New Bedford Tender scrapped

FYI-

The former ex-NH steam tender that resided in New Bedford yard
was scrapped August 24-26th by the contractor rebuilding the yard
for the city.

Dave

the tender is gone!!!!! that sucks i never got a picture of it

rebuilding the yard? for the commuter rail service? are they going to lay down track or get rid of the soil that was contaminated?

The yard is being cleaned up and rebuilt (to mere shell of its former self) by the city of New Bedford. None of this has anything to do with the MBTA - unfortunately...

Dave

The mayor of New Bedford has a grand plan that someday passenger trains are going to arrive with loads of delighted tourists to see all the impressive attractions in scenic New Bedford, so they have concentrated on that PCB infested downtown yard while more practical and accessible locations for a future passenger station have been ignored. If they ever get a station in downtown New Bedford, it will be interesting to see how many people get mugged trying to make it to their cars, and whether the cars still have wheels and tires when they get back from work, or are covered with spray paint.

Meanwhile the existing advertising to let tourists travelling busy Interstate 195 know about the New Bedford tourist attractions is woefully inadequate, and the ramp from 195 to Route 18 into the city center is a trash dump.

They don't call New Bedford the "Armpit of Massachusetts" for nothing.

While I share your cynicism regarding New Bedford politics and the condition of the city in spots, I'm not that negative of the area (of
which I'm a lifelong resident in an adjoining town).

I've actually been pleasantly surprised to see the amount of cars
using the new parking lot at the south end of the yard. And I
haven't seen or heard about problems like auto theft or other
crime there. Seem like they are doing a decent job.

Getting back to siting a station in New Bedford - again I don't
think the downtown station is a bad idea. What I don't agree
with is the lack of another station in the north end. Reduce the
size of the downtown one and give us one near RT140 or around
King's Highway/Tarklin Hill Road. However, the later poses its own
problems since its a traffic nightmare now and someone on the city
council is pushing for a Hingham type tunnel as the solution.

But who am I kidding? Just getting this project going would be a
start!

D

While towns in the area have experienced incredible growth and the construction of many expensive new homes, New Bedford is still dragging along. It is a shame because the city has tremendous potential, but it often seems like there is a conspiracy to keep the place poor, perhaps propelled by the desire to keep cheap labor available for the local sweatshops.

The Building #19 property would be a good location for a regional transportation center servicing New Bedford and the surrounding towns. It is on the Watuppa Branch and has enormous space for parking and easy access from I-195 and 140, plus being right next to the airport. With all the vacant commercial space in New Bedford, they could find Building #19 another location easily. Bus service could be used to connect with the downtown area.

"Build it, and they will come."

Sounds like a "Field of Dreams" philosophy, doesn't it? Personally, I think the city lost out on the scrapping of the tender. Regardless of whether it had a steamer attached to it or not, it could have made a nice historic piece parked next to the new station, or inside it (depending on how large the new structure will be).

Just my opinion anyway (whatever it may be worth).


"Is this Heaven?"
"No, this is Iowa."
- Field of Dreams

mxdata wrote:New Bedford

I was very surprised when I saw that tender sitting there last summer. It was supposed to be restored and put on display. Now it's gone.

Here's a good story on the New Bedford freight/passenger plans:
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/11 ... 1lo560.htm

Supposidely I got two photos of the tender in the next issue of Railpace.
One is from 1978 when it was in relatively good condition. The other is of it in pieces - sort of like the Titantic debris field!

Dave

I have a copy of the January 2005 Railpace. The photos appear on page 35. The caption mentions that the city fathers were told of the historical importance of this tender. And it was suddenly scrapped anyway.

That was a big mistake. Maybe the folks at the Valley RR or Naugatuck should have been notified first. At least they would have tried to save it and move it off location. I wouldn't put it past any city fathers or developers to save such an artifact.

Personally, I don't think anyone at the VRR would have been interested in the tender, had it been saved. The VRR is less of a museum, but rather a company who concentrates primarily on running excursion trains. Most (but not all) of the equipment that is obtained by the VRR has been placed into active service. (Disclaimer: I am a former VRR employee -1993-2002- and cannot speak on behalf of management past or present).

Anyways, a tender from a NH steam engine would be great to see saved in the railfan community, but are the kids going to go nuts over seeing a tender, regardless of its history? They'd rather see the live, breathing steam engine - not what helps it to run. It would be like acquiring the diesel motor from the "last remaining FL-9" or a pantograph from the "last remaining GG1". Museums and tourist rrs are on limited resources and the costs of moving such a piece of equipment would outweigh the benefits.

Just my $.02

-JH