New CR layover yard - Pawtucket RI

On my way back from Providence on Thursday on Amtrak Regional #172, I saw the new MBTA commuter rail layover yard in Pawtucket, which will replace the current one at Hebronville.

It looks like all the track was in place and ballasted. However the track leads were not connected to the main line yet. Is it ready to go into service soon?. I forget if the lighting and electric heaters for the engines overnight were there.

Has anyone heard any new about this?

Paul

a MBTA worker i was talking to said that the MBCR is trying to get the switch's to connect to the mainline, it should be open in the neext couple of months

What schedule changes will occur when this opens?

Ron Newman wrote:What schedule changes will occur when this opens?

The engineer of train #800 will have a 20 minute shorter ride to work than he has now.

This is a layover yard, and will not affect passenger schedules.

Has there been anymore news about the opening of a passenger station in Pawtucket?

Diverging Route wrote:

Ron Newman wrote:What schedule changes will occur when this opens?

The engineer of train #800 will have a 20 minute shorter ride to work than he has now.

This is a layover yard, and will not affect passenger schedules.

The crew of #800's equipment will have a shorter dead-head move to PVD with the train-set. Pawtucket might lengthen some crews' commutes to work, ie those who live to the north, lol.

I briefly saw the new location several months ago while en-route to NYP on an Acela and saw the same status as PaulRail posted, but I forget how many tracks are there. Was it four or five? Are any of them stub-tracks or do they all tie into the lead at both the East & West ends. Also, when the switches are cut-in will they be hand-thrown? I assume they will be to reduce co$t$.

i heard that they will be hand thrown switch's, just like they are on the mainline at like the Chocolate and West Mansfield Industrial Park tracks, i believe there is 5 tracks and they all connect to the mainline, no stub tracks

That's what I thought because installing hand-thrown switches with pipe-connected derails (as is the current set-up at East Jct.) would be alot cheaper than making it an interlocking with powered switches.

i went by this a few days ago...

it looks like they need quite a few switches besides the ones connecting into the main line

also there is a lot graded and completely flattened gravel around the yard making me wonder if more tracks are going to be built

SbooX wrote:Has there been anymore news about the opening of a passenger station in Pawtucket?

According to an article I saw on the web, Sen. Chaffee of RI has been able to secure federal funds to study restoring service to the Pawtucket station. Haven't seen this reported anywhere else.

See this link: http://www.artinruins.com/arch/decay/centraltrain/

I talked to an MBCR employee this morning, who is in a position to know.

He said that the hold-up was contractual between the MBTA, MBCR, and Amtrak. But that has been worked out. Now, they are waiting for the switches to be engineered and produced, with the expectation that the construction will resume in the spring, for completion during the second half of 2006.

pdxstreetcar wrote:also there is a lot graded and completely flattened gravel around the yard making me wonder if more tracks are going to be built

Space is needed for vehicle parking for employees, as well as sign-up facilities, which will probably be just a trailer.