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  • CSX Fitchburg Secondary Discussion

  • Discussion of the operations of CSX Transportation, from 1980 to the present. Official site can be found here: CSXT.COM.
Discussion of the operations of CSX Transportation, from 1980 to the present. Official site can be found here: CSXT.COM.

Moderator: MBTA F40PH-2C 1050

 #1544401  by jaymac
 
~1130/05-31-2020, a sign in downtown Berlin advised that Linden Street was closed at the tracks. Was a passenger, so I didn't get to eyeball what might be there for equipment, but it does seem like production crew is being productive
 #1544431  by Knucklehead
 
jaymac wrote: Sun May 31, 2020 10:57 am ~1130/05-31-2020, a sign in downtown Berlin advised that Linden Street was closed at the tracks. Was a passenger, so I didn't get to eyeball what might be there for equipment, but it does seem like production crew is being productive
Summer St. & Collins St. crossings in Northborough were both closed today (Sunday, May 31st.)for replacement and the tie and resurfacing gang was also in town today. Something (presumably B724-31) ran north through Northborough around 1515 Sunday as I heard them blowing for all of the crossings.

Northborough Police posted the following on Facebook today: Repairs will continue on the railroad tracks tomorrow, Monday, June 1 on Bearfoot Road and Pierce Street. Both locations, Bearfoot Road and Pierce Street, will be closed from 7am - 7pm, open to local traffic only. Thank you for your patience! According to the NPD, these crossings were supposed to be done Saturday the 30th.
 #1546792  by johnhenry
 
Business seems to be booming for the new construction debris customer in Leominster. Just before 5pm today caught their trackmobile pulling a loaded car up the steep grade of their siding with assist from a large fork lift in back. This car was then placed on one of the outgoing tracks, which were full of loaded cars. The local then pulled past northbound with a bunch (25+) cars including empties for them and 6 empty lumber cars from Sterling at the rear. Lots of sawing back and forth to pull the loads ensued. I left but I imagine the Litchfield level crossing was blocked for perhaps an hour or so. Is the runaround at the end of track in Leominster long enough for this size train?
 #1548128  by SpiderHill
 
I haven't been up to the C&D place lately. I was wondering what they were doing to move cars and now I know they have a trackmobile thanks to your post.

Things do seem to be booming. I believe they have run six days this week and last week (Sun-Fri). Is the C&D place open on Saturdays? I have caught B724 a few times and have seen as many as 17 C&D cars in one trip. Usually on the north end of the line when I catch it, there are only C&D cars and centerbeams for Bestway. Is there anything else going on Northborough and south? They used to drag everything up to Clinton and would sometimes drop cars at the Clinton siding before going north and then picking up the cars on the way back. Operating practices seem to have changed with this new customer coming online.
 #1548798  by Knucklehead
 
SpiderHill wrote: Fri Jul 17, 2020 8:13 pm I haven't been up to the C&D place lately. I was wondering what they were doing to move cars and now I know they have a trackmobile thanks to your post.

Things do seem to be booming. I believe they have run six days this week and last week (Sun-Fri). Is the C&D place open on Saturdays? I have caught B724 a few times and have seen as many as 17 C&D cars in one trip. Usually on the north end of the line when I catch it, there are only C&D cars and centerbeams for Bestway. Is there anything else going on Northborough and south? They used to drag everything up to Clinton and would sometimes drop cars at the Clinton siding before going north and then picking up the cars on the way back. Operating practices seem to have changed with this new customer coming online.
I have only been able to catch B724 occasionally, but most days I see them they run to Safety Kleen and Ken's Foods in Marlborough during the week with mostly tank cars and an occasional covered hopper for Ken's. I have not seen any box cars in a while for NewCorr in Northborough. I do not believe they ran at all this past Friday (7/24), but they ran Saturday 7/25 with all tank cars (I assume they ran to Clint to runaround and head south as they returned with all tank cars). Today (Sunday) and last Sunday they had all empty trash cars and lumber cars for Bestway - 18 cars in all today (I believe it was 10 empties for C&D on the head end and 8 loads on the hind end for Bestway). They have been using the 6215 and 6210 for the last week now.
 #1549126  by trainsinmaine
 
