CSX Freight Into Boston Now

Does anyone know the latest as to CSX serving Everett? Such as time slots when they cross the mystic in the morning and evening, how many cars lately, anything besides produce lately, etc. Dying to catch them from the Rt 99 bridge.

Also, do they still break midday near 2nd St? As I recall, they use the siding to tie down between runs.


EDIT: Just saw the news about no freights. Hopefully that is lifted soon. I hope produce isn't just going to waste now. Are they able to truck it in from Worcester or Framingham?

Produce is on reefer cars, so transferring it to trucks and then sending it to Everett would not be cost effective.

Did csx have locals working today? Around 2:30 I crossed over the Framingham sub next to Robert bury in walpole and a csx local was parked on the main track and the Robert bury siding was empty. The engine was facing the route27 bridge that crosses over the tracks short hood forward. The engine was pointed towards the yard and the walpole MBTA stop. There was only about 5cars and one engine. Sorry no unit number. On a side note walpole yard was empty.

I am sure that any produce cars in Beacon Park at the time of the "closure" of the
Charles River Bridge were off-loaded to trucks. This has happened in the past when
derailment outages prevented timely delivery of reefers to NEP.

As for any other inbound cars in transit, either they will get redirected to PAR or
off-loaded to trucks at some other location.

I am not seeing any embargo on traffic to Everett, but this is a holiday "weekend".

D

frrc wrote:Produce is on reefer cars, so transferring it to trucks and then sending it to Everett would not be cost effective.

It would be cost effective if you were going to loose the whole car to spoilage.

Is NEP the actual consignee or are their multiple consignees inside the NEP complex?

The NEP is the landlord so as to speak, like an association. You used to need a sticker to get in there. I think, trying to remember back when I went there, that perhaps some of the wholesalers would split cars of say lettuce between themselves. Here is a link to what is in there :
http://www.terminalmarkets.com/neweng.htm

What type of arrangement is in place that allows PAR access to Schnitzer's? Could PAR gain access to NEP by request of a shipper without an embargo in place?

From the Boston Globe:

The graffiti-covered railroad span that threads diagonally under the Boston University Bridge will be closed to most train traffic for two weeks, after an inspection found some of its crossbeams need to be replaced.

Many people are unaware that the 90-year-old railroad bridge across the Charles River is in use at all, but it is a critical piece of transportation infrastructure. It is part of the little known Grand Junction Railroad, which starts in Brighton and wends its way through Cambridge, Somerville, Everett, and Chelsea, connecting train lines that go to North Station with the ones that lead to South Station.

The freight line’s tracks are also used by Amtrak and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to shift engines and coaches for maintenance.
Two weeks ago, a visual inspection of the bridge found signs of movement in its trusses, according to Scott Farmelant, spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co., a contractor that operates the MBTA’s commuter rail service. A bridge engineering inspection firm was brought in, and on Wednesday, Farmelant said, the bridge was closed to freight cars and locomotives. He emphasized there is no public safety threat, since passenger trains do not use the bridge, and said the closure will not affect commuter rail services.

Pesaturo said in an e-mail that seven of the bridge’s 44 crossbeams need to be replaced. Repairs are expected to take about two weeks, and the cost of the project had not been finalized.

In preparation for the bridge’s closing, Pesaturo said, a number of organizations and companies have worked together to devise solutions.

Pan Am Railways and CSX Corp. reached an agreement to “transfer freight rail trains in the Worcester area,” Pesaturo wrote...

Could this be the death of CSXT B721, and the birth of PAR getting all of the NEP?

The scrap place is jointly served by both CSX & PAR, so there's no issues there. Cars are left
outside the facility and Schnitzer comes out with a trackmobile or front-end loader I believe.

As for NEP, PAR is probably not qualified within NEP, so I suspect a CSX pilot in the form of B721's
crew or conductor maybe assisting in switching moves.

Car counts have been way down for both customers...

D

Interesting arrangement. Given CSX's actions of late it seems like a win/win for CSX to hand over local traffic to PAR at Worcester as it would save a crew from running all the way to Everett. Although they would still need a Boston local for the freezer at Widett and Houghton Chemical unless they are persuaded.

What about running the local from Framingham like the other eastern mass locals. Except the ones based in readville.

I saw Pan Am handling CSX's several scrap cars and one (that's it?) reefer car near FX interlocking behind BET at about 9AM today.

Mbta fan wrote:What about running the local from Framingham like the other eastern mass locals. Except the ones based in readville.

Huh?!? They can't get to the NEP!

The sensible thing to do would be for CSXT to have a GP40-2 put on the MBCR/Amtrak hospital train and get it over to Chelsea from BET....then just have the crew report in Chelsea and have the cars rerouted PAR to Boston/Chelsea.

GP40MC1118 wrote:The scrap place is jointly served by both CSX & PAR, so there's no issues there. Cars are left
outside the facility and Schnitzer comes out with a trackmobile or front-end loader I believe.

As for NEP, PAR is probably not qualified within NEP, so I suspect a CSX pilot in the form of B721's
crew or conductor maybe assisting in switching moves.

Car counts have been way down for both customers...

D

Dave, no pilot necessary actually as crews are NOT required to be qualified on Industrial tracks.