Dover - basic question

Hi - Could someone give me (a newbie) an intro to PanAm/Amtrak activity in Dover? Is there a routine freight schedule, what are the various tracks I'm looking at, recent happenings, etc.? Thanks for any local wisdom...

Here's a few Dover pointers:

Dover Yard: There are four tracks running through Dover east of the Broadway Bridge. #1 Main track is welded rail and it the through track used by the Downeasters and freights that are not stopping at Dover. #2 Main track runs from the Broadway Bridge to Rollinsford. This track was previously stick rail with a 10 MPH speed limit, but part of it is being upgraded to welded rail, so that the Downeasters can use it. The #2 main is used by freights doing work at Dover and/or tying down for recrews and to clear the main line for Downeasters or through freights.
The third track is called "freight #1" and is used most notably to store the NH Northcoast gravel train. This has a power switch on the Broaway end, but just a hand throw switch on the east end past the Oak St. Bridge. The fourth track is called "freight #2" and is used to set off and pick up cars for the NHN and other GRS/PAR local cars and work cars and equipment.
Legal observation of Dover Yard is difficult, as it is well posted for no trespassing. Observations can be made from the Pottery parking lot and the Oak St, Bridge. However, the bridge has no sidewalk and standing there is dangerous. The Downeaster station is a good spot to watch.

Trains: Other than the Downeasters, the only "scheduled" freight train is DOBO (Dover-Boston), which is the NHN gravel train that uses NHN power to run to Boston. It usually leaves Dover around 8PM, after DE #687 clears Dover. Currently it is running on Monday thru Thursday nights and returns to Dover early the next morning. The train arrives from Ossipee in the afternoon, usually between 4-5 PM. The NHN crew takes the train North at 7AM Tuesday thru Friday. Guilford trains can show up at any time. There are at least two pairs of through trains per day. Train symbols seem to change, but westbound symbols are NMED, RUED and WAED. Eastbound trains are EDNM, EDRU and EDWA. Generally, GRS tries to run many of these trains at night to avoid conflict with the DE's.

You did not indicate if you have or plan to get a scanner. This is most helpful, as radio chatter can give you a good idea when many of the freight trains will be in the Dover area.

Run the website below for lots of GRS information. Dover is in District #2, so take special note of that section.

http://home.comcast.net/~petlick/grs.htm

Dick

The Oak Street bridge is being rebuilt as we speak. I expect the new one will have a sidewalk

For several years, there was a plan to install a completely new bridge on Oak St. in Dover. Unfortunately, probably account of a shortage of funds, the repairs underway are for the replacement of the current deck only. I stand to be corrected, but it is my understanding that there will not be a sidewalk added, since the bridge is already quite narrow by today's standards. In addition, seeing that about $150,000 is being spent on the deck job, there surely won't be a new bridge in the foreseeable future.

A sidewalk would have made Oak St, an excellent railfanning location.

Dick H

Also of interest is that the aforementioned Pottery Barn is the former B&M Dover engine house. The turntable pit was located in the parking lot.

DOVER — Extreme rust discovered underneath the Oak Street bridge being repaired by state workers will add a month to complete the project, leaving Aug. 31 as the new projected end date.

N.H. Department of Transportation spokesman Bill Boynton said the project will need more steel work than originally expected. Boynton said work crews had planned on simply replacing the decking, but now will need to do more work to remove and replace rusted sections.

On May 9, the department announced the Oak Street bridge will be closed for traffic, starting on May 29, to allow for bridge deck replacement work. The project was expected to last eight weeks, wrapping up this month.

Warning signs and concrete barriers are in place to alert motorists, and offer a detour. Motorists will be directed along Broadway to St. John's to Chapel to Portland Avenue.

According to the DOT, the wood decking beneath the bridge's asphalt surface is rotten and needs to be replaced. The department will also complete minor metal work on the bridge.

The project was initially projected to cost $150,000 and will come from state money.

On Tuesday, Boynton could not provide an estimate for how much the delay will add to the project, adding the work will be completed by state workers.

The project will not involve widening the state-owned structure.

Dick H wrote:DOVER — Extreme rust discovered underneath the Oak Street bridge being repaired by state workers will add a month to complete the project, leaving Aug. 31 as the new projected end date.

N.H. Department of Transportation spokesman Bill Boynton said the project will need more steel work than originally expected. Boynton said work crews had planned on simply replacing the decking, but now will need to do more work to remove and replace rusted sections.

