Mass Coastal Railroad (MC) Discussion

From the MCMOW Facebook page. . .



Tie replacement last weekend on the Falmouth Branch, near Red Brook Harbor in Bourne.

There's a truck about to unload a bunch of new ties @ UCRTS. should be there around 230pm

malbojah wrote:There's a truck about to unload a bunch of new ties @ UCRTS. should be there around 230pm

Hope they are delivering a big shipment as it's going to take a lot to get this Otis Spur in shape along with some brush clearing as well.

Looked like the stack in your second picture tossed along the northern track at the TS. There are a LOT of trees growing up in the tracks at the station now. I'm still being told next Tuesday. I told them I'll be there (loaded with 15 tons) @ 515am.

From MC's Facebook page, test run to Otis Transfer yesterday with Cavossa officials to verify that the rails are still operable. Very overgrown as the pic shows, but they're bringing in the cavalry to clear it out and start tie replacement from the transfer building on out through the spur.

malbojah wrote:Looked like the stack in your second picture tossed along the northern track at the TS. There are a LOT of trees growing up in the tracks at the station now. I'm still being told next Tuesday. I told them I'll be there (loaded with 15 tons) @ 515am.

Ties were stacked by the Bike path parking lot / double track section in North Falmouth right before the crossing to the Otis spur. Looking to get a photo of the first train out of UCRTS, any ideas on how to find out it's departure time ? If not I can hear the train when it is underway and try catch it along the line somewhere.

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:From MC's Facebook page, test run to Otis Transfer yesterday with Cavossa officials to verify that the rails are still operable. Very overgrown as the pic shows, but they're bringing in the cavalry to clear it out and start tie replacement from the transfer building on out through the spur.

Walked part of the Otis spur today lot's of brush & Tie work to do as you can see.

Short news blurb on the reactivation of the Fall River Branch to the state line, throwing out the encroachers, and NIMBY hysteria therein. Includes pics of current ROW conditions at the Mt. Hope Ave. crossing. Apparently there was a community meeting/bitchfest about this last Thursday, though none of the papers reported on it (probably because nothing that was screamed there makes any difference in the world to the work proceeding). Apparently not all the funding has been completely lined up, but if they're already kicking out abutters and starting the brush-clearing they must be close enough to securing last funding bits to proceed full-speed ahead.

http://www.heraldnews.com/news/20170906 ... inactivity" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

“They are upgrading the track from the State Pier to the Tiverton line,” [Rep. Alan Silvia] said. “It is for freight only. We are looking at only one or two trains a week, right now. It will limit the number of trucks that have to travel over the city streets to Gold Medal Bakery.”

The tracks, which are owned by the state, run along the banks of Mount Hope Bay. The track owners never surrendered the rights to the land, but over the years people have encroached on the property, Silvia said.

“People put swimming pools against the railroad tracks and used the railroad property as their own,” he said. “That is being straightened out now.”

Herald News Interviewee wrote:We just don’t understand why they state would pay so much money so one company can cut jobs.

Cut jobs? Truck drivers maybe? I kind of wish that quote was explained a little or simply not used. Sounds like any other NIMBY case where they'll find any excuse to hide that they really just don't want to move their pools and sheds.

Well...the new lease of that pier on the tracks across from GM's siding for transload activity TBD ends up creating more net jobs with the reactivation than it displaces. But making that case to the NIMBY's would require disclosing that there's going to be new barge activity in the area inconveniencing homeowners from their pasttime of dumping old tube TV's and window air conditioners off the side of the pier in lieu of paying the city $20 for a bulk pickup sticker. And that would be mayham.

Check out the letter to the editor:

http://www.heraldnews.com/opinion/20170 ... s-proposal" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Same woman who supplied the bulk of the hysterical quotes in the earlier article.

1 covered hopper vs 3-4 bulk trailers that cannot be reloaded,trucking Companies hate empty trailer miles,the covered hopper might have a better
chance of catching a bulk grain(food) load from a location nearby(Like Sam Adams Brewery spent grain to feed cows,chickens,and other livestock)

Don't expect a train out of UCRTS until next week. From what I'm being told, station won't be ready until end of this week. Lots of work was needed to reopen the place

Thanks for the update ! From walking the Otis rail spur and looking at the UCRTS site it seemed like a lot of work was still needed to open, so hopefully by next week the Trains will start running.