Haverhill Line Upgrades (Western Route)

Lower cost to operate? ... ?

MBTA has been installing gas blower heaters in addition to electric heaters. The first started popping up at some key points - places where single track becomes double track or oft-used crossovers. So in addition to the baseline electric heaters, the gas blower heaters can handle a large amount of snow in short order, and also clear the track for a much bigger area, allowing a train that is pushing snow a place to drop that snow prior to dumping it on the switch points which can prevent them from throwing.

This is all stuff out of the lessons learned from 2015.

Is it propane or natural gas?

Propane. It's cheap, and can be done anywhere from a tank hookup in the signal bungalow. Switch heaters don't exactly use a lot of fuel, so the tanks can be small/safe and don't need to be refilled often. To do natural gas you need a pre-existing existing local utility gas line that happens by pure chance to be adjacent to the tracks right next to the interlocking. Proximity to a gas line just doesn't match up well with enough interlocking locations across the system, so only a handful of switches would ever plausibly have a gas source close enough to be able to be done up that way. Ends up better economy-of-scale to just pick one fuel type and use propane systemwide for any such winter-resiliency installations.

CPW WJ is being removed from service as an interlocking this weekend. The Wildcat Branch is being extended to CPF LJ on the Former Western Route Single Track/Future No. 2 Track. The Western Route is being swung over and extended to CPF LJ on the Future No. 1 Track.

Not sure when CPW WJ will be "back." Ash St should hopefully be reincarnated from a Control Point to an Interlocking some time in November.

Going inbound Thursday 11/2, the 0905 inbound crossed over to the easterly main track at the west end of LJ and proceeded to North Wilmington. The pair of crossovers at WJ appeared serviceable. The RR east end of the double-ended siding created from the former Wildcat appears to have a power switch, the westerly a hand throw. The 1630 outbound waited at the west end of LJ for the late Downeaster. And I got to again experience the T's stellar stop-at-every-signal handling of trains terminating at Bradford.

For those wondering, CPW WJ was successfully cut over this past weekend and is back in service in its final form. The Keolis Valley dispatcher still has control up to (but not including) CPF LJ, but now of both tracks and of CPW WJ. The Keolis Boston West dispatcher's territory is now reverted back to the same limits as before the cut over started. The new signal system no longer requires the Keolis Valley and ST District 2 dispatchers to apply/remove blocking devices with each other, as the Valley dispatcher can now apply blocks on traffic coming down from CPF LJ.

Yup nice job by all!! Nice to see 2 rails again.
Now if they ever get their act together (Andover/MBTA/Keolis and finish Ballardville and Andover stations, track 1 side it will be like old times, sort of!!

After that, finish double tracking to Reading!! The new signal bridge is set up for it.

Train 208 derailed this morning, apparently in the new interlocking at Wilmington Junction (? -- MBTA tweet describes location as "near Ballardvale" but the only overpass between Ballardvale and another station is I-93) --
see tweet for more images https://twitter.com/MBTA/status/932616293701881861

I came into Boston this morning on 680. We stopped just north of the site of the derailment to hand-throw a turnout and then crept through the interlocking, so there may have been something up with the turnout prior to the derailment.

I saw a train stopped in the construction area visible from I-93 southbound this morning. I wondered why there was a train stopped there since I think it's the first time I've seen a train while going by on the highway.

The fallout from this induced a very rare-mileage deadhead this afternoon: http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo ... otoindex=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

NNEPRA's website says that the MBTA/Downeaster improvement project is essentially complete.
What is the name of the new interlocking at Tewksbury St.?
Which side of the Wildcat Branch main track is the siding on, what are the names of the new interlockings and how long is the siding?
Have any speeds on the Branch changed as a result of the upgrade?
Is the Merrimack River bridge still 10 MPH and one train at a time?
Thanks!
Andy

twropr wrote:What is the name of the new interlocking at Tewksbury St.?

I've heard of a Tewksbury St interlocking referred to before, and I don't know if it is referencing the replacement of CPF LJ (Lowell Jct) or the entirely new CPF Vale. Either one could be referenced with something better than "Tewksbury St," which isn't immediately adjacent by any means. CPF Vale was a part of an MBTA project, so if NNEPRA is referencing their own brainchild, it must be CPF LJ.

twropr wrote:Which side of the Wildcat Branch main track is the siding on, what are the names of the new interlockings and how long is the siding?

The MOW siding is west of the Wildcat Branch single track, from CPW WJ south to an electric lock. The entire siding is composed of track which formerly made up the Wildcat Branch, and on its previous alignment, too. CPW WJ and CPF LJ were replaced and upgraded. The MOW siding must be about 1,500-2,000ft long.

twropr wrote:Have any speeds on the Branch changed as a result of the upgrade?

I don't believe so, no.

twropr wrote:Is the Merrimack River bridge still 10 MPH and one train at a time?

It is still single tracked and under construction. The No. 1 track side should hopefully be cleared up in the spring! Although, I'm hearing they may have to go back over to the No. 2 side... again...

twropr wrote:
Have any speeds on the Branch changed as a result of the upgrade?

Not on the Wildcat Branch itself, which is 45 I believe. But reconstructing that area has eliminated the slowdown in the former merge area. I was SB a couple days ago and they maintained speed around 55 until well past the I-93 overpasses and then reduced to the 45 for the WIldcat. This is a big improvement - on the old trackage the speed along the long section where the Wildcat paralleled the line from Reading (and then through the switch) was much slower 30-35 at most.