Haverhill Line Upgrades (Western Route)

Trinnau wrote:
Congrats on retirement! But it sounds like they're waiting for the upcoming Merrimack River Bridge shutdowns starting in September to proceed with this signal work.

Thanks, though not retirement - just a job change to the suburbs (and driving 128). Hopefully I'll still get to go for the occasional trip into the city to see what comes of all of this.

I know I made a joke before on here about hoping I see the project done before I retire, but that's a really long way off!

At least finishing Vale-LJ now sounds a bit more simple if there is no crossover to track 1 (i.e., PAR Lowell branch only accessed via track 2). Still have to deal with the station though. Will there be an opposite counterpart to Vale west of LJ which would allow the new track 1 to function as a long passing track prior to closing the Vale-LJ gap and dealing with the Ballardvale station?

One thing I always wondered was why Vale wasn't located closer to Ballardvale, although maybe there's more curvature in there working east from the station than there appears to the untrained eye.

Also guessing that WB freights will have to be held somewhere short of Vale if they're waiting for passenger moves to clear before getting onto the Lowell branch, as there's less than 2500' of track between Vale and the cemetery crossing. Maybe that'll be good for railfans - lots of room east of the Andover station for them to hold there, and maybe fewer complaints at least until the DPW yard gets turned into condos or apartments!

I hope they're plopping an approach signal at the east end of the Ballardvale platform. Otherwise, it's DIB till they can see the Vale signal.

Lowell Junction to Vale is only going to be a short distance, adding a signal in between can impact the maximum speed trains can operate. Has to do with how fast trains can stop - including the freight trains that run on this territory. That's why the current automatics are staggered in this block. The original plan had an automatic at Andover station, but that was pulled due to short braking for freight trains. So it's consecutive interlockings from Wilmington Junction to Frost without any automatics (WJ, LJ, Vale, JK, AS, FR). If you're running the Wildcat that stretches through Clark St. and Wilmington.

Ballardvale isn't the issue. It's a short way around the corner until they can see Vale. DIB allows 40 mph and prepared to stop at next signal until visible, so worst case they accelerate to 40 and hold for 10 seconds or so - not really a deal breaker. Andover might be more of an issue. So either way both stations are DIB in both directions.

Thank you much. I'm not an engineer, and I don't know the territory well [except from the parallel roads], but it would seem that a signal beyond a curve merits a "be prepared to stop" mindset in DIB territory, as opposed to just notching up to run 8, for a good get-up-and-go to the next station stop.

Progress?

Last year, or two years ago (time blurs on this project) track was assembled from the grade crossing at LJ toward WJ as well as from the grade
crossing toward the LJ interlocking. Yesterday, I noticed that the track from the crossing toward the interlocking has been removed.

Not surprising. There was a lot of work done in MBCR's final days which just seemed like assembling track for the sake of counting "feet of track assembled." I'm not a construction expert, but it seems rather backwards to lay the straight sections first, then go back and work around it to do interlockings, grade crossings, excavations. But what do I know?

So have they kicked in the new double track yet?

Nope. Signal heads at Vale still turned aside. Guessing this will be the #1 indicator that something is about to happen.

Activity continues to shuffle along on the Western:

-Two turnouts being assembled at WJ. One looks to be in place at the end of future track 1, the other one might just be under assembly where it sits near the existing WJ turnout for later positioning. There's a considerable amount of material and equipment (including a mobile crane) now staged there at WJ in the substantial area cleared to the (geographic) east of the tracks.

-Digging continues either side of the one remaining retaining wall located RR east of the I-93 overpasses from LJ, but still no work other than spray paint markings on the wall itself. I'd assume, due to the proximity of the building above, that it'll require some more careful work to remove.

-Up at/around LJ, the access on the future track 1's ROW has been cleared and widened from Lowell Jct Rd up to the actual switch. There is considerable digging underway below the signal bungalow at LJ, as well as an excavator digging a trench along the ROW east of the Shawsheen River Bridge, and piles of conduit pipe staged.

-No visible signs of change at Vale or the cemetery crossing. Vale signals still turned to the side, no gates installed yet at cemetery.

