CSX Boston and Albany Line

johnnynick wrote:The plan is to run the dpu's with just 2 units 1 on the front 1 on the rear. The 600 which has gone along for the ride on the tests so far stays isolated and is only there in case something goes wrong, as far as i know it has not been fired up yet. Look for 436 to have another go of it tuesday and don't expect to see it on other trains yet because there aren't any engineers qualified on the dpu's yet on the b&a.

Thanks, johnnynick, for the heads-up. Good to hear that you're hanging in there at this point with the dropoff in traffic.

Reported by Tim Bruno today, 1/20:

Q436 through Chatham Center at 1158 hours with leader CSXT #946 (e),
CSXT #647 (w), 83 cars and CSXT #948 (w) working hard on the rear.

It's funny how just recently you could have as many as 14 through trains a day go through or terminate at Framingham while in just a couple years that number could be down to two, as the Ford train is likely going to Ayer in 2010, the Intermodal trains will eventually be terminating no further East than Westboro and they've already cut down to just one manifest each way. No wonder they're so gung ho about selling the line East of Worcester to the MBTA!!

roberttosh wrote:It's funny how just recently you could have as many as 14 through trains a day go through or terminate at Framingham while in just a couple years that number could be down to two, as the Ford train is likely going to Ayer in 2010, the Intermodal trains will eventually be terminating no further East than Westboro and they've already cut down to just one manifest each way. No wonder they're so gung ho about selling the line East of Worcester to the MBTA!!

It is the Commonwealth of MA, not CSX, that is gung ho on purchasing (selling) the Worcester-Framingham portion of the B&A. CSX has held out in negotiations for quite some time for the issues of limited liability and improvements to their freight franchise. For close to 50 years the Commonwealth has wanted to truncate freight service over the B&A to west of Boston, first to utilize the right-of-way to expand the Turnpike Extension, then to support Harvard's desire to develop Beacon Park once they had purchased the land in the mid-80's, and now, in a push to expand Worcester's commuter rail service to Boston. Penn Central, Conrail, and now CSX, have responded by defending their freight franchise through a variety of actions. Also, keep in mind that when a railroad looks at the "value" of a particular piece of property, it's not the number of trains but the profitability of the traffic and strategic issues that inform the decision-making.

And the Fords used to go to Ayer up until a few years ago.

The only reason Ford ever left Ayer was because CSXT controls both ramps and with Framingham, they keep all the revenue for themselves vs having to give the ST $500-$600 per car to switch the facilty at Ayer, hence they basically priced Ayer right out of the equation. Ford has always been in bed with the NS (as is GM with CSXT), so if they are successful in building the new facility at Ayer, I think they'll be staying there for the long term.

Heres a link to a website that has all trains on the line, including MBTA. http://okbytheccboard.tripod.com/csxbos ... mbols.html

Good list, but could use some fine tuning.

**Q436 through Chatham Center at 1309 hours with leader CSXT #948, 68
cars and DPU CSXT #946. Only two units on this train.

Tim Bruno**

reported today, 1/26

Q437 went west Saturday with 6 units, all on the headend, and a good sized train.

Q427 went west Saturday with 2 units and around a dozen cars

This was posted on the CSX group by someone named John:

"Unforunately, there will be no more DPU testing for the foreseeable
future on the Boston and Berkshire subs. Possibly in the spring, a
second attempt will be made. Hope those interested were able to see
it while it lasted."

I was at CP yard in Framingham to day 4 Feb and find it is closed to any further rail traffic. CSX is pulling out having given notice to employees some time last week. Only one CSX person on duty with one security person on board until last of a few dozen autos is picked up. It is sad to see this loss of traffic in our area especially with the rationalizing of Beacon Park Yard underway. CP yard would have great utility for both commuter and rail freight operations and might serve as an alternative to North Yard and its troublesome location to the town of Framingham. Rumor has it NS is behind the shift in traffic to the north. The trash transload at Beacon Park is also rumored to be going somewhere north as well. Any info would be appreciated.

fsdemasi wrote:I was at CP yard in Framingham to day 4 Feb and find it is closed to any further rail traffic. CSX is pulling out having given notice to employees some time last week. Only one CSX person on duty with one security person on board until last of a few dozen autos is picked up. It is sad to see this loss of traffic in our area especially with the rationalizing of Beacon Park Yard underway. CP yard would have great utility for both commuter and rail freight operations and might serve as an alternative to North Yard and its troublesome location to the town of Framingham. Rumor has it NS is behind the shift in traffic to the north. The trash transload at Beacon Park is also rumored to be going somewhere north as well. Any info would be appreciated.

The information, some of which has been reported on other threads, is that, yes, the garbage is leaving Beacon Park possibly moving to NH and unknown whether it will continue to move via rail. The Ford traffic is reportedly moved to E Brookfield with rumor that NS will be assuming the traffic --- makes sense since Ford and NS have had a long, close relationship and NS should soon have their increased presence to Ayer with Pan Am Southern. The only problem is that they don't have a terminal in Ayer unless CSX gives up the long-term lease of the existing auto yard, or NS is able to push through their plans for a new terminal with community opposition lined up against it, so one would have to wonder how long the transfer might take. Other losses reported are the shuttering of Walpole yard with the abolition of one local and re-location of a 2nd local to Readville and closing of the corn syrup distributor in Framingham.

What local was abolished from Walpole and what was the other relocated to Readville?

MBTA F40PH-2C 1050 wrote:What local was abolished from Walpole and what was the other relocated to Readville?

Reportedly, B735 abolished and B736 moved to Readville. B735's work to be folded into B732.