What's with Watertown?

Theres one stretch where it looks like the ties have all split down the middle, like parallel to the rails, and one half of that combo looks like it's sinking down and away. it must be crazy to see trains going through there!

I just came from a Mass Highway and DCR public hearing on the proposed Watertown branch multiuse path. The state Executive Office of Transportation (EOT) owns the right of way from school street to grove street in Watertown and will be constructing a bike path from school street to Nichol's Ave/Dexter Ave. Pan Am sold all rights back in 2000(ish) to the state. This is an earmarked and shovel ready project so this portion of the ROW will be built on no mater what.

In the future (long term) the state would like to purchase the right of way from grove street to fresh pond in Cambridge to construct phase II and III of the their plan to integrate the path with the alewife T stop and the minuteman bikeway. Pan Am has not been willing to sell to the state according to Mass Highway. Mass Highway was unaware that Newlyweds has not been receiving rail shipments. A person mentioned that newlyweds was only receiving truck shipments coming from Brighton. That's consistent with transloading at beacon park, right?

Senator Tollman was present and stressed he would like to see a dual use path which would still allow for rail shipments. The thought of this intrigued me because a dual use path/railway would almost certainly necessitate reconstruction of the track (on the State's tab perhaps?). All in all an informative hearing that showed the watertown branch is not quit dead yet.


Here is a quick google map showing the plan: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie ... 7&t=h&z=15

LA-1 went to newlyweds today with 1 car!












Nah, april fools!! I wonder if theres like 2' of water under that bridge.

I bet its more than 2 feet of water....

That said, anyone know the last time they went down there?

Thanks,
Stephen

What!? This would be the first train in over two years! The last train was in February of 2008 when 4 to 5 empties were picked up.

They did fix under the bridge right? So it should be passible these days, right? Not during a 5" rain storm but, when that's gone, whats stopping the deliveries? When Newlyweds orders X amount of flower, who decides if it gets trucked in or train'ed?

Newer track was installed under the bridge in the fall of 2007. If I'm remembering correctly, the newer track was placed on top of the sunken track. Not sure if it was cheaper to just leave the old track in place or if they did so in hopes that it would add more stability to the track above.

b&m 1566 wrote:Newer track was installed under the bridge in the fall of 2007. If I'm remembering correctly, the newer track was placed on top of the sunken track. Not sure if it was cheaper to just leave the old track in place or if they did so in hopes that it would add more stability to the track above.

The earth was swallowing that back up long before the rains. There's near-subterranean track on the other side of the Waterworks along Fresh Pond Pkwy, too. And there's lots of trash--big things like cinderblocks--littering the ROW from Fresh Pond Cinemas to the Parkway. You couldn't even get a speeder down that thing right now.

Is the yellow track machine (used in the installation of the newer track under the bridge) still sitting down by Newlyweds?

b&m 1566 wrote:Is the yellow track machine (used in the installation of the newer track under the bridge) still sitting down by Newlyweds?

They drove that to the Waterworks in winter 2008, ditched it overnight by the underpass, then had to rescue it on a flatbed a few days later when a blizzard dumped almost 2 feet and made the line impassible.

Riding by on the commuter rail on a daily basis the end of the branch at W. Cambridge looks like it hasn't seen a wheel in years. Also the nearby yard tracks that once served the lumber co-op are swallowed up by trees and bushes, and there are some derelict box cars around. The co-op moved to N. Billerica some years ago and is still served by the railroad.

Why did Newlyweds change from rail deliveries to truck deliveries?

b&m 1566 wrote:Why did Newlyweds change from rail deliveries to truck deliveries?

I believe they would always follow the cheaper price. I also believe I read somewhere that they now transload from Beacon Park.

I happened to be in the area of the NESN offices in Watertown (480 Arsenal St.) and noticed some significant brush clearing on the tracks. Are the finally putting a rail trail in there?

The line is not officially abandoned, nor can it be from my understanding, so if there is going to be a trail, it’s going to most likely run alongside the tracks. Supposedly back in the day the Watertown Branch was doubled tracked so there may be room for the paved rail trail. Since Pan Am still owns the ROW, I find it hard to believe they will allow a trail on their property. It would be nice if Newlyweds went back to direct rail but I doubt that is happening… although fuel prices are on the rise again and with that means higher truck rates!