Grafton & Upton Railroad (G&U) Discussion

Safetee wrote:theyre storing them because they get paid a daily fee to store them and, given their low cost to stand still, it's a source of easy profit.

Understand the economic incentive to G&U but I was attempting to find out why so many covered hoppers were stashed on G&U. I had not heard of any news that G&U would be storing idle covered hoppers and I was curious if they were indeed excess or if they were related to the wood pellet (or other) business at Upton. Plus it's excess crude oil tank cars being stored that one typically reads about these days. Thanks.

Text from the filing linked above, which is available in PDF here: http://www.stb.dot.gov/filings/all.nsf/ ... 239991.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Re: Diana Del Grosso, et al.--Petition for Declaratory Order
Finance Docket No. 35652
Dear Ms. Brown:

I represent Grafton & Upton Railroad Co. ("G&U") in the above-captioned proceeding. The purpose of this letter is to respond to a letter dated January 25, 2016 from counsel for the Petitioners. As explained below, any consideration of the
Petitioners' letter at this time would be premature and inappropriate. Furthermore, if and when this matter is once again before the Board, G&U will respond to and rebut the arguments being advanced by the Petitioners.

As noted in the Petitioners' letter, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated the Board's decision in this matter based upon the Court's determination that the Board had applied an incorrect test in finding that G&U's transloading of wood pellets from rail cars to trucks constituted transportation by rail carrier. Following the Court's decision, G&U filed with the Court a petition for rehearing, arguing that the Court had wrongly decided the case and that the Board's decision was correct. The petition for rehearing is still pending, and therefore, according to the Federal Rules of
Appellate Procedure, the issuance of a mandate by the Court has been stayed.

In deciding the petition for rehearing, the Court could make a final disposition of the case, such as determining that the Board was in fact correct, set the matter for reargument or enter any other appropriate order. If the Court ultimately concludes that a remand is nonetheless appropriate, the issuance of a mandate is the necessary prerequisite for the transfer of this action from the jurisdiction of the Court back to the Board. Until such time as the mandate issues and the case is formally remanded to the Board, any consideration of the issues or the arguments raised by the Petitioners in the letter dated January 25, 2016, would be premature and beyond the Board's authority.

Many of the points raised in the Petitioners' letter are misleading or simply incorrect. If the case is remanded to the Board, G&U intends to submit evidence and argument rebutting the Petitioners and supporting the same conclusion that the Board
reached initially--that the transloading of wood pellets constitutes transportation by a rail carrier.

In these circumstances, for the reasons set forth above, G&U believes that the only appropriate course of action for the Board is to defer any consideration of the matters raised by the Petitioners' letter and take no further action unless and until the Court returns jurisdiction over the case to the Board. If the Board eventually has this matter before it on remand, G&U respectfully requests that the Board establish a procedural schedule requiring the Petitioners to file their evidence and arguments and providing an opportunity for G&U and other interested parties to respond.

Here's the letter (finally) that goes with the above.

"RE: Finance Docket No.: 35652 and U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, No.: 15-1069 (2015) ”



To view the entire document, click the above image OR click this link: http://www.stb.dot.gov/FILINGS/all.nsf/ ... 240066.pdf Sorry but the file exceeds phpBB's limit so I cannot attach a convenience copy.

Has G&U extended track to Milford yet? Is that still in the works?

-otto-

They've been all-hands-on-deck getting the propane transload in N. Grafton set up, getting new customers situated in West Upton and Hopedale, and installing new storage sidings in Grafton Center. The less time-sensitive reconnection to Milford took a temporary backseat to all that other stuff that's generating them substantial revenue right now. For the 1.5 miles of reactivation that's left all of the new grade crossings are done, the old junction has been brush-cleared, an isolated 1000 ft. segment of new running track near the junction is done, and I believe trackage rights in MBTA territory have now been squared on an agreement-in-principle that gets them to Franklin runaround and overhead rights on the Franklin Line for a secondary interchange with CSX at Walpole Yard.

