I'd love to see a cost breakdown of this proposal. The plan apparently calls for moving the Postal Annex (which USPS is apparently already working on) to make room for 4 more tracks at South Station, and I bet that 's a good part of the cost, especially as I bet adding the tracks means completely redoing the catenary going into the station, which will be a tricky staging job to keep the Acelas running. And environmental mitigation is going to be a huge expense, since the Preferred Alternative route goes right through a critical wetland. Other than that, the ROW is already there, so it's installing new tracks and signaling, building stations and buying a bunch of new rolling stock.
Expensive or not, I agree that now is the time. It'll be good to get out ahead of population trends for once.
Railroad Forums
OK, I've stared at the map for a hour and read through the entire topic trying to educate myself on where all the tracks and ROWs are - does anyone know how/where the line would run??
There are so many options and opinions on how to do it.
extending the Stoughton line to Taunton to whittenton junction along the ROW seems logical. Using the existing line between Taunton and Attleboro seems a bit out of the way, but an option too, no?
My question is how will they link FR/NB south of Taunton. You have the old Newport line from Myricks to FR and then the NB line from Myricks to NB where it makes a sharp bend east towards FR - but i can't tell if it makes it all the way between FR and NB. Its like a perfect triangle between Myricks, FR, and NB. Which lines would they use down there??
RR.net experts, please have at it...
There are so many options and opinions on how to do it.
extending the Stoughton line to Taunton to whittenton junction along the ROW seems logical. Using the existing line between Taunton and Attleboro seems a bit out of the way, but an option too, no?
My question is how will they link FR/NB south of Taunton. You have the old Newport line from Myricks to FR and then the NB line from Myricks to NB where it makes a sharp bend east towards FR - but i can't tell if it makes it all the way between FR and NB. Its like a perfect triangle between Myricks, FR, and NB. Which lines would they use down there??
RR.net experts, please have at it...
It is still unclear how the $1.4 billion project will be financed, although Patrick did say the administration has set aside $17.2 million for design and environmental permits.Before anyone gets too excited, there's still that small matter of finding money to cover the remaining 98.8 percent of the project cost.
RailBus63 Writes:
Political reality check: If anyone thinks this announcement is actually about building a new commuter rail branch, I've got a bridge to Brooklyn I'd like to sell you.
Before anyone gets too excited, there's still that small matter of finding money to cover the remaining 98.8 percent of the project cost.Agreed-- there is no money, though I think it's a worthy expansion.
Political reality check: If anyone thinks this announcement is actually about building a new commuter rail branch, I've got a bridge to Brooklyn I'd like to sell you.
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon like a prison bar...
Across the moon like a prison bar...
mental757 wrote:OK, I've stared at the map for a hour and read through the entire topic trying to educate myself on where all the tracks and ROWs are - does anyone know how/where the line would run??
There are so many options and opinions on how to do it.
extending the Stoughton line to Taunton to whittenton junction along the ROW seems logical. Using the existing line between Taunton and Attleboro seems a bit out of the way, but an option too, no?
My question is how will they link FR/NB south of Taunton. You have the old Newport line from Myricks to FR and then the NB line from Myricks to NB where it makes a sharp bend east towards FR - but i can't tell if it makes it all the way between FR and NB. Its like a perfect triangle between Myricks, FR, and NB. Which lines would they use down there??
RR.net experts, please have at it...
the Attleboro idea is out of the question due to there not being enough room on the NEC between MBTA traffic, Amtrak traffic, and CSX local freights. Plus in order to get onto the Middleboro Secondary in Attleboro, a WYE would need to be built in order to not have trains change ends in Attleboro to access the Secondary.
For those who dont' know the Middleboro Secondary runs from Attleboro, through Norton to Taunton and at Copley Junction, this is where the New Bedford secondary begins, and the MIddleboro Secondary continues to Middleboro. The old Stoughton ROW connects to the MIddleboro Secondary at Weir Junction in Taunton. this branch is known as the Dean St. branch and is still used today by the BCLR, roughly 2 miles, then the ROW is empty till Stoughton where the current MBTA line ends
the best bet for the project would rebuild the ROW through stoughton, easton, etc. connect to the Middleboro Secondary at Weir Junction, Weir Junction rebuild the track to Myricks and have the NB and FR lines branch off to their respective end points
here is Myricks Junction:
Myricks
On the map, I traced the Stoughton ROW down to Taunton where it meets with the middleboro secondary at what is labeled whittenton junction, just northeast of Taunton.