On May 9, the department announced the Oak Street bridge will be closed for traffic, starting on May 29, to allow for bridge deck replacement work. The project was expected to last eight weeks, wrapping up this month.

Warning signs and concrete barriers are in place to alert motorists, and offer a detour. Motorists will be directed along Broadway to St. John's to Chapel to Portland Avenue.

According to the DOT, the wood decking beneath the bridge's asphalt surface is rotten and needs to be replaced. The department will also complete minor metal work on the bridge.

The project was initially projected to cost $150,000 and will come from state money.

On Tuesday, Boynton could not provide an estimate for how much the delay will add to the project, adding the work will be completed by state workers.

The project will not involve widening the state-owned structure.

well, there you go - no sidwalk

I definitely want to get up to Dover this coming school year. Not a bad bike ride from Durham, plus some trains and some cool shops.

Thanks Dick!

The switch from the No. 2 Main track to the "No. 1 Freight" is called the "56" Switch, probably because it is 56 miles from Boston, but I'm not sure.

Freeman Court looks like it dead-ends right down next to the tracks, but satellite photos of the area are atrocious so I can't tell if that's a public road or what. Is that a good (legal) place to hang out?

Some clarifications: The "56 switch" is one of the last remaining switches in Dover that is referred to by number. At one time, there was a long siding on the other side of the main track and the east switch there (hand throw also) was called the "60 switch". There was a power switch on the west end of this siding and that was called "39 switch" Both 60 and 39 are long gone. The "41 switch" is the power switch from the #2 main line to the freight yard switch. A few of the older employees do sometimes still call this switch by the number. Just where these numbers originated from, I do not know. Dover is 67 miles from Boston.

While Yahoo and other maps show a "Freeman Court" leading off Broadway to the tracks, this is an error. Freeman Court is a short dead end street off Everett St. that never ran across Broadway into the rail yard. There is a private driveway in that approximate location that leads up to the former location of the Dover freight house. The freight house and railroad property east of the building were purchased by the D.F. Richard Energy Company about three years ago and is now used for the terminal for their oil and propane trucks. However, you can take this driveway up the hill and bear to the right behind the former building materials building and park some distance from the main line. GRS/PAR does have the area close to the tracks posted as No Trespassing. While you can see the trains there, photographic opportunities are very limited. While I have not seen any Dover PD patrols in that area, there was a recent incident of old tie piles being set on fire on the other side of the tracks, so there could be additional patrolling in that area. Also, it is close to the propane storage facility, which is fenced in, but the gate is open during working hours and could prompt a "suspicious person or vehicle" call to the local PD in this day and age. You do see photos on various sites of parked trains in Dover, but most of these photos did require going on to railroad property. In general, Dover is not too good a location for picture taking.

Dick

Finch wrote:I definitely want to get up to Dover this coming school year. Not a bad bike ride from Durham, plus some trains and some cool shops.

Why ride all the way to Dover when you can just cruise to the Dairy Bar/Whit and catch trains right there? And all from public property and with various photo locations.

During my attendance there from 96-98, there was a big chain link fence where today's platform is. There were talks of Amtrak coming, but it didn't happen during my tenure, and old Guilford freights would rock and roll back and forth at about 10 mph, usually in the overnight hours.

Today, geez... you guys are spoiled. Not just one, but 4 and very soon 5 trips a day to B & M. I had to take a bus. And I'm sure these days the freights through Durham are moving faster than 10 mph.

Finch wrote:Freeman Court looks like it dead-ends right down next to the tracks, but satellite photos of the area are atrocious so I can't tell if that's a public road or what. Is that a good (legal) place to hang out?

Freeman Court has a few businesses on it, but it is below track level.

Best place is from the Salmon Falls Stoneware lot. Also the access road from Essex St now has a locked gate on it.

shadyjay - Point taken! I do consider myself lucky, at UNH I see more trains than I ever have in the past. Multiple Downeasters a day, plus DOBO and a daytime freight or two if I'm lucky. I've taken photos from the Dairy bar, from Mill Rd., from Bennet Rd. a couple miles south, and various other places on campus. The reason I'm interested in Dover is that it's hard to predict when daytime freights will come through Durham, and if I head over to a yard (even a small one) I figure I have a greater chance of seeing more trains. But I will continue to take advantage of my nice location on campus. This coming summer I'll be in one of the new dorms they're building, and my room will overlook the tracks directly!