I ask this question strictly as a layman, but I have occasionally wondered whether, given the rise in traffic on this line, whether the section from Leominster to Fitchburg may have been abandoned prematurely. I haven't lived in Worcester County for many years so I no longer know what recent industrial or commercial business in Fitchburg might have provided some potential revenue, nor whether the line might have served as a useful link with the Pan Am Southern, which came into being after the abandonment. Any insights?
 #1549133  by neman2
 
Answering also as a layman CSX apparently travels about 25 miles at 10 MPH or less with no customers between Marlborough (Kens salad dressing?) and Leominster. Fitchburg and Leominster border each other so I would say yes it was abandoned prematurely.
 #1549136  by Red Wing
 
I too wonder if the connection was in place might we see Poland Springs water moving from Maine to the bottling plant in Framingham. I imagine not much money in it but if the connection was there..........
 #1549425  by Knucklehead
 
B724-04 North through BORO (Main St. Southborough,, QBU 30.50) at 1305 on Aug 4th with the 6215 leading a second unit and 3 lumber loads for Bestway (Lancaster) and 17 empties for United Materials management (UMM) Leominster
 #1549604  by jamoldover
 
trainsinmaine wrote: Thu Jul 30, 2020 5:34 pm I ask this question strictly as a layman, but I have occasionally wondered whether, given the rise in traffic on this line, whether the section from Leominster to Fitchburg may have been abandoned prematurely. I haven't lived in Worcester County for many years so I no longer know what recent industrial or commercial business in Fitchburg might have provided some potential revenue, nor whether the line might have served as a useful link with the Pan Am Southern, which came into being after the abandonment. Any insights?
Given that the northern end of the line was essentially abandoned in place by Conrail in the late 1970's (after the Foster Grant plant closed), long before the idea of Norfolk Southern, let along Pan Am Southern even existed, asking if a lightly used branch line was abandoned prematurely seems a little silly. Lots of lines that have been abandoned for many years could be considered to have been "prematurely abandoned", but asking their owners to maintain them for 50 years without any compensation doesn't really work...
 #1549626  by jaymac
 
Adding context to jamoldover's 0732/08-06-2020 and also advising that I'm too ADHD to chase to original posts down, a few or more years ago, I posted that the paper I once worked at -- then The Middlesex News -- used to receive its newsprint by rail. Towards the end of service, it was outta North Yard on the "Fitchburg" local. The waybills showed interchange at Fitchburg to Conrail, but the reality was that the cars were routed to Deerfield and then to Springfield for CR to Framingham and the local. Apologies to the forgotten source who added the cause that both Guilford and CR wanted to reduce clerk costs to save money, Guilford -- for reasons known to us all -- and Conrail so its balance sheets could look more attractive for the upcoming disposition.
 #1549633  by johnpbarlow
 
Technically CSX filed filed a notice of exemption for abandonment of the 4.2 miles between Leominster and Fitchburg on November 20, 2008 and the exemption became effective 30 days later. But consummation of the abandonment took another 10 years or so as various parties negotiated a purchase and sale agreement for use of the RoW as a trail. Net: it was only 12 years ago that CSX, after holding onto the moribund track for 9 years, filed for abandonment of the track.

https://dcms-external.s3.amazonaws.com/ ... /45958.pdf
 #1557084  by FatNoah
 
Looks like a little more additional traffic for the line. From: http://blog.mass.gov/transportation/mas ... ap-grants/
Leominster Packaging & Warehousing ($348,798):
The project will support the installation of a new siding track and equipment to unload plastic pellets to meet demand of area plastic manufacturing businesses. The project will increase the volume of cargo being shipped by rail and eliminate over 300 truck trips on roads in the region. Leominster Packaging & Warehousing is providing 40% of the project cost.
 #1557147  by F74265A
 
So far I can’t tell if the plastic pellets siding would be off the Fitchburg secondary in Leominster or farther north off the B&M main. I cannot find an addresses
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