jaymac wrote:
There are other confounding variables in crossing moves involving the Freight Main and the Worcester Main, augmented by the problems involved in yarding 22K and the pigs on 206. It is impossible to hold long freights between Ayer and the Willows because of the number of grade crossings, which means that sometimes commuters get held.
Ok with this in mind, why doesn't PAR drop some change and I'm sure the state will sell it for cheap and buy additional land in Devens industrial zone, it's quasi state owned property and it would serve to help grow the schedules at Fitchburg and with the new Westminster layover yard and stations bring worked on, maybe even getting all the way back to Gardner or even Orange for some runs in the distant future.
My proposal is simple, take land adjacen to the current devens yard and expand the tracks or move it, provide a double track in from either direction off of the most southerly track. The existing junction at Ayer and one perhaps west near sculey road and going around to the west of Plow Shop pond. The problem with devens is they are bracketed in in the existing yard to either side meaning the yard would have to elongate significantly with many switching points or completely move south along the Worcester main. Both of these do not fix the need to deal with autoracks at Willows since Devens for all it's space, doesn't have the width needed for the lots along the existing ROW and going too far south puts it so close to South post.
In other much crazier and a less likely idea, PAR takes over the old Moore airfield which is also state owned (used by MSP for driving training). It's a massive area with the option to build a replacement autorack yard to replace Willows and the Worcester freight switching yard at Devens into one nice tidy package. No real nimby issues there since it's on a big hill and on federal/state land combo. There is already a branch right there so access via ROW exists for acess. The problem is access to the NH main and Worcester main. NH is easier since you can just take the northern most track from a siding to a freight only connection to the yard and the Fitchburg line.
So this leaves access to Worcester. Let's say we can get the approvals to do this from DEP and the Department of the Interior since some of the land is Federal preserves, curve the Worcester main to the west of Plow Shop pond as I proposed earlier and take it over the Fitchburg main on a bridge (avoiding future height issues) continue this along Macperhson road to the now new PAR yard at the old airfield.
Crazy ideas, highly unlikely, but potentially very profitable for PAR drastically increasing their most congested handoff point. I'm new to the area and don't know the precidence or history which comes with PAR and the MBTA and the existing yards, but if you could pull off either, it's an improvement with #2 being a massive one for all parties.