I also see Weir village just south of taunton and a junction just north of the silver city galleria where I assume is the continuation of the middleboro secondary (east-west orientation that goes to middleboro) and the start of the New Bedford secondary that continues to Myricks and splits there to NB and FR/Newport, RI.
update: I just found Weir junction on the map - it looks like at one time, the stoughton ROW split at Broadway (rt 138) just south of Center Street in Prattville where is continues to Whittenton Junction forming a large triangle north of Taunton - is this correct?? It also (obviously) continues to Weir Junction. I suppose they could use either of these alignments depending on where they want the Taunton station and be able to get more riders.
The junction near Silver City is Copley Junction - correct??
I see now that is makes sense to split this line at Myricks to sevre both FR/NB 'seperately' versus it being one train - thanks!!
what is a WYE (sorry for stupid ?)?
thanks for all the help MBTA F40PH...
I also see Weir village just south of taunton and a junction just north of the silver city galleria where I assume is the continuation of the middleboro secondary (east-west orientation that goes to middleboro) and the start of the New Bedford secondary that continues to Myricks and splits there to NB and FR/Newport, RI.
update: I just found Weir junction on the map - it looks like at one time, the stoughton ROW split at Broadway (rt 138) just south of Center Street in Prattville where is continues to Whittenton Junction forming a large triangle north of Taunton - is this correct?? It also (obviously) continues to Weir Junction. I suppose they could use either of these alignments depending on where they want the Taunton station and be able to get more riders.
The junction near Silver City is Copley Junction - correct??
I see now that is makes sense to split this line at Myricks to sevre both FR/NB 'seperately' versus it being one train - thanks!!
what is a WYE (sorry for stupid ?)?
thanks for all the help MBTA F40PH...
A WYE is the same thing as a loop track, it turns the train around so that it's locomotive end faces the north direction as it was when traveling southbound or vice versa (or eastward from west and vice versa).
mental757 wrote:On the map, I traced the Stoughton ROW down to Taunton where it meets with the middleboro secondary at what is labeled whittenton junction, just northeast of Taunton.
I also see Weir village just south of taunton and a junction just north of the silver city galleria where I assume is the continuation of the middleboro secondary (east-west orientation that goes to middleboro) and the start of the New Bedford secondary that continues to Myricks and splits there to NB and FR/Newport, RI.
update: I just found Weir junction on the map - it looks like at one time, the stoughton ROW split at Broadway (rt 138) just south of Center Street in Prattville where is continues to Whittenton Junction forming a large triangle north of Taunton - is this correct?? It also (obviously) continues to Weir Junction. I suppose they could use either of these alignments depending on where they want the Taunton station and be able to get more riders.
The junction near Silver City is Copley Junction - correct??
I see now that is makes sense to split this line at Myricks to sevre both FR/NB 'seperately' versus it being one train - thanks!!
what is a WYE (sorry for stupid ?)?
thanks for all the help MBTA F40PH...
no question is dumb. and yes that is Copley near the silver city
Robert Paniagua wrote:A WYE is the same thing as a loop track, it turns the train around so that it's locomotive end faces the north direction as it was when traveling southbound or vice versa (or eastward from west and vice versa).Not quite. A wye is a track configuration shaped like a Y, hence the name. In this case the Attleboro Secondary branch is only accessible to trains traveling northbound on the NEC (because it was originally built for trains traveling between NYC and the Cape). A train from Boston would have to pull past the junction and then reverse onto the branch. Making the intersection into a wye, with links in both directions from the branch to the NEC, would allow southbound trains to proceed directly onto the branch.
When did Fall River/New Bedford service cease? What routing did the New Haven usually use for those trains? (Of course, I know the Old Colony was a much more viable option back before the Red Line...)
Service beyond Stoughton to FR/NB ended in 1958, a year before the rest of the Old Colony. My understanding is that there was a while when FR/NB trains went down the Shore Line to Mansfield then to Taunton. The routings may have alternated between the Stoughton Branch and the line from Mansfield over the years until the Rt 106 grade separation project in Mansfield was completed in the mid 1950's, severing the line to Taunton. After that, trains went via Stoughton until the end. Early on, trains were routed from Boston south on the Old Colony main then onto the branch from Braintree Highlands through Randolph to Stoughton. This was before the link between Canton Jct and Stoughton was completed and maybe after (late 1800's?).