Grand Junction Branch (The North/South Side Connection)

Behind the MIT ROTC building (between Pacific and Vassar) the is an at grade pedestrian crossing of the GJ. Fairly well trafficed and lit.

GP40MC1118 wrote:B721 runs Sunday through Thursday. OD 130PM Framingham. . . .

Great info here. About what time do they look to leave Everett, and what time through Swift on the return? Or is it too wildly variable?

It's somewhat variable.

Thursday they were very early coming back, right after the rush hour parade.

Most of the time its anytime after 930PM-1030PM coming back.

D

GP40MC1118 wrote:Given the current track throws necessitated by the GLX extension to Union Square, any redesign to
make a direct GJ connection to the FRML problematic.
D

Apparently, nobody here has seen the plans for the "new" Swift. The connection to the GJ will be a realigned track crossing the FML #2 on a moveable point frog, and connecting to the FML #1 with a standard #10 turnout(a la Beverly Jct - albeit with a smaller turnout). I've got the plans upstairs, if you want to see them, D.

DAW

Sure DW....I heard about this disaster of epic proportions...

D

I keep hearing about this impending 'disaster' that will be a movable point frog at Swift. Is the one in Beverly really unreliable and terrible?

130MM wrote:

GP40MC1118 wrote:Given the current track throws necessitated by the GLX extension to Union Square, any redesign to
make a direct GJ connection to the FRML problematic.
D

Apparently, nobody here has seen the plans for the "new" Swift. The connection to the GJ will be a realigned track crossing the FML #2 on a moveable point frog, and connecting to the FML #1 with a standard #10 turnout(a la Beverly Jct - albeit with a smaller turnout). I've got the plans upstairs, if you want to see them, D.

DAW

Will this only lead to Tower A on the number one? Will you have to reverse West towards Porter(shuffle) to continue on the Grand Junction? Or is the switching lead on the west end of BET being reconfigured as well?

Moveable point frogs are fine when the work, but a royal pain when they don't. At one
point, there was a directive requiring C&S personnel only to handthrow it when a failure
occurred. Never liked them and needlessly complicates things. A diamond with a single
power switch for No.2 Track would've sufficed.

As for the Swift caper, having not seen a recent rendering of plan, I understood that, by
example, for CSX to get off the GJ to the 4th Iron, would require coming across the
switching lead for BET. Duh...

D

If the frog croaks, just blame Keolis

GP40MC1118 wrote:
As for the Swift caper, having not seen a recent rendering of plan, I understood that, by
example, for CSX to get off the GJ to the 4th Iron, would require coming across the
switching lead for BET. Duh...

D

So the switching lead gets connected to the Fitchburg? There isn't a whole lot of room to play with there. They will have to install more derails in BET. As the entire yard is downhill going west.

So what benefit does a movable frog point have versus a standard diamond? Higher speeds/smoother ride?

Yes, along with vastly less wear to the rails. Though I've never heard of a diamond with movable point frogs, just regular turnouts.

On the Eastern Rt. doesn't the diamond at Beverly Junction, where the Gloucester Branch joins, have moveable point frogs?

BostonUrbEx wrote:So what benefit does a movable frog point have versus a standard diamond? Higher speeds/smoother ride?

Also less noise.

MBTA3247 wrote:Yes, along with vastly less wear to the rails. Though I've never heard of a diamond with movable point frogs, just regular turnouts.

The Reading had a lot of them, and some still remain. They were fond of British-style double-track junctions with two turnouts and one diamond, and the diamonds mostly had movable-point frogs. There's one at CARMEL, where the Warminster line diverges from Lansdale-Doylestown, and I think the ones at 16th St. Junction, where the Norristown trains diverge, have movable-point frogs. The one at Jenkintown was recently removed and replaced by standard turnouts.