• B&M's response to 1918 plague

  • Discussion relating to the pre-1983 B&M and MEC railroads. For current operations, please see the Pan Am Railways Forum.
Discussion relating to the pre-1983 B&M and MEC railroads. For current operations, please see the Pan Am Railways Forum.

Moderator: MEC407

  by NRGeep
 
In the context of our current situation, was curious
how the B&M dealt with that public health disaster
scenario?
  by jaymac
 
Info in part: Devens -- then a Camp -- was one of spreading points. Troops coming in from Europe to Boston were placed on hospital cars and taken by the B&M to the Devens hospital. Until it got torn up, Hospital Siding ran off the IB main and into what is now the Shirley municipal complex.
There was a PBS documentary about the epidemic -- Ken Burns? -- a bit back, and it'll probably get rerun.
B&MRRHS may have info in the file of employee magazines.
  by Engineer Spike
 
Was the hospital track what’s now known as the Camp Track?
  by jaymac
 
Engineer Spike-
Sorry for the delay -- the Camp runs south of the #2 east from CPF-Camp to West Wye in downtown Ayer. Until it got lifted, the Hospital Track was further west and about midway between Patterson Road and Phoenix Street in Shirley.
Just guessing that the separation of the base hospital and its rail access from the main base was a morale measure to keep the recruits from seeing trains of injured coming in from Boston harbor.