Is Guilford still serving West Cambridge?

Does anyone know if Guilford is still serving West Cambridge? Untill last week, there was boxcar activity by the W Cambridge yards by the lumber companies. Now I see a sign stating one lumber co-op has relocated to Iron Horse Park!! Does this mean I lost my chance to see Guilford working so close to home?? Does this mean they are now bringing lumber to Billerica?? WHAT'S UP??

Oh, and what is the status of Newly Weds? Have I lost my chance to witness that action as well?

Jonelle

The Lumber COOP

Oh RATS!! So I did indeed loose my one chance to spot Guilford on the Fitchburg!! NOT FAIR!

What is the setup in Billerica? I didn't think those tracks were used. I have only been in the area twice, and the last time a Guilford cop was following us in his car. The whole place looked deserted. Is it worth driving there some weekend to see what the co-op has for sidings and stuff? Wouldn't Guilford have to go over the T trackage still?

INFO INFO!! I CRAVE INFO!!

Jonelle

I would guess Billerica is served at Iron Horse Park on the track that comes off the NH Route at Shop interlocking? That's south of the N. Billerica commuter rail station.
There still is one active cunstomer on the Fitchburg, Veryfine, in Littleton, that takes loaded tank cars of corn sweetener. That would be around MP 31, 3 miles east of the Willows.

Ah yes, Veryfine. I forgot about them. But as of Tuesday there were still a few covered hoppers parked on a siding at West Cambridge. I am sure I'll miss if/when Guilford comes to take them away...

There is more

I heard BO-1 made a trip to Ayer with East Deerfields on June 26th, so I wonder if there's a slight chance that whatever empties get pulled out of Newlyweds or West Cambridge will get hauled west rather than back to Boston. Does require the BO-1 power to return light for 36 miles, which is a very un-Guilford way of doing things

BO-1 took those empties to Ayer because some of the COOP Lumber cars have Plate F height restrictions between W.Cambridge to Somerville. In other words, they had to go to Ayer.

BO-1 will service Newlywed from Somerville as needed - probably once a week. There are currently no loads for them here in Somerville that I can see.

D

Well that Plate F restriction must be one reason Guilford would probably dearly love for Newlyweds to get off the Watertown I.T. or just get out from requiring service Any Plate F's are going to require probably a full day round trip from Ayer for the local. I would think Guilford would prefer their customers, especially in the Boston area, locate or be as close to the Freight Main Line as possible. One example is Catina-Spagna, a longtime customer in Somerville, that relocated to the New England Industrial Park in Ayer.
So I guess there still is hope that some cars will find their way through Belmont, Concord, and South Acton. :D

OK kids, I am confused. What little I have heard about Somerville is that the whole setup was abandoned. Lately, though, I keep hearing otherwise. What goes on at Somerville, and is this where BO-1 works out of? I didn't think Guilford went into Boston. How else could they get from Watertown to Ayer? Etc etc...

I'm confused.... help?

Jonelle



West Cambridge - end of an era or not?

Guilford did not pull out of Boston

Sometimes I take a ride down to Inner Belt road and close my eyes, imagining what it must have been like at the turn of the last century. I get the same feeling when I look at the crumbling mills in Lowell, sensing with awe the magnificence of what once was. But alas, time flows onward.....

Did you know that McLean Hospital (then called McLean Asylum) started in what is now the Inner Belt Road area? It used to be a bucolic hill, but eventually it got surrounded by railroads, which ended the hospital's peace and quiet. They moved to Belmont and the hill was levelled.

When the Freight Cutoff was sacrificed for the Red Line Extension to Alewife in the 70's that seemed to coincide with the demise of Mystic, even though the New Hampshire Route was re-habbed to be the freight route in and out of Boston, via Lowell and the Stony Brook to Ayer. It was only an extra 6 miles I think, but somehow things were never the same.
I remember the freights from East Deerfield and Mechanicville working the West Cambridge yard when it was where the engine facility is now, off the the Freight Cutoff.

Hi, folks.

I'll be moving to Somerville Sunday. If anyone has news of movement on the Watertown, let me know! I biked over there as often as I could when I was going to Tufts and never caught one movement on film. Now that the branch is more in danger of abandonment than ever before, I'd love to get some shots.

Rob