Salem Loop?

was there ever a loop that ran through the portal at the salem MBTA station?

and what's up with the abandonded station at the other side of the tunnel?

As I understand it, before the tunnel was extended, there was a wye at the east (Salem station) end of the tunnel. Among other things, the engine for the "Salem high car" job used this wye to run around the train and reverse itself before taking its train of over height cars back to Boston via Wakefield Jct.
I'm not sure what station "at the other side of the tunnel" you mean.

The station at the south end of the tunnel with its below-ground-level platforms was used by the B&M for the roughly three decades between the demolition of the Eastern Railroad's original gothic castle and the construction of the present MBTA commuter station.

So I read this topic and then had to check out the area in google maps. I was scrolling around and came across this apparently a loop in Rockport, no longer in service. Interesting!

http://www.google.com/maps?q=Salem,+MA, ... &z=18&om=1

l008com wrote:So I read this topic and then had to check out the area in google maps. I was scrolling around and came across this apparently a loop in Rockport, no longer in service. Interesting!

http://www.google.com/maps?q=Salem,+MA, ... &z=18&om=1

Oh yeah, it was to turn the commuter trains in the days of steam. The B&M historical society did a feature story about it in their "B&M Bulletin" years ago.

Are there any other such loops anywhere else on the mbta?

Amtrak has a loop that's used to turn consists at the Southampton Street yard. I don't want to swear that the Rockport loop was unique on the B&M since I may be forgetting one, but I can't think of another similar layout at a steam-era commuter terminal. At other locations the train was either turned on a wye (as at Marblehead) or the engine was detached and turned on a turntable (by far the most common practice).

truman wrote:As I understand it, before the tunnel was extended, there was a wye at the east (Salem station) end of the tunnel. Among other things, the engine for the "Salem high car" job used this wye to run around the train and reverse itself before taking its train of over height cars back to Boston via Wakefield Jct.
I'm not sure what station "at the other side of the tunnel" you mean.

The trains that go to peabody still turn around this way at the station. There are two archways (old entrances) to the old station right where washington st. turns into canal stg. One has a metal door with a padlock which has been open lately at times, and the other was block in by brick with a concrete veneer which recently has been chipped away completely...weird...but not as weird and fun as walking through the tunnel (under the city) at 4 am as a kid!!

truman wrote:As I understand it, before the tunnel was extended, there was a wye at the east (Salem station) end of the tunnel. Among other things, the engine for the "Salem high car" job used this wye to run around the train and reverse itself before taking its train of over height cars back to Boston via Wakefield Jct.
I'm not sure what station "at the other side of the tunnel" you mean.

The trains that go to peabody still turn around this way at the station. There are two archways (old entrances) to the old station right where washington st. turns into canal st. One has a metal door with a padlock which has been open lately at times, and the other was block in by brick with a concrete veneer which recently has been chipped away completely...weird...but not as weird and fun as walking through the tunnel (under the city) at 4 am as a kid!!

There is no longer a wye at salem. The wye was removed when the current station was upgraded several years ago. I cannot remember the date, but it was still in place at the time of the Beverly bridge fire several years ago. A couple of the tracks were modified in the bridge street yard to accommodate layover trains, but were not used that much due to complaints from the neighbors. Freights to Peabody stop beyond the station and back down into the yard.

i guess i should have looked up wye in the dictionary.