Grand Junction Branch (The North/South Side Connection)

[GP40MC1118]

Huh?

The GJ at Swift Interlocking crosses the FRML at grade. You cannot get to North Station directly off
the GJ. The only way would be to go through Yard 14 at BET. There is no "wrong iron". The only
other way via the FRML is to come off the GJ, then make a reverse west out to the mainline, then
reverse again via the main to North Station. If anyone has heard the Terminal TD and mostly Amtrak
equipment moves refer to the "Swift Shuffle", that would be the latter move.

Given the current track throws necessitated by the GLX extension to Union Square, any redesign to
make a direct GJ connection to the FRML problematic. Unless you went back to the series of
crossovers that existed in the 80's when Tower H was there. Unfortunately, subsequent realignments
since then makes this another problematic solution.

Sorry, as much as there are those here who can't stand the thought of SoCo Rail, I feel the same
about this extension to Union Square and most of the design of GLX in Somerville in and around
BET. That Brickbottom can dictate where a service facility is located (away from them as usual),
borders on the outrageous. That the pols and designers can just take track away from commuter rail
and think there's no consequences is nuts.

D

[CRail]

I forgot about the awkward layout of Swift Jct. It's hard to tell the exact angles just by looking on google maps thanks to the McGrath Highway being plopped directly over it, but it does look possible to tie the GJ directly into the Fitchburg main, and with what the GLX is going to take away, it looks as though that might have to happen anyway.

I had the Medford extension pretty well visualized as far as routing is concerned, but never really spent the time to wrap my head around where the Union Sq. branch would go. Now that I've better acquainted myself with the lay of the land over there, I think D (1118) has a pretty merited gripe about tracks being taken. Unless the GLX is elevated over Swift (which would require that it be elevated over the McGrath Hwy overpass, in other words; sha, as if), the access to BET and the rest of the GJ to Everett is obliterated. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens over there.

That brings up a whole new topic (relative to this thread), what's going to happen to the Grand Junction at Swift when the Green Line is built?

[octr202]

Of course the even bigger issue is also the fact that Brickbottom forced the Green Line yard/shop facility to be forced back into the Inner Belt area, instead of laid out neatly along Yard 8 (I think I have that one right), which makes a challenge into a clusterf***.

The Union Square branch is a great idea. How they're going about parts of it (to satisfy local politics and NIMBYs) is lousy.

[BostonUrbEx]

The GJ at Swift Interlocking crosses the FRML at grade. You cannot get to North Station directly off
the GJ. The only way would be to go through Yard 14 at BET. There is no "wrong iron". The only
other way via the FRML is to come off the GJ, then make a reverse west out to the mainline, then
reverse again via the main to North Station. If anyone has heard the Terminal TD and mostly Amtrak
equipment moves refer to the "Swift Shuffle", that would be the latter move.

My mistake, I thought that after the two diamonds there was a switch which could lead into the outbound tracks.

The Union Square branch is a great idea. How they're going about parts of it (to satisfy local politics and NIMBYs) is lousy.

This. But I think the maintenance facility debacle is the primary problem I have.

[BandA]

No way to make it a straight shot from SS. The angle at which it splits off from the Worcester Line is way too sharp, and both the GJ and Worcester Line are directly underneath the Mass Pike viaduct at the first chance you'd have available to shiv in a wye, meaning you've got 125 ft. of viaduct width to pull a complete U-turn...and have to negotiate all the viaduct support columns to do it. Impossible. You would not be able to split off further to the east where the lines diverge for a wider wye, either, because the Pike is on an incline between the lines as it rises up onto the viaduct.

Plenty of room for a loop now that Beacon Park has been "abandoned". You'd probably also need a seperate single-track bridge crossing Storrow Drive & the river, meeting the existing bridge near the Cambridge side. No idea what this would cost, but maybe Harvard would pay for it in exchange for a Commuter Rail stop in their development. Reverse moves don't sound like much fun.

[CRail]

Beacon Park is allocated for development by its owner. Trains could loop at the current engine house, but changing ends while dwelling at a station (@ New Balance) would probably end up being faster and it would cover more ground. Remember, should something like this ever come to fruition, it would most likely not be with current equipment.

[csor2010]

Although there still seemed to be equipment on the bridge yesterday morning, B721 went up the branch around 14:00 and came back around 16:45 light engines. They had 6217 and 6247 for power.

[GP40MC1118]

The Grand Jct RT went back in service Sunday afternoon. The first moves were a
two engine Rustbuster extra, then the Sperry Car and finally a roundtrip run of
the Southside Terminal Switcher.

Don't know what CSX was doing on the GJ except maybe making a shift or
qualifying a crew. The passing siding is out of service.

D

[F-line to Dudley via Park]

Is this it for bridge repairs? What did they do this time that they didn't get to in the first emergency shutdown?

[CRail]

The bridge's second full day back in service and a truck struck it from Storrow Drive. The Broadway crossing in Cambridge has a couple lights twisted making them look defunct. How many crossings have to be protected currently?

[F-line to Dudley via Park]

The bridge's second full day back in service and a truck struck it from Storrow Drive. The Broadway crossing in Cambridge has a couple lights twisted making them look defunct. How many crossings have to be protected currently?

Mass Ave., Main, Broadway, and Binney are flashers-only. Medford St., Cambridge St., and the MIT ped crossing have full gates. They're supposed to eventually rehab and gate those 4 crossings as a condition of the line's sale to the state, but no timetable or firm funding is attached to that commitment.

[GP40MC1118]

-All nine crossings are Line 12 Stop & Protect's due to rusty rail conditions.
Don't know how long that will stay on.

The passing siding is out of service for various reasons. Switch stand on the west
end was damaged by a car just after the second outage. And the siding is very
overgrown now and has to be brushcut to be usable.

Frankly, with Beacon Park closed, the only use the siding will likely get is when
the circus train comes to town.

D

[GP40MC1118]

CSX B721 is back...Went to Everett today lite engine..

D

[BostonUrbEx]

Just curious if the Grand Junction is track warrant territory or just other than main track.

Is there anywhere in the MBTA system which uses Form D Line 2? I know the stations at Lowell and Rockport are other than main track.

[GP40MC1118]

The Grand Jct is a running track and only requires verbal authority to be occupied
by trains and track cars. One wrinkle here is a crossing malfunction requires a Form D
Line 12. Currently there are four crossings out of service (Mass Ave/Broadway/MIT &
Cambridge St), but have been out so long they are in Bulletin Orders thus not requiring
Form D's.

A new operating requirement was instituted a month ago for eastbound trains that
requires them not to pass Cambridge St until permission is given from the Northside
Terminal TD.

On the Northside, the only Form D Line 2's (except for track cars) given these days are
"wrong iron" moves in ABS(251) territory. The only long stretches of 251 left these days
are the Gloucester Branch double track and the Western Route between Fells and Ash St in
Reading. The Fitchburg Route still has 251, but not for long.

D