Lowell Line - Winchester, Woburn, Wilmington Spottings

MTs? Empties? That would have been cool to see.

5972 just went south past W Medford at 12:55 with 7 gons for Schnitzer and 1 cement tank.

And it returned north at 5pm with 3 boxcars, and 8 empty gons.
Where are the boxcars coming from? The produce center?

If the Produce Center gets cars they're reefers.

I'd guess Tighe Woburn or Winchester or Atlantic Plywood.

I did see cars are Tighe Woburn recently, haven't seen anything at Tighe WInchester although i haven't taken a super close look. Also Atlantic Plywood has done some major landscape work in the back that suggests they may be putting their siding to use more soon. Or it could just be for no particular reason.

New customer? Looks like Baker Commodities is coming back on line:

Before:
Now:

OK, probably confusing a reefer with a boxcar. 3 reefers.
Not likely to be any of the other customers, since this local is returning FROM Everett through W Medford, and those are all customers north of here.

bostontrainguy wrote:New customer? Looks like Baker Commodities is coming back on line:

Very interesting! Going to Google Maps myself to get a better view (134 Billerica Ave in North Billerica), it seems you are right: (a) the section of track that connects into the mainline has fresh ballast; and (b) it looks like the siding has been dug out all the way to the left in your image, as though it's going to be completely rebuilt. (I wonder if it'll get CWR like the Lowell Hill track - HA!)

I also notice, down to the left, but outside the frame of your images, that there is a boxcar there on the premises. Don't see any tracks underneath it. Going to 3D view, it looks like an old boxcar - possibly even with outside braces? Can that be right?

Baker got their first cars this week on Tuesday - 6 of them. The good marketing folks from Pan Am moved over to CSX, working in their Shortline Development division. Another they are close to getting back is the former Solo cup property in Andover which is a warehouse: http://atlanticmanagement.com/cases/lifoam/

Do you know what they are shipping? What's coming in and/or going out?

Looks like they are into "RENDERING AND GREASE COLLECTION"

https://bakercommodities.com/our-locati ... lerica-ma/

1) Last night was my first thursday night bike ride since the haverhill line was rerouted over the lowell line.
I am liking this! It is nearly non stop trains, it's crazy. The people riding those extra haverhll trains must love it stoo, they're skipping so many stations running express from the wildcat.

2) What happened in wilmingotn last night? Did a train die right at the platform? There was a train parked on the wildcat for about 1.5 hours. I assumed it was the gravel train. When it finally came by, i was shocked thtat it was a regular commuter rail tarin with passengers on board. They must have been very unhappy passengers.

5966 headed south with 1 gon, 1 reefer, and 2 cement passing West Medford at 10:08

https://youtu.be/4ZuyiwwJXxs

There will be a return visit later today no doubt.

BO-1/L055 is now pretty much a settled working, coming quite reliably behind the mid morning Downeaster, passing West Medford after 10:30, and returning after 2:30 behind Lowell 321, and currently Haverhill 211. Last week it ran MTuWF. Sometimes not Tuesday. Today it ran with only 3 cars (1 gon, 1 cement and 1 reefer) behind MEC 5948. Unfortunately the ending of Rousselot has roughly halved the traffic - though it is nice to see reefers again. Maybe CSX can stop loading trucks at Worcester/Westborough and send more reefers straight through to NEPC now they are the owners of the service again (they used to run quite a few reefers every day over the Grand Junction on the Boston local that ended in 2018)

I don't know if those reefers are going to NEPC. Sadly, looking at recent Google images, it seems like more tracks have been taken out of service there:

Before: After: They must be going to Preferred Freezer closer to the end of the line near where Eimskip used to be.