Buzzards Bay Rail Study (again!)

In December, 2005, the Buzzards Bay Village Association voted unanimously to fund (another!) study of plans to extend rail service from Middleboro to Wareham and Buzzards Bay. This rail service could link up with a private rail service to Hyannis. This in turn could lead to rail service to other Cape Cod Points over the longer term. The private service was first proposed in 2001, but was ignored by the state.
Check out the website of the Buzzards Bay Association for this interesting development.
Will it happen? Only if our leaders have vision and the silent majority have the effrontery to speak up.

Stay tuned....

(www.buzzardsbayvillage.org)

I think it is time that something is running to the Cape. I wouldn't mind having the commuter rail run all the way to Hyannis. One problem is where would parking be. I guess commuter trains would layover in the yard just above the station. Those tracks have to be fixed up a lot if commuter rail or any type of passenger rail were to return on the cape. If it were to be a two seat ride to Hyannis with the RDC, it would also do it. I'm sure a big park an ride lot could be created in Buzzards Bay with a layover yard. Route 6, 6a, and all other roads keep clogging up, especially during the summer.

Let's not forget that popular rail service ran to the Cape in the nineteen eighties, and was cut due to funding cuts and politics, not because of any perceived harm that it may have had on the environment, or the myth that trains would "bring more people in". with that same logic, we should not have bus or airline service here as well. yet, as long as the same myths are perpetuated, the fight will be more difficult if the "sheeple" do not raise their voices. Yes, it also helps to have pro-rail politicians on our side.
IMHO, none of the Cape's recent politicians were ever for rail service.
but if the people made a loud voice, our leaders would have to start helping out if they want to have a better chance at reelection.
Anyway,Cape rail service should be a relatively low-cost venture, considering that we have renovated infrastructure, including a never-used signal system and tax-renovated rail stations, "all fixed up with no trains to go."
The cost would be paltry compared to the Sagamore Flyover which, also IMHO, would only encourage more autos as long as there was no accompanying rail service.

I dont know too much about the rail line to the Cape but i would think that if they can improve the roadbed enough to allow decent speeds (at least somewhat comparible to auto) and ran trains rather frequently then this train could be a good viable transportation option for both visitors from the boston area going to the cape and also for Cape residents going to boston.

pdxstreetcar wrote:I dont know too much about the rail line to the Cape but i would think that if they can improve the roadbed enough to allow decent speeds (at least somewhat comparible to auto) and ran trains rather frequently then this train could be a good viable transportation option for both visitors from the boston area going to the cape and also for Cape residents going to boston.

"comparable to auto" to/from the Cape means 10 mph, at least in the summer.

Seems to me the primary ridership will be people who now drive to parking lots in Hyannis or Woods Hole to take ferries to the islands.

These people won't be using their cars while on vacation, so why not provide a service that lets them leave their cars at home?

Maybe Amtrak should reintroduce a rerouted Cape Codder from BOS to Hyannis via the Middleboro/Lakeville line with a cafe car, since the MBTA would consider that beyond commuting route.

As a former Cape Cod Central Railroad employee, I've seen alot of talk about passenger rail returning to the Cape. The one Major hurdle is the canal.. The bridge would have to be dropped several times a day, snarling traffic on the canal. From my experiences on the Friday night Dinner Trains that go over the bridge, you have to be ON TIME or you could face a major bridge delay. I think that if commuter or even feeder service were to be doable, the tracks would need to be substantially rehabbed. track speed is a measly 30 now, down from 40 almost 20 years ago, and there are alot of speed restrictions. Also there is freight traffic to contend with too. Bay Colony, to whom the Cape Main is contracted runs twice daily trains over the line. So in short, there are some major wrinkles that need to be ironed out. Not to mention that the owner of Cape Cod Central is a meiser and would most definately want a finger in what ever rail service pie there is.

Maybe Amtrak should reintroduce a rerouted Cape Codder from BOS to Hyannis...

Amtrak will reintroduce anything you want if you pay them. It's called "403-b."

-otto-

Otto Vondrak wrote:

Maybe Amtrak should reintroduce a rerouted Cape Codder from BOS to Hyannis...

