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  • Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.
Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.

Moderators: sery2831, CRail

 #1473800  by dbperry
 
Updated my archive with the 5/21/2018 schedules. I also have been trying to grab and publish any PTC-related weekend diversion schedules as they come out.

http://www.dbperry.net/MBTA/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1508954  by dbperry
 
Updated for 5/20/2019 schedules:

http://www.dbperry.net/MBTA/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1524783  by dbperry
 
Updated for October 2019 schedules, along with a few updates to maps and other files.

https://www.dbperry.net/MBTA/
 #1553956  by dbperry
 
Better late than never, but I just updated the archive with the past (almost a year) of changes.

https://www.dbperry.net/MBTA/
 #1553997  by Trinnau
 
Typically there are only two - spring and fall. This year they went to a COVID schedule in March, then a revised schedule in June. Fall schedule slated for November 2 according to recent board meetings.
 #1560525  by dbperry
 
Updated over the weekend. I've also added links to PDFs of relevant announcements related to the reasons why some schedule changes were implemented...months from now I know I won't remember exactly what happened, so they might be helpful.

https://www.dbperry.net/MBTA/

Dave
 #1560633  by stevefol
 
Your "1993 Map" is nothing of the sort! Newburyport , Greenbush, Plymouth line didn't exist then (or just as worn out single track freight lines to Plymouth and Newburyport), and the Fitchburg line was mostly single track Ayer to Waltham.
 #1561260  by dbperry
 
Thanks for your feedback stevefol! I assume you refer to this map: https://www.dbperry.net/MBTA/maps/mbtac ... etwork.pdf
While slightly off topic from this thread, I'll offer some background on what it is and where I obtained it.
While over at the South Station dispatch theatre - commonly known at CTEC - back in late 2003, I saw a poster under a frame on the wall. While admiring it and studying it, someone with an office there said something to the effect of, you know, I think we have some of those hanging around. He found a rolled up set of them and offered me one! I brought it home, scanned it, and posted it. That's how it came to be in my possession.
So:
1) I have no idea who created it or why, other than it saying "Thomas K. Dyer, Inc." which was a well-known engineering consulting firm that did considerable work for the MBTA back in the day.
2) Since I didn't create it, and I don't have any contemporaneous other track charts, I cannot vouch for its accuracy.
3) The track chart certainly appears to show some aspect of track arrangement and clearly does not presume to represent a map of current service. It also doesn't represent MBTA or MassDOT (or its predecessors) ownership of rail lines, since we know that much of the trackage shown on the map was owned by CSX and others in 1993.
4) With regards to the Old Colony network, my assumption is this track chart depicts what was planned to be implemented as part of the restoration of service, which was still at least a few years off for most of the Old Colony and many years in the future for the Greenbush.
5) As to Newburyport, I agree, the inclusion of the Newburyport draw appears odd, since I believe that was abandoned in the early 1980's. I'm guessing the rest of the Newburyport depiction is similar to the Old Colony depiction - what was intended to be implemented in the coming years.
6) I'm not as familiar with the track arrangement or history of the Fitchburg line, so I'll defer to your assertions on that one.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Regards

Dave
Last edited by CRail on Mon Sep 12, 2022 6:13 pm, edited 1 time in total. Reason: Unnecessary quote removed. Do not use the "Quote" button as a "Reply" button.
 #1561312  by caduceus
 
I don't know when tracks were pulled up or restored except for the recent restoration of the second track between Acton and Ayer, but circa 2000 I remember it being double tracked from Acton to Waltham, with only the short stretch through Waltham station being single tracked. From just east of South Acton station past Littleton to somewhere before Ayer (I think) it was single track. Beyond Ayer I'm not familiar with it but I think it was double tracked the rest of the way to Fitchburg.
 #1561451  by CRail
 
dbperry wrote: Sat Jan 16, 2021 7:10 pm 3) The track chart certainly appears to show some aspect of track arrangement and clearly does not presume to represent a map of current service. It also doesn't represent MBTA or MassDOT (or its predecessors) ownership of rail lines, since we know that much of the trackage shown on the map was owned by CSX and others in 1993.
For the sake of picking nits, MBTA trackage formerly owned by CSX was owned by Conrail in 1993.
 #1606341  by dbperry
 
Back on track to the primary topic of this thread.... I just updated the archive with the past (almost a year) of changes.

https://www.dbperry.net/MBTA/
 #1606440  by Lincoln78
 
I concur with Cadeceus re: Fitchburg line going back to mid seventies. Double track westbound started in Waltham and ended somewhere between West Concord and South Acton.

There was a third track between west of the station and Baker Bridge in Lincoln. I saw here (a while ago) that it was used as a passing track. The rails were removed sometime in the late fifties/early sixties. The ties endured until at least the mid-late seventies. The separation between the two tracks remains.
 #1606442  by GP40MC1118
 
The Fitchburg double track ended at South Acton, just east of the station. The "third" track at Lincoln was the "Middle Track", much like the one still
existing south of Ash Street in Reading.