New CR Station for New Balance in Brighton

[The EGE]

I believe there will be a new (temporary?) interlocking just east of the station that the (temporary?) track visible in my photo will be connected to.

Yawkey will not be getting bustitution for the weekend - it's primarily used by day-shift LMA workers (fewer of whom would be working weekends than the second and third-shift workers) and Fenway attendees, and it's close to the Green Line.

[dbperry]

They should annul Yawkey or provide separate shuttle.

Yawkey is annuled this weekend with NO bustitution. Makes sense to me, given that it isn't baseball season.

I assume they are skipping the Newton stations due to the single track platforms with lack of switches without CP4, and/or interruption of the signal system.

I'm guessing you're correct with all those reasons along with low ridership and the hassle of making all the bustituted riders (inbound and outbound) go up and down the stairs at Newtonville to change from bus to train service.

[dbperry]

So, since CP-4 is currently west of the new station, does this mean:

A) only one platform for the station
B) CP-4 is moved east of the station and we continue to have the single track through beacon yard
C) They finish double tracking through beacon yard and we don't have to deal with late trains anymore

I believe there will be a new (temporary?) interlocking just east of the station that the (temporary?) track visible in my photo will be connected to.

The design of the Boston Landing station is a center platform serving two tracks on each side. So I have to assume that the construction of the station includes double tracking the area around the station.

Double tracking through Beacon Park is probably not part of this construction because:
1) Final design of West Station and I-90 Allston project will dictate configuration (and exact placement of tracks) there. That final design is not complete.
2) Double tracking the area between the tangent track at the east end of Beacon Park and CP-3 is going to be somewhat complicated, since the Grand Junction lead and freight leads need to get sorted out. Or at least more complicated than the area through Beacon Park where the track arrangement is already pretty workable.
3) If Boston Landing construction is either being executed or just funded by the developer, including somewhat out of scope upgrades through Beacon Park may be difficult to integrate into the construction contracts. I didn't say impossible, just difficult, especially if not negotiated as part of the project. Too bad they couldn't get the developer to pay for the entire double track, but the timing of all this along with issues 1 & 2 above probably would prevent it regardless.

So, here are my hopes and guesses:

1) Certain: CP-4 remains in service at least temporarily, to split traffic onto the 2 tracks from the single shoo-fly track.
2) Almost certain (based on pictures): The temporary (?) interlocking next to the red dump truck, east of Boston Landing station, serves as the switch to the freight lead into Beacon Park during construction. That will be the only switch there - the connection from the shoo-fly to the existing mainline single track doesn't need a switch since the mainline along the station will be OOS (or relocated) during construction.
3) Hope: CP-4 remains in service after construction is complete, and the shoo-fly temporary track remains in place as the permanent freight lead to Beacon Park with connections to the mainline at CP-4. So at the station, there will be three tracks - two mainline on either side of center platform station plus one freight track closest to the Pike. Actually, this may be necessary to maintain wide freight clearance into Beacon Park if Boston Landing station doesn't include drop platforms (I hope it doesn't!).
4) Almost certain: Somewhere near the new temporary interlocking next to the red dump truck, a new permanent interlocking will be installed to split the future post-construction traffic from 2 mainline tracks to the single Beacon Park track. No idea if the new permanent interlocking will also include a switch / lead into the freight yard - may depend on my guess in #3 above.

Dave

[MBTA3247]

Is the Worcester line east of Framingham still a freight clearance route?

[The EGE]

No, that was given up as part of the 2010 sale conditions. With the new Worcester yard, CSX doesn't need clearance east of the Framingham Secondary junction. I believe the last clearance job to operate was to the Herald's old site, which is long gone and blocked by full-high Yawkey anyway.

[dbperry]

I created a few track diagrams and took some pictures of the shoo fly track implementation on Saturday. Posted everything to my blog:

http://dbperry.weebly.com/blog/why-was- ... is-weekend" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There are 2 pictures there but I put those and a few more on nerail.org:

http://photos.nerail.org/show/?order=by ... ey=dbperry" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[parovoz]

I took few pictures on Friday:
http://intl.parovoz.com/newgallery/pg_v ... 833&LNG=EN
http://intl.parovoz.com/newgallery/pg_v ... 834&LNG=EN
http://intl.parovoz.com/newgallery/pg_v ... 835&LNG=EN

[BandA]

Weird how the new track jogs around the inside of CP4 control box. Also weird how they dug down & put fresh ballast down. Was there a layer of cement placed under the ballast? Was the existing ballast & drainage not good enough? Is this stick rail or welded?

