Remaining turntables in New England?

There used to be a turntable in Reading Highlands. Any remnants of that left?

Unlikely - the site is now covered by the Tannerville housing development.

In Springfield, if you look on Google Earth, the remains of the New York, New Haven, & Hartford Roundhouse can be clearly seen JUST south of the Boston & Albany tracks, and to the west of I-91. The pit and turntable were just to the south, I believe the roundhouse was 10+ stalls, but if someone knows better I'd like to know.
Peace,
Jonathan

I wish this one was confined to "Remaining turntables in New England". I will try to restore it to that. In Maine the one I am aware of is at Waterville although there may be some surviving BAR turntables as they had a lot of them and several survived until quite late. I remember a fantrip that covered the Limestone Branch and they turned the "F" unit on a hand operated turntable at Limestone, I got slides of that operation. In New Hampshire how about North Walpole (electric) and North Conway (air i think). In Vermont Burlington and St. Albans (probably the most active of all of them), I don't know whether the turntable is still in place at Newport or not. In Massachusetts the only one I am aware of is at East Deerfield, hopefully still in use. Connecticut has two museum turntables at Danbury (electric) and Willimantic (hand).
Today a loop (AKA balloon track) or a wye will do the same thing at a lot less cost for maintenance.
Noel Weaver

"... I don't know whether the turntable is still in place at Newport or not..."
I went by the Newport, VT yard last summer. The turntable appears to be still operable, it looked like it had been used quite recently. The lead to the turntable looks like a holding track for whatever unit might be laying over. The roundhouse is there too, but not in great shape.

Steve

trainsinmaine wrote:There is only one available online USGS map depicting the old Reformatory Branch when it still existed (the Framingham Quadrangle, 1894). The western terminus of the line is just beyond the parameters of the map. Did it actually join the New Haven's Framingham and Lowell Branch, or did it end where the West Concord Rotary is now located? As one heads east on Route 2 toward the Rotary, a small (and improbably located) cemetery can be seen off to the right, with what would appear might be the old Reformatory roadbed in front of it. Was that the case?

The improbable cemetery is a prisoner burying ground. Just numbers on the gravestones over there. The line in front is indeed the Framingham and Lowell (Old Colony/New Haven/PC/Conrail/Bay Colony).

Noel & Steve, don't forget the one that still exists in the yard at St. Johnsbury!

NHV 669 wrote:Noel & Steve, don't forget the one that still exists in the yard at St. Johnsbury!

Is it able to be used?
Noel Weaver

The B&M pit at Rockingham/256 is partly filled in - crews pushing old ties and debris back away from the main - but it is still unmistakable.
At Exeter, the pit was filled with ties and covered over when it was no longer needed. When passenger service resumed, the pit was uncovered, ties removed and the granite works were trucked across town. They are quite visible if you know where to look.

Hello,
Interesting discussion ... Here's a 2017 update for Vermont and northern New Hampshire:

Vermont:
Newport (CMQ) - in service, used mostly by WACR
St. Johnsbury (WACR) - I'll have to check if it is still serviceable
St. Albans (NECR) - in service
Burlington (VTR) - in service
Montpelier - display (not connected to rail)

New Hampshire:
North Stratford (NHCR) - intact but overgrown with trees
North Conway (CONW) - in service
North Walpole (GMRC) - in service

There may be others ...
Best,
Fritz

Fritz,
Sanbornville...intact, but not in use. I recall it being in use when the Wolfboro RR was in operations in the late 1970s. It is located next to the active crossing in Sanbornville.

Steve

PS in fact, here is a link of a photo I took during that era: http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo ... ex=0&key2=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Portsmouth Engine House and Turntable in 2006, Photo by Stephen Hussar.
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo ... ex=0&key2=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As far as I know, it is still there, although I have not visited the area.
Probably, a haz-mat cleanup situation preventing the sale of the property
for other uses.

There is a turntable in the Bucksport mill yard, just north of the mill.

Peter

TomNelligan wrote:

Was there one on the north end of the line in Hartford?

I'm sure that the ancestral Hartford & Connecticut Valley RR would have had one since they had to turn their locomotives, but after everything consolidated into the New Haven in ther 20th century the NH's engine terminal including a turntable and roundhouse was across the river in East Hartford.

The East Hartford roundhouse was last used as storage. It burned around 1998, if I recall. It was housing reposed autos, but some people were trying to buy it for a railroad museum. What a loss to East Hartford...

There is a filled-in turntable pit in Bingham, Maine, that served the old Somerset Branch of the MEC. The line was abandoned in 1979. After the abandonment, the fire department filled the pit with water early each winter so that it could be used as a skating rink. It didn't turn out to be successful.

A very short spur of the Somerset, near the site, lay alongside the Owens Street factory of the former Quimby Veneer Co. up until at least 2009. It may still be there. I don't know why it wasn't removed with the rest of the railroad, unless perhaps the MEC didn't own it.