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  • 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

 #1553681  by wicked
 
Not to stray too far off topic, but I used to make the Middleborough-Boston commute two to four times a month. I can't remember many delays, but more trains through the bottlenecks means more delays (including for Greenbush and Kingston/Plymouth riders) unless they somehow find a way to make these things fly up and over Savin Hill and through Quincy Center. So you're hosing over riders on three lines to serve a relatively small amount of riders from New Bedford and Fall River who inevitably will also end up in delays. I wonder what the operations people inside the T/Keolis really think of this dumb move only being done to soothe some politicians' egos.

And the CR should be double-tracked all the way from Boston to Quincy, if not Braintree, and last summer's Red Line disaster showed the need for more resiliency in the system, but thanks to Big Dig lard we will not be doing any major projects in this state anytime soon.
 #1570195  by wa1lbk2m
 
Here's some progress updates on construction of the Fall River Weaver's Cove layover facility; this drone shot shows an overall view of the site as of April 28th:

https://flic.kr/p/2kVY5gy

Zooming in digitally on the photo once I downloaded it from the drone, I was delighted to see a backhoe being used as a crane to unload panel track sections! :-)

https://flic.kr/p/2kVY5gJ

I'll try to post more photos as construction proceeds...

:wink: Tom Lapointe
Last edited by nomis on Mon May 03, 2021 1:31 pm, edited 1 time in total. Reason: phpbb coding fix
 #1570252  by Arborwayfan
 
Why will trains to NB/Fall River mean more trains and therefore delays on the lines closer to Boston? Why wouldn't they just extend some of the Middleboro/Lakeville trains to the south coast, and tack on a couple more coaches for the additional passengers? Maybe I missed something a couple of years back in the thread. :(
 #1570272  by CRail
 
wicked wrote: Wed Sep 30, 2020 2:43 pm...I wonder what the operations people inside the T/Keolis really think of this dumb move only being done to soothe some politicians' egos.

And the CR should be double-tracked all the way from Boston to Quincy, if not Braintree, and last summer's Red Line disaster showed the need for more resiliency in the system, but thanks to Big Dig lard we will not be doing any major projects in this state anytime soon.
It's a legally bound project with a goofy corner cutting alternative as a stop gap for full build. Keolis has nothing to do with anything, they will just do as they're told, and in this case, the T's doing the same.

Remember that the Old Colony lines were largely abandoned until 1997. The Red Line didn't choke any railroad traffic because there wasn't any when the South Shore line was built.
 #1570415  by BandA
 
wa1lbk2m wrote: Fri Apr 30, 2021 8:07 pm Here's some progress updates on construction of the Fall River Weaver's Cove layover facility; this drone shot shows an overall view of the site as of April 28th:

Image

Zooming in digitally on the photo once I downloaded it from the drone, I was delighted to see a backhoe being used as a crane to unload panel track sections! :-)

Image

I'll try to post more photos as construction proceeds...

:wink: Tom Lapointe
Weird, clicking the links don't work but if I copy the link and "open it in a new tab" it works.
 #1570417  by nomis
 
B&A, Fixed the images above to the links they should of been.
 #1570482  by SOCO11
 
Really nice pictures. If you have the drone, I am curious what is going on to the north, before the Freetown station site. It looks like the siding to the chemical plant and the industrial park are being rebuilt. I have hopes that the chem plant might someday need service but I thought the old industrial park was being developed as mixed use commercial/residential. It is a really large property that goes right down to the river. Both those areas are pretty closed up. You can see some of it from the bridge by the sawmill. There is a lot of work in that are now. It looks like they are drive piles in the sawmill area- maybe to create some kind of grade separation. It seems dangerous to have MBTA blowing through an active sawmill site.
 #1570508  by GP40MC1118
 
I think you mean south of the sawmill? The old IPC or Polaroid siding? That work is Retaining Wall Construction. Following from Soco Rail work press release:
The contractor continues the installation of steel sheeting for retaining walls in the railroad right-of-way from Brightman Lumber to the Ashland Chemical Plant in Freetown.
Installation of soldier piles and precast panels for retaining walls in the vicinity of the Freetown Station site also continues this week and next.
 #1570600  by BandA
 
Since the area is/was near a chemical plant, is there contamination? From the pictures it looks like they are building on a pristine sand beach, just with a big oil storage tank on it!
 #1573348  by west point
 
MBTA announces that Fall river tracks will be close from Thursday 0001 - Monday 0600. This is to replace rail ?
24-Hours/Day Track
As part of the South Coast Rail Project construction, the MBTA's contractor will be working continuously beginning Wednesday morning, June 9 until Monday morning, June 14 upgrading the existing tracks within the railroad right-of-way between Weaver Street and Cove Street in Fall River.

