cool places in MA

gardner, ma is a sweet spot for trains.

for rubber fans, well I saw something cool in harvard sq. (in one view I saw new/old trolley buses, RTS, NABI and neoplan buses all in one eye shot.

For Maine, I like saco/Biddeford station (island) cool spot for Guilford freight and Amtrak.

At Gardner, many of the Guilford trains stop behind the Dunkin Donuts for coffee so it is not unusual to see a train there. Unfortunately with their schedules it is tough to predict when a train will be by.

I used to see a local working the Heywood industrial track on Saturday mornings, although I haven't seen it in a while. This is the track that branches off where the new Jade Restuarant is and runs north - I believe this is the remnant of the line that used to run to Winchendon and up into NH. I believe the one customer on the branch is New England Wooden Ware.

You can also catch P&W action as they interchange here using the branch that runs down to Worcester via Hubbardston and Holden. It is irregular but I often hear the trains late Sunday evenings and occasionally around 5 PM on a weekday.

Another good location is Ayer about 30 min. East of Gardner. Beside GRS you can catch MBTA Fitchburg line trains plus CSX Q426/Q427 (SEPO/POSE) and the auto rack trains to the Ford facility (Q274/Q293).

I forgot to mention what is probably the best hotspot in Central Mass - Palmer, where you can see CSX, Amtrak, and NECR, and if you get really lucky the Mass Central.

There is now a restaurant (the Steaming Tender) in the old station, where on a nice day you can sit outside with a burger and soem ice cream and watch the action. It doesn't get any better that this

Just spent 2.5 hours at the Steaming Tender. Good food, great railfanning. I saw about 7 trains, CSX, Amtrak Vermonter and Lakeshore Ltd.(Late as usual), NECR and three Mass Central trains. The owners have been really good about rebuilding the station, and there's a lot of cool stuff, like a schedule from 1894 of the Boston & Albany RR. Outside the resturant is a 1914 steam engine and the resturant itself is situated right between the main line and a rail yard. By the way, they have a schedule of when Amtrak trains pass by. My recommendation? Come at 1:30. The southbound Vermonter goes by at 1:40 and the westbound Lakeshore Ltd. goes by at 2:20. Plus, there's a lot of switcher and freight movement.

Right now the Steaming Tender only has a order/pick-up system, but in a few months, they'll open up a resturant/bar in the old waiting room of Palmer Station.

But the best part of the trip was talking to the older railfans there. They were very friendly, and I actually met a couple from northern Virginia who had come up to see Palmer. There was another guy who lives in Worchester who told me all about the schedules of the trains in this part of Massachusetts and other cool stuff. Seriously, I implore you, go to the Steaming Tender! It's a railfanning experience like no other.

P.S. TONS of photo ops!

Maybe when can get some of the railfans to buys us lunch in exchange for an inside view of the engine while stopped @ CP-83 heading west.

Is that really worth your job.....? And the way the Twisted Word spreads on the B&A that little episode would turnout to be a full on cab ride to with the railfan operating all the way to Selkirk...

CSX Engineer 98 wrote:Is that really worth your job.....?

First off, it was a joke!

Secondly, welcome aboard.

I know that... We also work together, but has been sometime. Great site lots of good info.

Am a big fan of the good old days with Conrail and pre Csx like scl, seaboard system and family lines in NC. and FLA.

Thanks

East Deerfield MA yard... depending on the time of day (as usual with Guilford). Lots of "foreign" power shows up. You can watch them switch the west end, too.


Guilford and MBTA at Ayer MA


NECR and Amtrak at Palmer

a good spot is in E.Brookfield, behind the old shoe factory near CP-64 right about near the switch for the Auto unload yard siding. you can view any time,no gates and good parking.

The hand-thrown switch into the East Brookfield & Spencer is not visible from CP 64.

no not the switch to into the yard but the switch @ CP64 into the siding is visable from behind the old shoe factory....sorry i should have clairafied.
there are many good spots along the main line in that section,if some poeple dont mind a short walk to some spots.

hello

I have been to Palmer a few times and love it .. It is one of my favorite places to railfan... Also the hoosac tunnel is another awesome place to Ma to railfan.....I will say it is in florida mass. Out of the way .. a tunnel , bridge and grade crossing..

you can see all this from a nice safe place to watch the trains....i post pics on www.nerail.org under monica and aaron labranche...If you would like to exchange railfanning pics contact me [email protected] or my hubby's e-mail is : [email protected] rest of my info is in my profile...I can talk trains for hours and love to exchange pics and ifo on railfan spots...

Mansfield MBTA station
Acela Express trains go by the station at 130+MPH!!

My favorite places are Palmer, MA as well as Worcester, MA for volume of traffic. I visit Worcester much more often because it is closer to me and the basis of my model railroad.
In a way, Worcester has more traffic, because there is a significant amount of light movement, especially from the East end of the yard down to the P&W yards. Although, this might be balanced out by NECR traffic.

My first love is with the B&M, and I love the Hoosac Tunnel. Getting to the West portal has been quite a challenge, but it's so beautiful. East portal is very nice, especially with the river nearby. The location is good, because if your train is eastbound you can get a fantastic tunnel shot or if it is westbound you can get a very pleasing river shot. On the other hand, if it's westbound, perhaps its better to put the pedal to the metal and get movin' to the west portal.