guilford in melrose

do they even travel through melrose anymore? i never ever see a freight train in melrose, even just passing through. i used to see them at deering lumber, but they no longer truck brick like they used to (i know the owners, have my whole life) my family has been going there for over 50 years.


but yeah, anyway. i never see one in melrose at all. sucks.

Tom, I don't think freights go that way anymore, unless there's a problem over on the Winchester/Wilmington side. As far as Deering goes, I think was a little discussion here on that issue on an earlier thread.

Deering hasn't gotten service in a while now. Guilford doesn't
run anything between Medford Jct and CPW-WJ on the Western
Route mainline unless its a rare detour of BODO or SALO. And
in SALO's case, it would be mostly light engines due to clearence
issues. GRS does try to qualify new crewsmembers via this
route just to keep the detour option open.

DOBO has only down it once or twice that I know of. It's not a
favorite move due to the rollercoaster effect between Wellington
Tunnel and the Mystic River bridge.

Dave

Don't feel too bad. At least the customer and siding are still there, right? A lot of Northside towns have no freights and probably never will again. The Eastern east of Salem and the entire Rockport Branch were officially abandoned for freight service by Guilford after the Beverly Draw fire. There are no sidings or customers on the Fitchburg Main east of Littleton. If it weren't for the Watertown Branch the Fitchburg wouldn't see any freights between those locations at all. If you want to get a Guilford fix, head north to Andover or Tewksbury.

The siding in Lincoln (inbound/eastbound) on the Fitchburg line is still viable. In January there was some Kershaw track equipment parked there.

It is not connected to any business, and during the time I lived there (mid-60's to mid 80's) the only actual freight I recall being offloaded there was a monster transformer (possibly for HanscomAFB) around 1970. I wish I had seen them pulling it off the flatcar; I'm not sure how they got the flatbed out of the parking lot next to the tracks as it's pretty tight there.

There was a siding in Concord at the depot (also inbound/eastbound) for Wilson Lumber. I remember seeing boxcars there, but not the "lumber" cars common today. Wilson's is long gone, I think since the mid-nineties.

With all I've read on this site I'm pleased that I saw as many freights in Lincoln as I did...

Lincoln78 wrote:The siding in Lincoln (inbound/eastbound) on the Fitchburg line is still viable. In January there was some Kershaw track equipment parked there.

It is not connected to any business, and during the time I lived there (mid-60's to mid 80's) the only actual freight I recall being offloaded there was a monster transformer (possibly for HanscomAFB) around 1970. I wish I had seen them pulling it off the flatcar; I'm not sure how they got the flatbed out of the parking lot next to the tracks as it's pretty tight there.

There was a siding in Concord at the depot (also inbound/eastbound) for Wilson Lumber. I remember seeing boxcars there, but not the "lumber" cars common today. Wilson's is long gone, I think since the mid-nineties.

With all I've read on this site I'm pleased that I saw as many freights in Lincoln as I did...

That's right, there are some sidings remaining that either were, are still are, public delivery, and seem to be used mostly for storing MBCR track equipment as needed. I know there's still one in Concord west of the station. I recall a dimension load was delivered there a few years ago.