These track upgrades must be performed during freight rail outages that are coordinated with Mass Coastal Railroad, MassDOT's freight rail operator. These interruptions in freight rail service typically occur over 5-day periods from Wednesday to Monday. During these outages, MBTA's contractor works 24 hours a day to remove the existing track infrastructure and reinstall new track drainage, ballast, railroad ties and Continuously Welded Rail (CWR) that will upgrade the line for both freight and future passenger rail service.

Location of Work: Installation of track from Weaver Street to Cove Street in Fall River.

Dates/Hours of Work: 24 hours/day beginning 6:00 AM, Wednesday, June 9 until 6:00 AM, Monday, June 14.

Also, the contractor will be working continuously beginning Thursday morning, June 10 until Monday morning, June 14 to remove and replace culvert TA-13 located in the railroad right-of-way to the east of the old Quad/Graphics facility (1133 County Street) in Taunton.

Dates/Hours of Work: 24 hours/day beginning 6:00 AM, Thursday, June 10 until 6:00 AM Monday, June 14.

To prepare for the upcoming track outage, the contractor has been exporting material off of the railroad right-of-way to designated stockpile locations in Assonet and Fall River. While every effort will be made to minimize trucking outside the hours of 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, additional overnight trucking is anticipated in order to complete the work within the allowed outage.

Location of Work:

Construction Yard, 11 Campanelli Drive, Assonet
Weaver's Cove Layover Facility, 2680 North Main Street, Fall River
Dates/Hours of Work: Next week: 7:00 PM, Wednesday, June 9 until 7:00 AM, Thursday, June 10.
 #1578001  by west point
 
TWENTY FOUR HOUR WORK thru Aug 16.

As part of the South Coast Rail Project construction, the MBTA’s contractor will be working continuously beginning Thursday morning, August 5 until Monday morning, August 16 working within the railroad right-of-way across the South Coast Rail Corridor.

This work will be performed during an outage coordinated with Mass Coastal Railroad, the freight rail operator. The work performed during this 11-day outage will occur around the clock to facilitate the removal of existing track infrastructure and the installation of new bridges, ballast, rail ties, rail and other infrastructure as required for the project without interruption due to active freight traffic.

MBTA's contractor will have crews working 24-hours a day at various locations along the corridor during different periods of the 11-day outage to perform the following work:

Installation of new track from Mill Street in Berkley to Beechwood Road in Assonet
Installation of Assonet River Bridge in Lakeville
Installation of Adams Lane Crossing in Berkley
Installation of Culvert BK-9 in Berkley
Installation of Farm Road Bridge near Ashland Specialty Ingredients (Ashland Chemical) in Assonet
Access to the railroad right-of-way will be via the grade crossings located at Beechwood Road in Assonet, and via Adams Lane and Mill Street in Berkley; Mill Street will also be a staging area for crews, materials and various pieces of heavy equipment.

Map displaying track work between Mill Street and Beechwood Road, including Adams Lane Crossing Work and Culvert BK-9 Work
Daytime Work on Middleborough Secondary and New Bedford Main Line
General Activities

Ongoing work includes ground survey, switch installation, site preparation, sheet pile wall installation, drainage and utility installation, and equipment, material and soil deliveries occurring at the station and layover sites and along the railroad right-of-way from Middleborough to New Bedford.

The contractor continues the installation of steel sheeting, soldier piles and precast panels for retaining walls in the railroad right-of-way in Berkley and heading south along the New Bedford Main Line.
 #1578304  by Maverickstation1
 
Posters that have been placed in some of the renovated CR coaches promoting the future South Coast Rail service.

Saw this one today coming back from Singing Beach.
cr2.jpg
cr2.jpg (98.44 KiB) Viewed 1238 times
cr1.jpg
cr1.jpg (86.84 KiB) Viewed 1238 times
 #1578340  by bostontrainguy
 
Seems a bit premature. Why not announce the actual future service via Middleboro? This route will not materialize for many years if at all.
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