-I caught a glimpse as we left at the VMS on Essex St., which I believe had a warning that both tracks are now active. Obviously not for revenue moves, but definitely nothing physically barring work equipment or work trains from using the new track 1 through the Andover station area.

-Sidewalks look close to completion along Essex St (both sides) and Pearson St (one side) at the railroad crossing. Looks like the highway construction crews doing that side of the work should be done soon at this location.

I'll keep posting any more updates as I see them during my last two weeks commuting on the Western Route! :-/

Thanks! We'll miss your updates!

It has been my opinion that 'distance to grid power' was a major consideration in Vale's location. The next point east where they wouldn't have had to cross residential or commercial property is up by Central St. The next point west is at the E. end of the Ballardvale platform. And almost all the track in between is on a curve; superelevated interlockings are not an MoW person's idea of a good time. 'Vale' could have gone W. of the Andover St. grade crossing at Ballardvale, but that would have introduced even more obstacles to actually *using* the new track...

BTW, Google's current satellite images of Vale show an MBTA train at one magnification, and what appears to be scan artifacts of a passing freight when zoomed to max.

The crossing gates have been installed and are operational at the cemetery crossing off Lupine street in Andover.
At the Essex/Pearson street crossing they replaced a crossing gate gearbox. This gearbox controls a "long" gate
for the Essex street road crossing and a "short" gate for the sidewalk. At the cemetery crossing I talked with one of the siganl department
workers who said that Keolis was looking for a September 11-12 date for putting the new track into service.
He cautioned that the schedule has changed in the past and may again.

Update..........received text this morning that selected trains will be canceled, bused this coming weekend due to track work. Same text (My guess) received a few weeks ago but was canceled. My guess is to pull down the steel barrier and lay new rail along side the western route in that same area? Or there moving the signal bungalow near LJ.

Hey, if we're luck, maybe both?

Here's the alert:

Select Haverhill Line trains will be suspended between North Wilmington and Haverhill Stations in both directions on Saturday, August 27, and Sunday, August 28, due to track construction

Due to track construction, select trains will be suspended between North Wilmington and Haverhill Stations in both directions on the following dates:

- Saturday, August 27, 2016.
- Sunday, August 28, 2016.

Select inbound/outbound Haverhill Line trips will be replaced with shuttle buses between Reading* and Haverhill Stations. Customers should allow additional travel time and anticipate delays of approximately fifteen (15) minutes.

*Though shuttle buses will operate to/from Reading, these select trains will terminate/originate at North Wilmington.

The following trains will be affected:

Saturday:
- 1200 (7:15 a.m. from Haverhill)
- 1201 (8:40 a.m. from Boston)
- 1202 (10:25 a.m. from Haverhill)
- 1203 (11:25 a.m. from Boston)
- 1204 (1:15 p.m. from Haverhill)
- 1205 (2:45 p.m. from Boston)
- 1206 (4:15 p.m. from Haverhill)

Sunday:
- 2200 (7:15 a.m. from Haverhill)
- 2201 (8:40 a.m. from Boston)
- 2202 (10:25 a.m. from Haverhill)
- 2203 (11:25 a.m. from Boston)
- 2204 (1:15 p.m. from Haverhill)
- 2205 (2:45 p.m. from Boston)
- 2206 (4:15 p.m. from Haverhill)

The following stations will be affected:
Reading
North Wilmington
Ballardvale
Andover
Lawrence
Bradford
Haverhill

Last updated: Aug 22 2016 07:00 AM

This Sunday (and perhaps Saturday, but I wasn't around then!) there was work going on along the Andover stretch (Vale east towards Lawrence) on the new track. At Andover station area, it appears a tamper and other machinery were working to adjust the level of the track - there was equipment working there for much of the morning Sunday, and today the track appears to be raised up. Looks like it will need more ballasting before it's ready for service.

There was also a crew working between the cemetery crossing and Vale, but I only saw them from Central Street below, so not easy to see what was actually going on.

Following up my own post (posted too quickly without sufficient coffee), the other possibility for suspending commuter trains (no word on whether the Downeasters are also curtailed yet) could be cutting in the signals at Vale? Signal crews have been working just about every weekend for the last couple months at Vale and other locations along this stretch.