Pan Am Worcester Main Line

They possibly put the extra ballast by crossing in Clinton, to make it easier to put hirail construction equipment on the track without interfering with car traffic on road.
.If they raise the bridge ,they will need a lot of ballast for the approach es to the bridge .Just south of this steel bridge there is a concrete arch bridge with a solid ballast deck and than there is a 2 track bridge on a skew with bridge ties.This bridge may have to be raised also, but not as much as the bridge over the Worcester line track.The concrete arch bridge ,I think has room for 4 tracks.I STILL THINK THEY SHOULD CONNECT WORCESTER MAIN TO AG BRANCH.IF THEY ARE CUTTING TREES IN THE SOUTHEAST QUADRANT,THERE ARE OLD CONNECTING TRACKS STILL THERE AND A GOOD SIZE PATH YOU COULD DRIVE A JEEP ON.THE OLD CONNECTING TRACKS ARE BETWWEEN THE CONCRETE ARCH BRIDGE AND THE BRIDGE OVER THE WORCESTER MAIN.
IF THEY CONNECT THE TWO, THEY COULD EMBARGO TRACK BETWEEN FRAMINGHAM AND SOUTH MARBORO WHERE SAFETY CLEAN,GARAGE CHEMICAL WASTE TRANSFER TO TANK CARS,IS LOCATED,OLD LOCATION OF TRACK TO HUDSON,MA.

As has been discussed, that is not going to happen. The only way it begins to make sense is if the connector was on the west side of the bridge and as such the bridge could be eliminated altogether. Also they would need to change ends coming from either Framingham or Worcester at CP45 and once again at Clinton after going up the connector.

The fact that they are dropping welded rail south of Clinton on the Secondary is evidence that they are not interested in this scenario.

Potentially putting in the connector to eliminate 1 small overhead obstruction and sever the Fitchburg Secondary would make no sense whatsoever.

Potentially putting in the connector to work the branch in both directions from Clinton is where making sense begins, including within welded rail installation evidence on the Fitchburg Secondary.

What exactly are they going to work towards Framingham? Considering there are no customers (and really no chance of any) between Clinton and Northborough, that makes as little sense as getting rid of it entirely.

CSX has little to no freight presence in Worcester and there is enough congestion there. Framingham is the switching and collecting point for everything in Eastern MA. It makes sense to serve the Secondary from there. There is no need to reinvent the wheel and introduce operational challenges just because they potentially could serve it via Clinton.

Just as Mr. copcars wrote, that potential begins within an option of working to the most southerly customer, Safety Clean, and including within what exists for new customers Clinton-Northborough as well to the north from Clinton and with the big wheels in motion, fueled by $3-4 billion strategic investment potential in play.

THERE ARE A FEW CUSTOMERS BETWEEN CLINTON AND SOUTH MARLBORO,KENS SALAD DRESSINGS ETC. WITH A NEW CONNECTING TRACK AT CLINTON THEY COULD GO BOTH DIRECTIONS ON FITCHBURG SECONDARY.
THERE ARE OTHER MAJOR CHANGES THAT COULD BE DONE ,IN METRO WEST, TO STREAMLINE OPERATIONS WHICH COULD BE DONE NOW,WITH CSX BUYING PAN AM.

Setting aside the fact that such a connection would be on a hill, with a sharp curve at the top with very limited space to run around to go north, what yard would the local job work out of to serve the now severed northern end of the ag branch? Nearest csx general freight yards seem to me to be Framingham, Springfield or Lawrence. I think the odds are close to zero of any connection here for 20 years. Only chance of one is if mbta ever kicks freight off the B&A east of Worcester for capacity

It's a non-starter.

Any value putting it back in for MOW or emergency use? Better to at least have it than not.

Less value than the cost of putting the connection in and the cost of maintaining it.

Ok so some potentially big news. The old B&M yard area next to I290 in Worcester is being cleared, this clearing is now visible from I290.

