Millers Falls interchange yard

The type of locomotive being used makes no difference in how "quiet" a coupling is made.

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The way I see it, there are several key points surrounding this interchange now:

The current location (where there had been an interchange in the past which has recently been re-activated) is the only spot where the two lines are roughly at the same elevation. Going east/north, the lines take opposite paths. Going south/west, the NECR climbs up and over PAS, with very little space in between to fit any sort of interchange. Additionally, since the traffic seems to be coming from eastbound PAS trains onto northbound NECR trains, the wye-like arrangement that is set up now is the most ideal for this move.

The "banging" is probably caused by NECR's prohibition of 6-axle power from the interchange, which requires the crew to switch with spacer cars (see this post). Thus, every time they make a move they would be running the slack in and out of a several car consist. I won't pretend to know much about train handling, but I would imagine that the roughness of couplings is a bit harder to control with 5 cars behind you than with just a light engine.

NECR's switching could block Route 63 if a long enough cut is pulled. However, if emergency vehicles need to get through, both Newton Street-Papermill Road and Pratt Street-River Road-Route 2 provide grade-separated bypasses.

Regarding doing this at East Deerfield, besides it being "someone else's backyard," it was my impression that PAS built this interchange with the intention of not having to run an EDWJ/WJED anymore and have the NECR handle the traffic that used to run on these trains. If this works out, they only have to run ED4 to Bernardston to service Agway and thus don't have to pay for crews and fuel to service customers on the NECR. It has already been mentioned that doing the interchange at East Northfield would be impractical due to space issues and it still being in someone's backyard. NECR is not going to send an extra crew out of Brattleboro to fetch cars from Deerfield for the same reason that PAS would rather interchange at Millers than send a crew to WRJ.

To boil it down, the railroads have an interchange where both of their mainlines cross; therefore they can pick-up and set-off cars with already-scheduled road freights rather than extra locals, which makes the most financial sense given current traffic levels. While I respect people's desire for peace and quiet, both the NECR and PAS mains have operated continuously for over 100 years and it wasn't that long ago that they interchanged as well. Until someone makes it worth their while to interchange elsewhere, I don't see anything changing.

KEN PATRICK wrote: I'M SURE THERE IS REAL ESTATE TO USE AS A NEW INTERCHANGE. KEN PATRICK

I'm still perplexed? who hell told these people to move in next to the railroad? The railroad has been here longer than any one alive today. Furthermore Millers is a town that was built around railroading? Why the hell should the railroads move? maybe you should shed some of your pure genius on that subject and get some patents there. Perhaps you could invent a "silent coupler"

NECR-Conductor wrote:

KEN PATRICK wrote: I'M SURE THERE IS REAL ESTATE TO USE AS A NEW INTERCHANGE. KEN PATRICK

I'm still perplexed? who hell told these people to move in next to the railroad? The railroad has been here longer than any one alive today. Furthermore Millers is a town that was built around railroading? Why the hell should the railroads move? maybe you should shed some of your pure genius on that subject and get some patents there. Perhaps you could invent a "silent coupler"

It should move because he said so DUH! I mean when did the Fitchburg main line go in ? 1860's? 1880's? clearly no precedent for railroading noise has been set, its a new issue. The line either needs to be re routed or just plain abandoned.

I think maybe some compromises, and a little tolerance could be made on both sides of this issue. If both parties really think about this, and use some creativity and think outside the box, this issue could probably be resolved to everyone's benefit. I'm sure the railroad and its employees can find a way to mitigate the noise and the blocked crossings; and the residents of Millers Falls (maybe with assistance from the railroad) can find a way to come to terms with a railroad running through their yards, literally. Soundproofing comes to mind. I'm sure there is enough engineering and railroad expertise amongst all of you to figure this one out.

Sound proofing would never happen.

From an operational perspective I have already mentioned 2 items that are technically feasible.

1 is move the interchange times to daylight hours so the noise does not disrupt people trying to sleep.
2 is to make the cuts in a location that does not block any crossings for any amount of time.

Again, you're at the whim of the railroad on both of these items.

csor -
necr/pas can't run 6 axle power onto the interchange track? last time i looked sd's only upped the tractive effort. so pas has cars in between their pick-ups & set-offs? how does anyone do efficient blocking and train line handling? pas should demand necr lift the 6 axle prohibition or correct whatever curving fears they might have . this is silly. ken patrick

KEN PATRICK wrote:csor -
necr/pas can't run 6 axle power onto the interchange track? last time i looked sd's only upped the tractive effort. so pas has cars in between their pick-ups & set-offs? how does anyone do efficient blocking and train line handling? pas should demand necr lift the 6 axle prohibition or correct whatever curving fears they might have . this is silly. ken patrick

The turnout off the CV is a bit tighter than off the B&M (which was reinstalled last year when interchange was reactivated). 6 axles are heavier (but they spread the weight out over more axles). More importantly NECR does not own any modern 6 axles with radial trucks. The turnout can not be moved further back (and thus lessen the curvature) because the goddam river is right there. These are all things you would know if you have ever been there (instead of just armchair railroading).

There are no 6 axle restrictions on PAS for the interchange.

I am sure if it was a major operational nightmare they would have done something by now.

newpylong wrote: More importantly NECR does not own any modern 6 axles with radial trucks.

I'm fairly certain we don't have anything modern over here, lol, well maybe our welded rail. that's about it.

Rumor has it that NECR management requested some new GE Evolution Series power from RailAmerica, but not-shockingly RailAmerica said no.

NECR-Conductor wrote:

newpylong wrote: More importantly NECR does not own any modern 6 axles with radial trucks.

I'm fairly certain we don't have anything modern over here, lol, well maybe our welded rail. that's about it.

LOL. We used to say the same thing. If someone else paid for it it's modern. Used to love it when the NS power came on the property. They are cadillacs. Well, most of them, lol.

. the y curves are less those of pas. google shows interchange cars at the east end of the y. why not north of main street? and why not use both tracks? necr shoves pas loads on one and grabs their cars from the other.get down to three couplings. the houses remain 200' away but the tumult is reduced. the moves are faster and cheaper.
ken patrick

Ken,
It sounds simple, but the "north" end of the "Y" to Main street is very short compaired to the "east" end up to Main street so you would loose car capicity. The other item is money, do you think the railroads would want the extra cost to maintain and install addtional switches on both ends of a second track just so they could save mayby 2 extra moves to switch the interchange, I think not!

From a noise stand point If you look close at the Google view you will only gain about 25 to 50 feet addtional distance from the houses on the east end, and there are more houses along the north end than are on the east end, also the houses on the east end are up on the side of a hill which places them at a angle from the noise as the houses top floors on the north end are at same elavation as the track.

The bottom line is if you did not do your research when you purchased your house or business as to the noise level and what industries in the area you have to live with it.

Peter

MEC407 wrote:Rumor has it that NECR management requested some new GE Evolution Series power from RailAmerica, but not-shockingly RailAmerica said no.

I heard that rumor internally as well.....