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  • Iron Horse Park (North Billerica)

  • Guilford Rail System changed its name to Pan Am Railways in 2006. Discussion relating to the current operations of the Boston & Maine, the Maine Central, and the Springfield Terminal railroads (as well as the Delaware & Hudson while it was under Guilford control until 1988). Official site can be found here: PANAMRAILWAYS.COM.
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Iron Horse Park (North Billerica)

Guilford Rail System changed its name to Pan Am Railways in 2006. Discussion relating to the current operations of the Boston & Maine, the Maine Central, and the Springfield Terminal railroads (as well as the Delaware & Hudson while it was under Guilford control until 1988). Official site can be found here: PANAMRAILWAYS.COM.

Moderator: MEC407

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 #371872  by Tadman
 
Any photos of inside the shop? Having been in the heavy machine business before grad school, I always like to ask if anybody's seen the shop cranes, and if they have any pics. I've installed and un-installed my fair share of 'em.

 #371988  by wolfmom69
 
Peter Kingman just post some wonderful inside and outside photos on NERAIL of the old shops; great photos,but "kinda sad" to think what used to be. :(

Bud

 #372499  by outinindiana
 
Man, I never realized the property was in such bad shape -- I can't believe there is actually grass and trees growing inside the building.

I was at Iron Horse Park around 1982-1983 and it was a hub of activity -- shops were active, lots of offices, etc. I met the BM personnel manager at that time (I want to say his name was Newton Wesley -- I still have the souvenirs he gave me, a BM "Glossary of Railroad Terms" printed in May 1978, a blue BM pen, and some postcards -- I think I even have his business card somewhere) and he gave me a tour of the place. I also remember asking some of the workers if the Alco switchers were still around -- they weren't -- shipped off to the scrapper in NJ, I was told.

So all GRR/PAR shops are in Waterville now?

 #372745  by rr_explorer
 
It seems like it would make a nice industrial park instead of an industrial wasteland. The shelled out buildings could probably be saved. The soil must be saturated with every chemical known to man, as well as asbestos.

 #372766  by SLR 393
 
rr_explorer wrote:It seems like it would make a nice industrial park instead of an industrial wasteland. The shelled out buildings could probably be saved. The soil must be saturated with every chemical known to man, as well as asbestos.
It is. Iron Horse Park is a superfund site. With brownfields programs it can be redeveloped. I know a big part of the problem there is asbestos, not a big surprise.

 #372963  by Red Wing
 
ah reminds me of my youth when we used to take the ATV's through the asbestos pits, if I only knew.
Last edited by Red Wing on Mon Mar 12, 2007 9:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

 #373070  by bigbronco85
 
I'm pretty sure there was an actual asbestos factory on the property at one point. And the ground is saturated with all kinds of pollutants. I've got a ton of interior pictures from inside the shops I'll put up when I get a chance, there are actually some real interesting things inside. They recently removed a bunch of EMD engine blocks and some other train parts, but the cranes and big machine shop equipment are still present.

 #381883  by tom18287
 
did all that stuff get scrapped? what a shame.

 #410780  by outinindiana
 
Sitting on boxcar trucks too -- what # MEC GP-38 is that?

 #410806  by nhguy21
 
Its MEC GP-38 # 254

 #411446  by b&m 1566
 
Any idea as to why it ended up on box car trucks? I also noticed that the number boards (if that's the correct term) are some of the first things to go on a engine that is being scrapped; why is that?
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