[Rockingham Racer]

Thanks Dave for the report. Your last diagram shows single track heading east to CP3. I thought the plan was to put in double track on that stretch.

[bierhere]

How big is the expected impact? We were easily delayed over 10 minutes on P502 this morning. Are we expecting this impact to every train going forward?

[dbperry]

Weird how the new track jogs around the inside of CP4 control box. Also weird how they dug down & put fresh ballast down. Was there a layer of cement placed under the ballast? Was the existing ballast & drainage not good enough? Is this stick rail or welded?

Appears to be welded rail. My guesses:
1) Higher quality install for higher track speeds?
2) Will this shoo-fly track remain as the freight lead in my last diagram (therefore it's not really temporary)?
3) Someone else is paying for it (not MBTA), so maybe MBTA demanded more expensive 'ideal' installation?

Not sure what you mean about jog around CP 4 box. I think CP 4 is far enough west of Boston Landing station that it didn't need to be disturbed - they could keep the eastbound track 2 to track 1 switch (actually now the track 2 to single track switch) in place for this new track configuration.

[dbperry]

Thanks Dave for the report. Your last diagram shows single track head east to CP3. I though the plan was to put in double track on that stretch.

See my post above (12/2/15 @ 12:10 PM) for reasons I don't think double track is part of this project.

[dbperry]

How big is the expected impact? We were easily delayed over 10 minutes on P502 this morning. Are we expecting this impact to every train going forward?

Apparently they either had problems with signal reconfiguration at CP 4 (or just didn't finish it). Status on Monday AM:

CP 4 is under control of C&S (not in dispatcher control) and every train has to:
1) first receive permission through work area from track foreman at Boston Landing construction site;
2) then, once stopped at CP 4, get a rule 241 permission past stop signal.

Using the rule 241 permission means restricted speed all the way through Beacon Park for inbound trains, so delay is not just stopping and getting permission.

No response from @MBTA_CR on expected duration of this situation...

The temporary stop boards eastbound before the curve before CP 4 are still in place. My guess is that once they get CP 4 operational and get some snow fencing up to separate the work area from the new temporary shoo fly main line, the stop boards will come down and there will no longer be any need for trains to communicate with / receive permission through work area from track foreman.

Having CP 4 back in dispatcher control and work area restrictions removed should solve our delay problems. Hopefully CP 4 is fixed today... maybe a couple days to get work area restrictions removed?

[BandA]

Weird how the new track jogs around the inside of CP4 control box. Also weird how they dug down & put fresh ballast down. Was there a layer of cement placed under the ballast? Was the existing ballast & drainage not good enough? Is this stick rail or welded?

Appears to be welded rail. My guesses:
1) Higher quality install for higher track speeds?
2) Will this shoo-fly track remain as the freight lead in my last diagram (therefore it's not really temporary)?
3) Someone else is paying for it (not MBTA), so maybe MBTA demanded more expensive 'ideal' installation?

Not sure what you mean about jog around CP 4 box. I think CP 4 is far enough west of Boston Landing station that it didn't need to be disturbed - they could keep the eastbound track 2 to track 1 switch (actually now the track 2 to single track switch) in place for this new track configuration.

I was talking about the box east of the platform, maybe this isn't CP 4 as that switch west of the platform is still in place.... The jog is where the "freight lead" connects the yard track into the shoefly. Looking at the photo again, they could have kept the freight lead straight, but that would have required tracks on both sides of that box, making life more interesting for the signal maintainers I'm guessing they eventually move the signal box, straighten the shoefly as the freight/bypass track, and install the outbound platform track inside the shoefly.

I see in the earlier photos that they did pour cement under what is now the shoefly track near the platform area; perhaps this will be the footing for the crossover? It's weird that they dug out for the track areas but not the platform.

What do they do with the old ballast? Is it considered contaminated?

[dbperry]

I was talking about the box east of the platform, maybe this isn't CP 4 as that switch west of the platform is still in place.... The jog is where the "freight lead" connects the yard track into the shoefly.

Ahhh...correct. That box next to the hand operated 'freight lead' / yard track switch is not within the CP 4 interlocking. That box is actually brand new, and I was also wondering why they decided to locate it there and not have the freight / yard lead go straight off the shoo fly as tangent track.

The box is not in this picture from 11/14/15 (from THE EGE's previous post above) - the location of the box is about halfway between the excavator and the survey stake if you use the green fence on the right for reference.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... r_2015.JPG" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"130MM" mentioned in the West Station thread (quoted by me a few posts back on this thread) that this switch is going to be powered up in the future, so that must be the purpose of the box.