Haverhill Line Upgrades (Western Route)

I visited Lowell Junction on Monday the 26th of September. Crews are assembling sections of a #20 turnout for the PAR/MBTA connection. An area around the crossing at Lowell Connector road has been graded for a new hut on the northeast corner.

In addition, I have learned that two #24 turnouts are to be installed at Wilmington Junction. To make room for these turnouts, the radio tower will be removed and two new 60 foot wooden poles with antennas on top will be installed, one in the vicinity of Ash Street in Reading.

This info was described in MBTA contract G65CN01 but I now have learned that contract has been cancelled as of September 16, 2016. Any one have updated information?

radio man wrote:I visited Lowell Junction on Monday the 26th of September. Crews are assembling sections of a #20 turnout for the PAR/MBTA connection. An area around the crossing at Lowell Connector road has been graded for a new hut on the northeast corner.

Not for the PAR/MBTA connection, that switch remains unchanged, it's for the new crossover that will start the double-track, and will be west of the Lowell Branch switch. With the restriction for the curve on the Lowell Branch there's never a need for anything bigger than a #15 switch.

radio man wrote:In addition, I have learned that two #24 turnouts are to be installed at Wilmington Junction. To make room for these turnouts, the radio tower will be removed and two new 60 foot wooden poles with antennas on top will be installed, one in the vicinity of Ash Street in Reading.

Actually, it's because the tower encroaches on the original eastbound track alignment of the Western Route. It has nothing to do with the #24s, they'd need to move it for double track either way.

radio man wrote:This info was described in MBTA contract G65CN01 but I now have learned that contract has been cancelled as of September 16, 2016. Any one have updated information?

Originally the Haverhill and Fitchburg Projects were going to be done by MBCR. MBTA pulled the Fitchburg project from MBCR and put it out to competitive bid, however the Haverhill project stayed with MBCR and was passed on the Keolis. Pulling the bid contract down likely means they are going to have Keolis do it. It might make sense since they pretty much just finished the Haverhill job and shifting to just a few miles down the track is probably pretty easy with their crews already mobilized in the area. Plus as you indicate, they are already working. That probably has a lot to do with it. With the Merrimack River Bridge shut down for several weekends this fall, that means no Downeaster traffic and very very minimal Pan Am freight traffic in the WJ-LJ area. Perfect opportunity to get some significant work done without interruption or additional coordination with those other parties. With an RFP process they probably wouldn't get a contractor on board and mobilized in time to take advantage of those outages.

Even the second track that has been completed is starting to show its worth. This is Andover on Thursday.

Thanks for the updates. I hope to visit again sometime this week and talk to some of the workers again. Some are friendly and some ignore you. Maybe they think I am an "inspector of some kind".

I wonder how long it's been since two trains went by Andover station like that at the same time. Decades perhaps?

Mid-60's. '65 was when B&M commuter locals to Dover were cut back to Haverhill and the schedule shrunk to single Wilmington-Haverhill peak-direction trips in the morning and evening. Ballardvale, Andover, Shawsheen, and North Andover all closed in '74-75 from loss of subsidy leaving only Lawrence-Bradford-Haverhill remaining on that single round trip, and everything was suspended from '76 until Xmas '79 when the Reading Line was extended to Haverhill to re-open all but North Andover on a full-blown schedule.

15 years of two passenger movements per day between WJ and Haverhill and nothing whatsoever north of there left bankrupt B&M with plenty of time to rationalize its aging Western Route infrastructure.

The "hold point" for westbound freights has become near the station in Andover, as I can often hear them idling for (occasionally) long periods of time outside. Usually it's been very late at night so I haven't wandered out to see exactly where they're holding, probably just outside the crossing signal circuit.

Also, in riding last week from Andover, I noticed that the grade crossing circuitry must have been upgraded to detect the speed of an approaching train. For commuters stopping at Andover, the gates used to come down well in advance, must have been a less-sophisticated circuit designed for trains traveling track speed. This week I noticed the circuit wasn't activating until they were almost on the platform.

octr202 wrote:Also, in riding last week from Andover, I noticed that the grade crossing circuitry must have been upgraded to detect the speed of an approaching train. For commuters stopping at Andover, the gates used to come down well in advance, must have been a less-sophisticated circuit designed for trains traveling track speed. This week I noticed the circuit wasn't activating until they were almost on the platform.

Grade Crossing Predictor technology has come a long way.

Current technology is not only more reliable, it's highly intelligent. When it comes to grade crossings, protecting people and equipment is the top priority for all railroads. Suppliers are making that job easier by ensuring everything from the bells and lights to the communications mechanisms are all focused toward one goal: safety.

This week there's been midday work on the #2 track through Andover. Midday trains running on the #1 track, with passengers to Andover and Lawrence bused from Ballardvale due to lack of platforms under current conditions.

Yesterday I passed through Andover about 1:30 PM and there was a sizeable gaggle of yellow machines working right at the station.

Cross-posted from the Downeaster Trackwork thread ....

gokeefe wrote:From the NNEPRA Annual Board Meeting Materials (October 2017) Briefing Packet posted online:

NNEPRA/MBTA Haverhill Doubletrack Project
 An Invitation to Bid for this project is scheduled to be opened on September 8.
 All materials for this project that NNEPRA purchased will be on site September 1.
 Keolis, MBTA’s operating and maintenance contractor, is taking on more of the project’s
scope of work.
 Project must be complete by June 30, 2017.
Royal Junction Siding
 The funding for this project has been secured.
 Construction is planned for spring and summer 2017 with completion in 2018.
 At that time, all five Downeaster round‐trips will be between Brunswick and Boston.

Last Friday night we were picking up a friend at Andover station, from the outbound train. The train was late, I went up on the platform, and another waiting person said that she was talking with her daughter on the train and they had stopped somewhere out of Ballardvale. There wasn't a good announcement, but she seemed to indicated that a freight was in the way. While we were standing there, the grade crossing gates came down. But the north bound train did not appear, instead we saw lights from a south bound train down the tracks from the former Frye. It stopped then receded. An announcement appeared on the message board indicating the train was late. Eventually it appeared. I really wish I'd had my scanner to pickup the dispatch chatter.
The best I can figure, (but I don't have the info) was that freight was fouling McCaulley\\\\\\ Vale and the commuter train had to wait for it. I suppose the southbound commuter train had to retreat through J-K to allow that north bounder into Lawrence station. Seems like a dispatch mess up somewhere.

It looks like the new turnout at Lowell Jct. is cut into the main line just west of the PAR freight line. All of the sections of track that were being assembled at Lowell Jct. have been moved to the new location. I would assume that work will soon begin on making changes on the crossing and new sections of track will be laid to connect the turnout to the track east of the crossing that is already in place. Any status on the installation of the #24 turnouts at Wilmington Jct?

I saw a sign at the grade crossing at Lowell Junction Road that the road would be closed from midnight 11/5 to
6 PM 11/6. Sounds like they may be using the weekend to put the second track across Lowell Junction Road.

So what's the plan for the Ballardvale platform right now? I get the feeling they're just going to show up one of these days and grind it back to its old dimensions ...

There is no plan for Ballardvale right now. Ballardvale will have to wait for funding as a whole other project. If they simply revert it to a station on the No. 1 track only, then you will not be able to access the station at Andover on the No. 2 track. The crossover at CPF Vale is designed as trailing point for "right-iron" moves, with no room between masts for another crossover.