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  • Framingham/Worcester Line Questions

  • Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.
Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.

Moderators: sery2831, CRail

 #1432149  by johnpbarlow
 
The recent tour of the CWR train left behind some lengths of 136 pound rail at the Wellesley Hills station. Guessing it will be used to replace elderly 1952 era 127 pound rail? What does the MBTA do with the removed rail - does it get sold for scrap?

Track 2 looks pretty good with recent tie and ballast work.
Attachments:
MBTA Wellesley Hills Station CWR 2.JPG
MBTA Wellesley Hills Station CWR 2.JPG (472.14 KiB) Viewed 4660 times
MBTA Wellesley Hills Station CWR 1.JPG
MBTA Wellesley Hills Station CWR 1.JPG (771.74 KiB) Viewed 4660 times
 #1432173  by F-line to Dudley via Park
 
Recycle for scrap if it's worn out. Re-use the rail somewhere else if its condition fits the bill for a less mission-critical application (easier to do with stick rail).

This isn't old pre-WWII 85 lb. stick scraped off some abandoned line. 127 lb. CWR from an active mainline is worth a lot in recycling, and there are top-tier recycling vendors who specialize in rail hardware. Progress Rail, the Caterpillar-owned company best known as a railcar manufacturer and locomotive rebuilder, has a large scrap recycling division. That's actually where they got their first start before branching out into rolling stock and logistics.
 #1432287  by dbperry
 
johnpbarlow wrote:The recent tour of the CWR train left behind some lengths of 136 pound rail at the Wellesley Hills station. Guessing it will be used to replace elderly 1952 era 127 pound rail? What does the MBTA do with the removed rail - does it get sold for scrap?
The rail removed from the rail replacement projects between Framingham & Worcester over the past few years was relocated down along the Framingham Secondary to be installed there.

The new rail dropped near Back Bay and Wellesley will not be installed any time soon. It was / is more cost effective to buy a full train of CWR rather than a partial train. Hence some places got rail where it isn't needed immediately. There are no plans to install that new rail on the Framingham-Worcester this year. Just FYI.
 #1432288  by dbperry
 
Sorry, I'm going to cross-post this three times since it relates to three different threads, and I want folks to be able to find it if searching for particular information.

New blog post: All about Boston Landing grand opening, including track charts, pictures, and some trivia.

http://framwormbta.weebly.com/blog/bost ... ening-more" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regards

Dave
 #1432355  by johnpbarlow
 
dbperry wrote:The new rail dropped near Back Bay and Wellesley will not be installed any time soon. It was / is more cost effective to buy a full train of CWR rather than a partial train. Hence some places got rail where it isn't needed immediately. There are no plans to install that new rail on the Framingham-Worcester this year. Just FYI.
Interesting... I was wondering why the MBTA would be replacing rail that it just finished de-stressing.
 #1432421  by octr202
 
Not surprising. Some of the rail just installed over the last 12-18 months on the Haverhill project was delivered and dropped in either 2009 or 2010!
 #1432568  by harshaw
 
That's kinda embarassing.

On a different note: Why is there a speed restriction (of some sort) starting before where the track goes under the pike to boston landing. (on inbound). But you also get random slowdowns in this spot on the outbound.
 #1432571  by nomis
 
That's a work zone for the new CP 6 area.
 #1432940  by dbperry
 
"Turn Table" updated - the Worcester / Framingham end of the equipment cycle for the new schedule:

http://framwormbta.weebly.com/turn-table.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1432941  by dbperry
 
As commuter rail service improves, Worcester/Framingham line lags

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/0 ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
To the dismay of its loyal riders, the Worcester/Framingham line has become something of a problem child for the MBTA’s commuter rail.

Nearly one in five trains on the heavily trafficked line was late during the second week of May. That stood in stark contrast to the rest of the network run by Keolis Commuter Services, which reported that 94 percent of all its trains ran on time, the highest mark in more than two years.
David Perry, a longtime rider from Ashland who writes a blog about the line, said he is “cautiously optimistic” about better service.

“I know that I sound like the eternal optimist, but I think we’re nearing the end of this big construction process that’s really gone on for a couple of years,” he said. “I think we should withhold judgment on on-time performance until this project is done.”
Setting myself up to get crucified when OTP doesn't improve...

(I spent a fair amount of time with her on the phone making sure she had her technical details correct (and fixing the misleading things PR flacks had told her))

There are also some good comments in the comments section...along with the Keolis / MBTA bashing.
 #1433949  by harshaw
 
It is mystifying as a passenger why the train sets on this line are so random.

Are we getting a 5 car set today?
A six car set?
What's the setup? Singles mixed with doubles? The dreaded 5 car flat set (horror)?
Where do we stand on the frigging platform?

Also, can you imagine a train operator in Japan mixing up cars in a random jumble of flats mixed with singles? No. The person who did that would get fired. It's looks lazy and disorganized.

<grump grump grump>
 #1434211  by rethcir
 
harshaw wrote:It is mystifying as a passenger why the train sets on this line are so random.

Are we getting a 5 car set today?
A six car set?
What's the setup? Singles mixed with doubles? The dreaded 5 car flat set (horror)?
Where do we stand on the frigging platform?

Also, can you imagine a train operator in Japan mixing up cars in a random jumble of flats mixed with singles? No. The person who did that would get fired. It's looks lazy and disorganized.

<grump grump grump>
I don't think the average rider really cares if they get a seat or a prompt ride.
 #1434213  by RenegadeMonster
 
rethcir wrote:
harshaw wrote:It is mystifying as a passenger why the train sets on this line are so random.

Are we getting a 5 car set today?
A six car set?
What's the setup? Singles mixed with doubles? The dreaded 5 car flat set (horror)?
Where do we stand on the frigging platform?

Also, can you imagine a train operator in Japan mixing up cars in a random jumble of flats mixed with singles? No. The person who did that would get fired. It's looks lazy and disorganized.

<grump grump grump>
I don't think the average rider really cares if they get a seat or a prompt ride.

I think they do. I hear a whole lot of grumbling when only middle seats are available. And those people grumbling about the train being overcrowded rather stand than squeeze in.
 #1434243  by leviramsey
 
RenegadeMonster wrote:
rethcir wrote:
I don't think the average rider really cares if they get a seat or a prompt ride.

I think they do. I hear a whole lot of grumbling when only middle seats are available. And those people grumbling about the train being overcrowded rather stand than squeeze in.
I think rethcir is trying to say that as long as the train is on time and they get a seat, people won't care about how the consist is made up.
 #1434290  by dbperry
 
I have gotten a lot of feedback that indicates people ARE avoiding the Commuter Rail for these issues:

1) overcrowding - no seats available due to ALL seats occupied
2) overcrowding - having to squeeze into 'open' seats that are less than what some passengers (especially women) feel comfortable in terms of 'personal space' (and I'm not trying to be sexist...the overwhelming majority of comments I get on this point are from women).
3) overcrowding - passengers in aisle seats having to contend with passengers crammed into aisles, at less than an ideal ratio of height between seated passenger heads and standing passenger anatomy.
4) lack of consistency in set size resulting in unpredictable overcrowding conditions

I know a number of people who will choose to drive on days where there are alerts (via twitter or apps) or indications that overcrowding will be a problem, even if there are no direct indications that OTP will be a big problem. For example, if the big 8 double set is small on a PM commute (P521), some folks will (usually accurately) assume that the next AM trip for that set (P508) will be the same small set and won't use that train (or CR at all) on that next day.

So yes, on-time performance and the lack of consistency on OTP is probably still a larger complaint factor, but passenger comfort is a very large factor that has driven people away from CR.
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