Guilfords South Reading Branch

Glad to see two of my photos made it to the post. All the others are at Walker Transportation in Beverly. The South Reading branch did indeed go east just at the Wakefield Concrete Co and pass where the old town dump all the way to Montrose Ave just about where the new gas station was built. The Montrose Station was located very close to this spot. If you look close enough on the west side of Montrose Ave you may see ties and where the line came through. We used to walk it back in the early 1940's to Colonial to hunt for golf balls.

musehobo wrote:Glad to see two of my photos made it to the post. All the others are at Walker Transportation in Beverly. The South Reading branch did indeed go east just at the Wakefield Concrete Co and pass where the old town dump all the way to Montrose Ave just about where the new gas station was built. The Montrose Station was located very close to this spot. If you look close enough on the west side of Montrose Ave you may see ties and where the line came through. We used to walk it back in the early 1940's to Colonial to hunt for golf balls.

Only two? You scanned those three for me.

That last picture looked just like the Watertown Branch!

Sorry about that. It was the three photos. Old age catching up. I remember sending them to you.

musehobo wrote:Sorry about that. It was the three photos. Old age catching up. I remember sending them to you.

Dont worry about it! They are great pictures!

Some pics from last week of LA-2 in Peabody (BO-1 has been "abolished" for now). The crew runs out of hours by the time they make it from Lawrence to Peabody so the train usually gets canned and returns the following day. Makes no sense to me because the crew spends the following day getting back to Lawrence.

Canned at Allens Lane:
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo ... 592300.jpg

Peabody Square:
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo ... 192393.jpg

Flint St. in Salem
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo ... 032363.jpg

Bridge St. Yard in Salem
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo ... 412336.jpg

Hope to get more pics soon!

Great pics! You're very lucky that you get to see these trains. How often does this line see service? I haven't seen a Guilford freight train in Wakefield since 2001 and will never again see a Guilford freighter in Wakefield. It stinks becuase I was only 9 or 10 when the last train came down the rails. However, I have a great memory of all the times I did see those trains in Wakefield. It was such a big event for me. Whenever I saw them it was always a last minute type of thing where I just caught the crossing gates stop flashing and the nose of the locomotive vanish. I was never old enough to truly appreciate it, and now I will never get that chance again. CSRRfan, keep taking those photos and take in all that you can of every train you see on that line for it may be the last one you see.

-Matt

Wow, that pic of the NBPT north of 128 is a total flashback for me and it wasn't even that long ago, haha. One of the last memories I have riding in my dad's Bronco was going on 128 south and seeing one of the last trains mudbogging it in the swamp under the bridge there, amazing how much worse it's gotten there since the last time the line was used too, you can barely see anything at all now.

There are, well, were, a few ties left over from the SR branch on Montrose Ave, underneath the power lines, probably dug up from some excavation or something. I don't drive through there anymore, too many redundant revenue generating stoplights (with no turn on red signs) there now.

As far as the section in Peabody, whats the deal with the embankment on the west side of Summit St? There is still a big section missing there(not just rail, the whole thing, about 4 feet down).

When 128 was built on the ROW it actually stopped for a while right on Salem St, up until around 1950 I think. There is still a stone retaining wall with a guard railing behind a company there marking the old highway embankment where it went from six lanes back to the old Salem St. It went right through that building that says "KENDA" on the side facing 128.


I'm a "special guest" on a few of the updates for Scott's site from a few years back...haha

ya whats the deal with that site? no more updates?

Pan Am goes to Eastman about 2 times a week. Have been seeing usually Tuesdays and Thursdays or Fridays. They usually outlaw and return the next day. Crew goes on duty at noon so its a good chance to get some pics! Hopefully they are running today. I have many other non digital pics of BO-1 somewhere around here.

The track sections missing near Summit St. were some washouts from years back. Of course with Liberty Carton company gone, you'll never see a train past Eastman.

When is the last time a train went up the line?

Thursday I believe.

While waiting for the Orange Line at Sullivan Station yesterday, I saw GRS #516 sitting on the overgrown tracks on the inbound side of the station with decent load of cars: 3 gondolas, 3 tankers, 1 covered hopper, plus a few more. I was only at the station for a few minutes, so I didn't see the train go anywhere, but I did wave at the engineer who didn't see me.

Another question for ya Highrail,

What did JJ Newbury ship and or receive? Thanks!

JJ Newbury was/is(?) a fairly large Dept. Sore chain, in the mold of Woolworth, W.T. Grant, and the original Kresge's(before K-Mart). Sounds like it was a regional distribution warehouse?

P.S. You best be 55 or older to recall the above names!!!

Bud