It appears the plan is to restore the other track that is buried in the weeds from Garden St. to Barber Station and put a few tracks as well as a small one engine turntable back in the old yard. Also extending Greendale and Clinton sidings.

Apparently, the goal is to have the P&W train take the train up the branch and yard it in the old B&M yard. Then the P&W could come it on their timeline, as well as bring the outbounds there, no more shoving into or out of at CP-45. My understanding is that CSX owns the ROW of that second track and between Garden St. and Barber Station. Only a small agreement would be needed for the section between CP-45 and Garden St, which the P&W doesn't use anyway.

The turntable would be make it so that engines, mainly the lead cab singled engine could be turned without having to deal with the P&W. Extending the sidings would be to allow trains to meet on the branch.

I don't want to make it out I know for sure that this is in fact what happening now, but the area is being cleared.

Call it informed scuttlebutt.

The value proposition for connecting the WML with the Fitchburg Secondary laid out by Mr. copcars is a never-say-never option found at the intersection of CSX's interests and investments, including now found within their Pan Am acquisition, and re-development and passenger rail interests and investments, including now found within their East-West (Compass) Passenger Rail project, where CSX's footprint east of Worcester, including in Framingham, is once again in focused play. Like other options executed in the past and to be considered for the future, it would come from investments in new/improved infrastructure and changes in train/blocking operations.

While the level of probability over timelines can be argued, there is plenty of money in play, strategic CSX needs, re-development pressure on Framingham's North Yard, and options in the mix, including plenty of capability in the Clinton rights-of-way to effect the capacity for what Mr. copcars suggests.

To those ends, I'm curious about the potential found in CSX's 2nd-priority--of-4 WML train pair titled "local" within their NS Settlement Agreement as well in their STB acquisition application assertion that "use of the Barbers gateway will take pressure off Boston's transportation network".

taracer wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 1:34 pm Ok so some potentially big news. The old B&M yard area next to I290 in Worcester is being cleared, this clearing is now visible from I290.

It appears the plan is to restore the other track that is buried in the weeds from Garden St. to Barber Station and put a few tracks as well as a small one engine turntable back in the old yard. Also extending Greendale and Clinton sidings.

Apparently, the goal is to have the P&W train take the train up the branch and yard it in the old B&M yard. Then the P&W could come it on their timeline, as well as bring the outbounds there, no more shoving into or out of at CP-45. My understanding is that CSX owns the ROW of that second track and between Garden St. and Barber Station. Only a small agreement would be needed for the section between CP-45 and Garden St, which the P&W doesn't use anyway.

The turntable would be make it so that engines, mainly the lead cab singled engine could be turned without having to deal with the P&W. Extending the sidings would be to allow trains to meet on the branch.

I don't want to make it out I know for sure that this is in fact what happening now, but the area is being cleared.

Call it informed scuttlebutt.

I would assume the goal is as we've discussed to allow CSX to traverse this trackage without dealing with the P&W. So I am confused with the part how the P&W plays into this.

The P&W interchange would take place in the old B&M yard, and the P&W would pickup and deliver the cars there instead of the Worcester yard crew shoving in and out at CP-45.

The P&W wants any crew shoving into their yard to have 3 hours left to work. That is not possible with a Selkirk crew, so that train sits on the CSX main track 1 until the Worcester yard crew comes on duty. That's usually at least 12 hours later. So, the goal is to have the Selkirk crew bring the train up to the old B&M yard and leave it there for the P&W to get on their timeline, freeing up the CSX main 1 down in Worcester.

I'm sorry if I'm not being clear. The goal is to stop parking trains on the B&A main between CP-45 and CP48, and to help expedite movement of trains to and from the ex-B&M territory.

Rebuilding some tracks in the old B&M yard in Worcester is not to help the P&W, it's just to make everything more fluid through Worcester and the CSX intermodal yard, which is not designed for regular freight.