see map

Some additional power on the way:

http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo ... otoindex=1

What type of engine is that? Anyone know if the G&U will be scrapping some of their older engines with all this new motive power? What's the condition of the roster?

It's a SW9 and is headed to the Seaview Railroad in Davisville, R.I. Seaview no longer
has its own reporting marks and is using the G&U's to facilitate movement to R.I.

It started life on P&LE, then sold to the Bangor & Aroostook. The BAR sold it to a
locomotive dealer out in Nebraska. They eventually sold to to a Pennsylvania Power &
Light.

D

johnpbarlow wrote:I noticed on 12/27/18 that the long disconnected G&U connection turnout from the MBTA track at Cedar St Milford has been removed and the track has been straight-railed and reballasted there. Guess G&U might install a new switch on this track to facilitate a direct move toward Forge Park/Franklin?

b&m 1566 wrote:It would certainly make sense rather than have a switch back. I've never seen that area in person but it certainly seem plausible to construct a curve (albeit a sharp curve) with a switch located just north of the bridge and have it tie into the G&U somewhere behind the Pheasant Run Apartments. see map

Wow, yes, tight. There are three parcels of land there, owned by New England Power, Mass Electric, and the third (highlighted) by an individual named Alfred Boone. A lot of it is wetland, which though the railroad may be exempt, isn't going to sit well with environmentalists.

-Click images to enlarge-
In this map below I took a measurement (blue line).. 202.86 meters (665.55 feet). Tight!

I think the only units the G&U has scrapped is the slug set, and if I recall the parts are going to be used to get the 1750,1751, and 1500 running.

Possible turbulence ahead for G&U's fly ash transload at Hopedale:

https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/2 ... n-hopedale

Excerpts:

Law firm Lurie Friedman, LLP, filed a letter Friday with Building Commissioner Robert Speroni on behalf of Philip Shwachman, who is the principal of the companies that own acres of vacant buildings downtown, requesting an inspection of the new structures.

The letter suggests they pose a health risk and are in violation of the town’s bylaws.

“We respectfully request that the Board of Selectmen, through you as Building Commissioner, inspect the (property) and enforce the apparent zoning bylaw violations,” attorney Harley Racer wrote.

...The structures in question - relatively slim, metal silos - appeared last month in a lot off Rte. 16 and Fitzgerald Drive used by the Grafton & Upton Railroad.

and

Shwachman is in the middle of a lawsuit with the railroad and the town that names 18 defendants, and accuses them of trying to take his property for Hopedale’s proposed Urban Renewal Plan. That plan would turn the vacant Draper factory buildings into recreational, commercial, industrial and residential space, and suggests taking Shwachman’s property by eminent domain if he doesn’t cooperate.

Schwachman is going to get nothing. This is a frivolous lawsuit. Haven't we learned anything over the past 10 years with trying to get a railroad to "conform to town bylaws"?
Never gonna happen. The guy's just angry about the Draper complex plans (which, btw, the guy has done NOTHING about over the last 10 years other than let it sit and rot and ask for too much $$) so he's trying to stir trouble with the RR where he can.

I would imagine the problems would be dust, spillage, and eventual contamination of the ground/water? Probably STB federal preemption!!

This whole thing is ridiculous and should have never made it to the papers. Flyash is a non-hazardous material and similar transload operations have already been in use at other railyards in Mass.

Jedijk88 wrote:This whole thing is ridiculous and should have never made it to the papers. Flyash is a non-hazardous material and similar transload operations have already been in use at other railyards in Mass.

According to Physicians for Social Responsibility, https://www.psr.org/wp-content/uploads/ ... health.pdf

Why is it dangerous?
Depending on where the coal was mined, coal ash typically contains heavy metals including arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium and selenium, as well as aluminum, antimony, barium, beryllium, boron, chlorine, cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, thallium, vanadium, and zinc.

How dangerous is coal ash to humans?
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that living next to a coal ash disposal site can increase your risk of cancer or other diseases. If you live near an unlined wet ash pond (surface impoundment) and you get your drinking water from a well, you may have as much as a 1 in 50 chance of getting cancer from drinking arsenic-contaminated water. If eaten, drunk or inhaled, these toxicants can cause cancer and nervous system impacts such as cognitive deficits, developmental delays and behavioral problems.
They can also cause heart damage, lung disease, respiratory distress, kidney disease, reproductive problems, gastrointestinal illness, birth defects, and impaired bone growth in children.

Seems likes a good topic for a news report. Hope the G&U has a plan to control the dust.

And on the flip side...

Currently, more than 50 percent of the concrete placed in the U.S. contains fly ash. Fly ash is also recognized as an environmentally friendly material because it is a byproduct and has low embodied energy.

https://www.thebalancesmb.com/fly-ash-a ... ons-844761" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The transportation and storage of flyash is not a hazmat material. Any dust that could be created through offloading of a truck or railcar would be contained through use of a baghouse.

Visited the north end of the MBTA-owned line at Milford, MA on Thursday 1/17/19 and saw that the MBTA has installed a new turnout about halfway between Depot St and S Cedar St (the crossing in the distance. Formerly the old turnout stub that used to connect to G&U was 50-100 yards south of S Cedar St where the red "oval" is. Switch stand has yet to be installed for the new switch and the narrowness of the RoW here suggests a track coming off the turnout will parallel the existing track for maybe a 100 yards. The question is what is going on here - is this the new connection for a G&U build-out from Hopedale to Milford to service Garelick Farms and BlueLinx Building Supplies? We'll have to wait and see.

Also newsworthy is construction of G&U 2 track engine house (I think) at N Grafton continues apace. And sb freight was making a leisurely trek south at Old Upton Rd Grafton on Thursday 1/17/19.