Amtrak will reintroduce anything you want if you pay them. It's called "403-b."

-otto-

That's right, that's what the old cape Codder was funded by last time, so hopefully, if we ever have plan 403B (State Funding), we may be able to get that Cape Cod Train rolling.

Any train service to the ferry docks would do best if it coordinated with the P&B Street Railway (love the name) buses. The bus company should see the sense of adding more trips and common ticketing; even that rather reluctant company up in New Hampshire has now set up common ticketing and complementary schedules with the Downeaster, and sensibly expects to get more riders since the service will be more convenient.
When I spent a few weeks in Grey Gables in the 1980s the CC&HRR trains crossed the canal regularly, quite a few times a day. They didn't tie up bridge traffic for long. Does anyone know if the RR has the right of way over the canal, since the RR was there first? I know that river traffic has the right over most drawbridge traffice because the river was there first, but I'm not sure how it works on the canal. Obviously the fierce currents in the canal mean you have to give some notice when closing the bridge; the Corps of Engineers at least used to send out a boat on whichever was the upstream side at that time of the tide to stop boats well away from the bridge.
I missed the chance to ride the CC&H to the Cape because the year I tried their funding was held up (1987 or so), and the next year I didn't try and only years later discovered that they ran to Braintree again for a year or two. I missed the Amtrak Cape Codder because when I was in high school and college trains were all around close by and going down to Providence and then not having any way back seemed like too much trouble for someone who never even rode all the way to the ends of all the commuter rail lines. The year or two that there were connecting CC&H trains on the other days of the week, and to Falmouth when Amtrak came through Buzzards Bay, was neat to see on the timetables; I don't know why I didn't go have a blast. I think I thought it was such a good idea it would last for a long time.

Arborwayfan wrote:Does anyone know if the RR has the right of way over the canal, since the RR was there first?

While that's true, the Canal is operated by the Army Corps of Engineers. If I recall the lecture at the Norfolk County R.R. Club meeting some time back correctly, the bridge tender needs permission from canal control to lower the span.

When the bridge goes down, a patrol boat is dispatched to the upcurrent side of the bridge. IIRC, when down, there's only six feet or so of clearance between the bottom chord of the bridge and mean high water.

I would think if passenger service were to resume to Hyannis, an arrangement could be made with the Army Corps to have the bridge down for the train's arrival. Failing that, when the train's 10 minutes away, the hogger could just as easily call the bridge tender via radio or cell phone ...

* * * * *

I rode the CC&H twice to get home on the weekend while spending summers on the Cape. One trip, I missed the train in Hyannis (pulled up as it was pulling out). What's a passenger to do? I pointed my '70 Camaro west on Rte 6 and pitted my Chevy 350 against CC&H's EMD 567.

I never got to ride the Cape Codder, though I have pictures of it passing the ex-CB&Q sleeper in Sandwich.

* JB *

what stops did the cape codder make?

I remember the CC&H, having visited Hyannis once and making a nuisance of myself grabbing all the timetables and free stuff I could get from the station agent. Was the Cape Codder and CC&H running at the same time? Did the CC&H make connections to Braintree and the Red Line MBTA? Was this before commuter rail was established to Braintree?

I remember the CC&H, having visited Hyannis once and making a nuisance of myself grabbing all the timetables and free stuff I could get from the station agent. Was the Cape Codder and CC&H running at the same time? Did the CC&H make connections to Braintree and the Red Line MBTA? Was this before commuter rail was established to Braintree?

Yes, they did make a connection to/from the Braintree Red Line Station from 1981 to 1988. The CC & H RR ran from Hyannis thru Middleboro, Brockton, Holbrook/Randolph and Braintree where passengers wishing to go to South Station would have to take a Red Line train there, since the track north of Braintree wasn't there and neither was the bridge over the Neponset River. Also there was no commuter rail to Braintree till September 1997, and CC& H stopped running in 1988.

The Cape Codder, however, ran to PVD and NYP, Amtrak never had it's Cape Cod Trains go to BOS.