All they need at this point are enough hands freed up from those high-priority yard projects for a construction season's worth of finish-up. The only semi-complicated structure they have to fix is the overpass over Hopedale St. a block east of Hopedale Yard. Low-clearance, notorious truck-strike bridge since it's right next to the Town of Hopedale transfer facility. The RR agreed to raise it in their Memo of Understanding with the town over construction of Hopedale Yard. Some abutment and embankment construction required to jack up the deck. All of the rest of the work to Milford is just 1 mile total of track rehab in between all of the finished crossings, and reinstalling the switch to the Milford Branch. There's no sidings between Hopedale Yard and the Milford Branch so once the bridge is done the running track work is a job they can rip out in probably a month-plus's time.

F-Line, do you know what the story is wrt start up date for using the N Grafton propane transload facility? When I visited three weeks ago, the facility was being used to store a dozen or so covered hopper cars (which seemed to be stored in many sidings between N Grafton and Upton). Summer barbecue season is fast approaching...

viewtopic.php?f=126&t=391&start=3150#p1374351

Otto Vondrak wrote:Has G&U extended track to Milford yet? Is that still in the works?

-otto-

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:They've been all-hands-on-deck getting the propane transload in N. Grafton set up, getting new customers situated in West Upton and Hopedale, and installing new storage sidings in Grafton Center. The less time-sensitive reconnection to Milford took a temporary backseat to all that other stuff that's generating them substantial revenue right now. For the 1.5 miles of reactivation that's left all of the new grade crossings are done, the old junction has been brush-cleared, an isolated 1000 ft. segment of new running track near the junction is done, and I believe trackage rights in MBTA territory have now been squared on an agreement-in-principle that gets them to Franklin runaround and overhead rights on the Franklin Line for a secondary interchange with CSX at Walpole Yard.

All they need at this point are enough hands freed up from those high-priority yard projects for a construction season's worth of finish-up. The only semi-complicated structure they have to fix is the overpass over Hopedale St. a block east of Hopedale Yard. Low-clearance, notorious truck-strike bridge since it's right next to the Town of Hopedale transfer facility. The RR agreed to raise it in their Memo of Understanding with the town over construction of Hopedale Yard. Some abutment and embankment construction required to jack up the deck. All of the rest of the work to Milford is just 1 mile total of track rehab in between all of the finished crossings, and reinstalling the switch to the Milford Branch. There's no sidings between Hopedale Yard and the Milford Branch so once the bridge is done the running track work is a job they can rip out in probably a month-plus's time.

From the Friends of The Grafton and Upton Railroad's facebook page we learn that the Hopedale Street bridge is once again in the spotlight..



Photo credit Dan Malloy



Photo credit Dan Malloy

I took a brief tour of the G&U property from N Grafton to Milford yesterday afternoon, Friday 5/27/16. I didn't see anything operating, which is understandable given it was the Friday before a holiday weekend. There were 2 or 3 cars at N Grafton that looked like they might have been revenue cars coming from or going to CSX interchange. There were at least a dozen stored Dana Railcare covered hoppers stuffed into the propane transload tracks with another 15 or so stashed on N Grafton yard tracks. At Grafton center, one of the new/re-conditioned sidings at Cumby's was full of Dana Railcare covered hoppers. At Upton, the siding along the main was similarly stuffed with covered hoppers plus the OOS F unit an a geep and some MoW machinery. There were a lot of tank cars at the Upton transload facility. At Hopedale the only cars visible were another 12 or stored cover hoppers on the track to the rte 16 crossing plus the G&U obs car. There were many stacks of building supplies around the G&U warehouse. There appears to be no progress or pending action to complete the Hopedale to Milford stretch as I didn't see any RoW clearing or grading or stacks of material to be used in constructing the final mile of or so of track. Weeds are starting to overtake the active main line, too, especially at Cumby's.

