Repair Shops, Roundhouses, and Historic Buildings

Hello. I just posted a long message about the "Repair Shops" (and Roundhouse) in Billerica, MA. Since I have just joined this Message Board, I'm not familiar with it. I posted my message under the "Pan Am / Guilford" major heading. Should I have posted it under a different heading? And, is there a heading for people who want to discuss "Repair Shops" and "Roundhouses," etc.?

I just read yesterday that "Iron Horse Park" in Billerica was created ~1910. So, the old, historic brick buildings will soon be 100 years old. And I read that the other, important Repair Shops in New England were in Concord, NH. I will guess they were also built ~1910. There might be information on them at the Concord, NH, Historical Society. But, I am not finding any information on the history of the Shops in Billerica.


Betty (near Lowell, MA)

If you have questions about repair shops in general, you may want to check out out the "General Discussion: Railroad Operations and Facilities Forum"

http://railroad.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=136

If you have a question specificially about Billerica, you may want to try our Boston & Maine Forum, since that location was specific to that railroad.

http://railroad.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=77

Hope this helps!

-otto-

I was taking a look along the Portland Freight Main, old MEC Main north of Portland and discovered this.

It appears to be a wooden overpass bridge. At one time Maine Central had dozens of these across their lines all over the State. This may be the last remaining one. If it is original construction it would likely be close to a century old, if not more.

Although this is not a historic 'building' it very likely is a 'historic structure', especially for the Maine Central. I would be interested to know if this is in fact the last surviving MEC wooden overpass.

It is indeed the last one on the MEC, and may be the last of its kind in New England. (I've been waiting for a long time for someone in this forum to confirm that.) There used to be hundreds of such bridges in the region when I was growing up in the '50s and '60s; they have all been replaced, removed, or filled in. This one in Falmouth was deliberately preserved when railfans pointed out its importance.

There is a girder overpass with a planked floor on Brookside Road in Orange, Mass. --- old, but not as old as this bridge, and something of a horse of a different color.

Are there any photos of this bridge?

Of further note, per Google, this thread is the only direct reference to this bridge anywhere on the Internet.

What town is it in?

Falmouth.

Didn't MaineDOT do some work on this bridge in the recent past? And wasn't there a bit of a dispute over who owned it (DOT or the railroad)?

MEC407 wrote:Falmouth.

Didn't MaineDOT do some work on this bridge in the recent past? And wasn't there a bit of a dispute over who owned it (DOT or the railroad)?

I don't know anything about this exact bridge but it was my distinct impression that these particular structures were railroad owned, as opposed to bridges that carry public roads over the railroad.

MEC407,

Are you perhaps confusing this bridge with one 'down Kennebunk way', perhaps the one that was worked on during the DNC convention in Boston in 2004?

There was indeed a dispute about the Kennebunk bridge, but I have a vague memory of there also being a dispute about an over-the-tracks bridge somewhere in District 1. Can't remember if it was in Falmouth, but it was somewhere between Portland and Waterville. I recall seeing an article (with photos) in the Press Herald. The bridge was old and rickety; the town and DOT said the railroad owned it; the railroad said "no, we stopped owning it years ago" (or something to that effect). Pretty similar to what happened with the Kennebunk bridge, except the one in D1 didn't abruptly start sinking into the mud.

"no, we stopped owning it years ago". [Chuckle]

I really was surprised to see it as I thought these types of overpasses were one of those things that were 'Gone with the Wind' of years past. It would be like walking through the woods along the rail line coming around a turn and seeing a working semaphore signal with a finial on top. Nice to see I'm not the only one who realizes and appreciates just exactly how old and how rare this kind of structure is.

Among many other places that used to have one was the Annabessacook Road crossing in Winthrop. I was out on a fire call there last month and somebody was telling stories about driving over the bridge to get to the dump back in the day. Its pretty easy to imagine the horse and buggy types using these bridges in the olden times.

it seems there may be a few more in new england. there are still some crossing above the rails in several places in vermont. they are wooden substructure with wood decks. there's one just northwest of white river, near sharon. i've seen at least one other in vermont, but can't remember where.

Are there any photos of this overpass or the others anywhere?

Not my photos.

NECR Roxbury Subdivision, West Hartford, Vermont
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=362243
and
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=313192
and
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=307895

There's another one of these over the NECR just to the North of Claremont Junction in New Hampshire - I can't find any pictures of it at the moment.

Gil, known as Bill somedays ...

No photos, but there's another one over the NECR in Monson, MA.

Stafford Hollow Road Bridge
http://bridgehunter.com/ma/hampden/M270261AHMHD634/

GIl, known as Bill somedays ...

And one that is on the Washington County Railroad (WACR):

... north out of Bradford. This is located at B&M MM 150.80. Mileposts between White River Jct and Wells River are numbered with an "S" (Springfield MA) on one side and a "W" (Wells River VT) on the other. WACR uses the mile designations on the "W" side for this track.

http://photos.nerail.org/s/?p=98677

Gil, known as Bill somedays ...