LOSA Goes To Salem

In a rare once or twice a year event, LOSA actually went to
Salem/Peabody tonight. Left Somerville with 3 cars around
945PM and got to Salem around 1030PM...

The ghost of EDSA/SAED lives

Dave

Dave - who is the nearly extinct customer out there??

Eastman Gelitan in Peabody and a company in the
old freight yard at Castle Hill (west of the tunnel).

Everything else is gone.

Dave

i thought eastman got shipments all the time?

Once upon a time(even in the early Guilford years) the EDSA/SAED were the big time manifest trains from Boston to East Deerfield. What a sad commentary on the current state of bussiness in the Boston area that its' a big deal a lite engine other than BO-1 took less than half a dozen cars to Salem and back, for the first time in who knows when.

At this point, BO-1 only goes to Salem/Peabody once or twice a week.
Lately, its been once a week. Eastman Gelitan has experienced a
downturn, plus the tank car traffic never returned since the
incident in Somerville almost two years ago.

Dave

what route do they take to salem?

BO-1 runs from Somerville to Salem via the MBTA Eastern Route mainline.

LOSA runs from Lowell to Lawrence, then Lawrence to Somerville via
the Wildcat Branch. However, on this particular night LOSA ran lite
engine to Somerville out of Lowell down the MBTA mainline.

Dave

Is Eastmen just slow because of winter? I would hate to see the traffic dwindle even more on that branch.

i think eastman gelatine is slow because most cameras are digital now, and film is processed less. I could be wrong. Univar is the Co. in Salem that gets tankers. What does LOSA stand for, and why was this run made in the evening? Any particular reason?

LOSA is LOwell to SAlem

Dick

cabooser wrote:i think eastman gelatine is slow because most cameras are digital now, and film is processed less. I could be wrong. Univar is the Co. in Salem that gets tankers. What does LOSA stand for, and why was this run made in the evening? Any particular reason?

A post on a mailing list I belong to mentioned that BO-1 didn't run during the day, so LOSA worked the Eastern Route and the South Reading that evening instead.
I've read reports as well that LOSA can go to Lawrence, but not always. Sometimes they go directly down the NH Route from Lowell, work customers in the Wilmington and Woburn area, go to Boston, then head back to Lowell, or Lawrence, if needed. They don't normally work North Billerica though, LO-1 does that during the day.

did BO-1 used to go up through the newburyport branch? (the wakefield junction one)

tom18287 wrote:did BO-1 used to go up through the newburyport branch? (the wakefield junction one)

I think way back then they had a SA-1 and possibly an SA-2. Then eventually BO-1 and BO-2, and finally BO-1.

wow. do any trains still go on that track that goes in between the eastern route and south reading branch?