...any timeframe for the completion of the rehab of the line to Milford? The reason I ask is that I am from Walpole and presently the Framingham Secondary [Framingham to Mansfield] is being upgraded - new rail/ties, roadbed etc...as part of the deal between CSX and Mass DOT/MBTA...I envision that when the Milford link is complete and with it the connection to the Franklin Branch, CSX will cede freight rights on the Franklin Branch to the G&U...therefore, G&U will be able to run trains from North Grafton [CSX interchange] to Walpole and interchange with the CSX at Walpole...as a train watcher, presents some interesting opportunities...

As a local railfan my self that would be neat to see. Too bad it would be a very very if ever move. The idea for G&U to restore the connection is for them to take over the line from Milford To Franklin (run around?) is to take freight off the commuter line. As far as interchange they connect with CSX in Grafton. Would not make much sense to route to Walpole , to Framingham, right past Grafton. Now if you want to get really speculative imagine CSX dropping everything south of Framingham. G&U now could go into Readville and Mass Coastal Middlebough to Framingham. Or some sort of operation like that. But I wouldnt hold my breath!

The rumor is that overhead rights to Walpole Jct. are being squared with CSX and the MBTA. Doesn't mean CSX necessarily abdicates local rights to Franklin Jct. like it is on the Franklin Industrial + Milford Branch...it doesn't cost them anything to retain a paper barrier on a line segment that has no on-line customers. But G&U will almost certainly have the option to express up to Walpole Yard.


Now...what they actually use the #2 interchange for is anyone's guess. It could be nothing whatsoever, just a future consideration if some specific niche scenario arises making Walpole more convenient for certain loads than N. Grafton. Only such immediate possibility I can think of is if loads to/from Mass Coastal are being exchanged with G&U...say, something involving ports of Fall River or New Bedford. In that specific case CSX has ample motivation to just shed those cars in the yard at Walpole and let G&U come fetch rather than giving the yard crews at Framingham unnecessary busywork transferring those loads onto the next westbound local hitting N. Grafton. I can't think of anything present-day that would involve South Coast loads + G&U, but it's a plausible and convenient enough scenario for all parties to make squaring the paper rights to Walpole eminently prudent for whenever the need arises.

I was in Milford yesterday and noticed a few crossings with tracks, but the railbeds were empty, are these for future expansion ?

Operations.
In light of things changing on the G&U, and the approximately 100 minute drive from home,
I would like to learn the current operating pattern on the G&U, so that we don't miss any trains.

Please help if you know OD times, etc.
Thanks, Lee

mbk2013 wrote:I was in Milford yesterday and noticed a few crossings with tracks, but the railbeds were empty, are these for future expansion ?

The heavy expense items are taken care of first. When it's time to finish the line to Hopedale, simple track laying is all that's left. It's like a game of connect the dots.

Update - Gang Of Seven VS. The G&U

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD DECISION DOCUMENT
Decision Information


Docket Number:
FD_35652_0


Case Title:
DIANA DEL GROSSO, RAY SMITH, JOSEPH HATCH, CHERYL HATCH, KATHELEEN KELLEY, ANDREW WILKLUND, AND RICHARD KOSIBA--PETITION FOR DECLARATORY ORDER


Decision Type:
Decision


Deciding Body:
Director Of Proceedings


Decision Summary


Decision Notes:
DECISION: (1) DIRECTED DIANA DEL GROSSO, RAY SMITH, JOSEPH HATCH, CHERYL HATCH, KATHLEEN KELLEY, ANDREW WILKLUND, RICHARD KOSIBA AND GRAFTON AND UPTON RAILROAD TO CONFER AND SUBMIT A PROPOSED PROCEDURAL SCHEDULE BY JULY 21, 2016; AND (2) DIRECTED THE PARTIES TO ADVISE THE BOARD BY JULY 21, 2016 IF THEY WISH TO ALLOW THE RECORD TO STAND AS IT IS.
Click the above images to enlarge.
Document URL: http://www.stb.dot.gov/Decisions/readin ... /45235.pdf OR download the copy attached below.