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  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England

Moderators: MEC407, NHN503

 #1446341  by F-line to Dudley via Park
 
News blurb from Taunton Gazette about MC's big summer blitz of crossing upgrades on the Middleboro Secondary:

http://www.tauntongazette.com/news/2017 ... ing-summer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Four antiquated crossings were removed and replaced, three of them in September alone.

And despite new tracks and freshly paved roadways, one major component has yet to be implemented at the busiest of the three located not far from downtown.

That final project piece for the Winthrop Street/Route 44 crossing near Walnut Street will be the installation of a new vehicular warning gate and, for the first time, a pedestrian warning gate, according to Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the Massachusetts Coastal Railroad company.
Per the article, they're still waiting for new crossing protection parts on-order before being able to upgrade the signals at a couple crossings like Route 140/County Rd., and that more crossing renewals are on-tap for downtown Taunton in FY2018.
 #1447614  by Falmouth Secondary to Otis
 
Upper Cape Regional Transfer station on Joint Base Cape Cod reopened yesterday 10/17/17 for rail traffic. Photo's taken today on Otis spur with Mass Coastal 2008 for some reason backing down the spur towards the station, as it used the siding in North Falmouth to switch the positon of the Locomotive to the other end of the rail cars. Probably working on the siding out there at the station perhaps.
Attachments:
Mass Coastal 2008 after passing under Rte. 151 while backing down Otis spur
Mass Coastal 2008 after passing under Rte. 151 while backing down Otis spur
DSCF2041.JPG (1.48 MiB) Viewed 2982 times
Mass Coastal 2008 backing down Otis spur towards the UCRTS Station
Mass Coastal 2008 backing down Otis spur towards the UCRTS Station
DSCF2037.JPG (1.46 MiB) Viewed 2982 times
 #1447853  by Falmouth Secondary to Otis
 
Was talking to Mass Coastal flagman this morning at North Falmouth runaround and said they have to push cars out to the UCRTS on Otis due too that the WYE past the station is overgrown and out of service along with the sidings nearby the station. They are just getting the line functional to use and will improve as time goes by. Looked like they were traveling at about 10 MPH tops along the Falmouth Secondary line out to Otis, as a lot of track work needs to be done for sure.
Attachments:
recoupling just past N Falmouth crossing for the push to Otis
recoupling just past N Falmouth crossing for the push to Otis
DSCF2054.JPG (1.51 MiB) Viewed 2813 times
Mass Coastal 2008 on the North Falmouth runaround
Mass Coastal 2008 on the North Falmouth runaround
DSCF2050.JPG (1.5 MiB) Viewed 2815 times
 #1448025  by New Haven 1
 
Nice Photos. It was also cool that you got the scoop on the backing move. It's great to see the Falmouth Secondary in operation again. When the wye and the rest of the repairs are done it will only get better.

No doubt the best benefit is the fact that freight rails in service take away any possibility of removal much to the chagrin of a small but very vocal group of bicycle enthusiasts.

Per Colonel Keefe's letter of intent, we also can look forward to seeing military use of this line.

It is nice to know that at least some people have abandoned the 20th century mentality regarding ripping up every rail line that goes unused for more than a day and replacing it with a taxpayer burden called a rail trail while at the same time complaining at how over congested the roadways are and, how high their taxes are!. Go figure.

It is still possible to re-lay the tracks back to Falmouth! Like F-line states a lot of transportation activity happens all around Falmouth calling for it. :-D Hey I can dream.
 #1450658  by F-line to Dudley via Park
 
Another photo dump of Otis spur work from MCMOW Facebook. . .

Before: https://scontent.fbed1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/ ... e=5AA1E17B" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
After: https://scontent.fbed1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/ ... e=5AA15ADD" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, https://scontent.fbed1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/ ... e=5AA8F008" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Initial clearing of wye track: https://scontent.fbed1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/ ... e=5AA02D43" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1450875  by Falmouth Secondary to Otis
 
Saw Mass Coastal 2009 on the Falmouth Secondary @ 9:18 am this morning at Red Brook Harbor Rd in Cataumet and noticed a increase in speed today as the line condition is getting better, at least in this section from what I can see.
Attachments:
DSCF2088.JPG
DSCF2088.JPG (1.46 MiB) Viewed 2126 times
 #1450972  by malbojah
 
It'll be nice when the Barlows Landing crossing is repaired. Going over the rails there several times on Wednesday gets old very quickly.
Last edited by MEC407 on Mon Nov 20, 2017 4:51 pm, edited 1 time in total. Reason: unnecessary quoting
 #1451007  by Falmouth Secondary to Otis
 
Was viewing the updated MassDOT 2018-2022 CIP Plan vs. 2017-2021 CIP Plan and it shows reduced funding for Grade crossing repairs & improvements on the Falmouth secondary. Hopefully they will at least do repairs on the Barlows landing Rd crossing as I use it daily as well and needs to be rebuilt, as it is like a speed bump as present.
 #1451289  by Falmouth Secondary to Otis
 
Walked a section of the Otis spur today and Mass Coastal has cleared the line and is replacing ties. As you can see it 's shaping up and will only get better as time moves forward.
Attachments:
Otis spur cleaned out / North Falmouth Rte. 151 area
Otis spur cleaned out / North Falmouth Rte. 151 area
DSCF2095.JPG (1.5 MiB) Viewed 1772 times
Tie replacement underway on the Otis spur / North Falmouth section area
Tie replacement underway on the Otis spur / North Falmouth section area
DSCF2096.JPG (1.58 MiB) Viewed 1772 times
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