Iron Horse Park (North Billerica)

Aerial photos of the Billerica shops:

http://photos.nerail.org/show/?order=by ... =samayotte

Chris

Any photos of inside the shop? Having been in the heavy machine business before grad school, I always like to ask if anybody's seen the shop cranes, and if they have any pics. I've installed and un-installed my fair share of 'em.

Peter Kingman just post some wonderful inside and outside photos on NERAIL of the old shops; great photos,but "kinda sad" to think what used to be.

Bud

Those pics can be found here:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/show/?order= ... =PBKingman

I have a few interior shots too...

http://sery2831.smugmug.com/gallery/1578737#76445017

Man, I never realized the property was in such bad shape -- I can't believe there is actually grass and trees growing inside the building.

I was at Iron Horse Park around 1982-1983 and it was a hub of activity -- shops were active, lots of offices, etc. I met the BM personnel manager at that time (I want to say his name was Newton Wesley -- I still have the souvenirs he gave me, a BM "Glossary of Railroad Terms" printed in May 1978, a blue BM pen, and some postcards -- I think I even have his business card somewhere) and he gave me a tour of the place. I also remember asking some of the workers if the Alco switchers were still around -- they weren't -- shipped off to the scrapper in NJ, I was told.

So all GRR/PAR shops are in Waterville now?

It seems like it would make a nice industrial park instead of an industrial wasteland. The shelled out buildings could probably be saved. The soil must be saturated with every chemical known to man, as well as asbestos.

rr_explorer wrote:It seems like it would make a nice industrial park instead of an industrial wasteland. The shelled out buildings could probably be saved. The soil must be saturated with every chemical known to man, as well as asbestos.

It is. Iron Horse Park is a superfund site. With brownfields programs it can be redeveloped. I know a big part of the problem there is asbestos, not a big surprise.

ah reminds me of my youth when we used to take the ATV's through the asbestos pits, if I only knew.

I'm pretty sure there was an actual asbestos factory on the property at one point. And the ground is saturated with all kinds of pollutants. I've got a ton of interior pictures from inside the shops I'll put up when I get a chance, there are actually some real interesting things inside. They recently removed a bunch of EMD engine blocks and some other train parts, but the cranes and big machine shop equipment are still present.

did all that stuff get scrapped? what a shame.

More Billerica pic from May:

http://photos.nerail.org/show/?order=by ... &key=jr747

Love seeing old MC orange and green again...

Sitting on boxcar trucks too -- what # MEC GP-38 is that?

Its MEC GP-38 # 254

Any idea as to why it ended up on box car trucks? I also noticed that the number boards (if that's the correct term) are some of the first things to go on a engine that is being scrapped; why is that?