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  • MBTA Yard 10 NHR Connection

  • 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

 #1574251  by JacobKoppel
 
Is the plan still in place to connect the lead of yard 10 to the New Hampshire Route? I know they are close to having that reality but there is about a 50ft gap between the spur off of the NHR line and the stem of the yard 10 wye.
 #1574266  by JacobKoppel
 
I see, thats a more than typical MBTA move. Once the connection is made, is its intended use for MoW to use to get directly on to the NHR from the "T-Pad" at Yard 10 instead of maneuvering around the Tower A Back Ladder, or for freight to access Yard 21 from the NHR again bypassing the back ladder?
 #1574286  by CRail
 
I've opined and heard grumblings (not officially but from people who'd be privy to internal discussions) that Mystic Junction will need to become an interlocking again. Having a freight train climb that grade, stop, unlock the switch, and then start on said grade is prohibitive. If a fright train is to move from Yard 10 to the New Hampshire Route, it's going to need to be lined and cleared before ascending that grade. I've also heard that, while the T-Pad as we know it is in fact moving to IHP, the current one will remain so equipment can be put on in the terminal area. So the concept of sending track equipment to the Boston end of the New Hampshire Route via yard 10 is fathomable.
 #1574352  by Trinnau
 
The grade isn't really any worse than the one climbing up from Yard 8 to Somerville Jct to close the hand-operated switch at Walnut Street pre-GLX. It's nearly always empties headed North so trailing tonnage is less of an issue.

Talk of an interlocking at this location has been on-and-off since it was determined Yard 10 would be the access point to replace Yard 8 - probably close to 7-10 years now. Nothing wrong with it other than it's probably another $2-4M in cost depending on if they add a crossover to track 2, makes the move more efficient and gets the freight moving and out of the way of passenger trains. It would certainly need to be interlocked if CSX had any consideration of running mainline-size trains through there.