Railroad Forums
Saint-Gobain in Worcester
- Guilford Rail System changed its name to Pan Am Railways in 2006. Discussion relating to the current operations of the Boston & Maine, the Maine Central, and the Springfield Terminal railroads (as well as the Delaware & Hudson while it was under Guilford control until 1988). Official site can be found here: PANAMRAILWAYS.COM.
Moderator: MEC407
by newpylong
by jamoldover
As far as I can tell from aerial photos, the only remaining tracks that would be able to be connected back to a main line would be the spurs that came off the Gardner Branch just north of the Barbers Junction switch (one on each side). Anything else would either be blocked by newer buildings along the Worcester Main or would be at too low an elevation to connect to the Gardner Branch. As far as whose customer it would be, it depends on if its considered a new customer (in which case it would be P&W) or a previously existing one (in which case it would be B&M/CSX).
by newpylong
Those are the ones. We used to bring covered hoppers down into that switchback to the Bond plant. That's the the track that dips off to the south of the P&W. They got coal down into the yard on the north side. Going back in time even further they shipped outbound boxcars too. They had their own switcher and shuttled their own plant cars around too.
by jamoldover
So do we know which one of the two connections are being used for this?
by F74265A
No
But odds on it is the connection on the north side of the p&w track to Gardner
I found a picture of the area of the Norton property being redeveloped and it is many of those old brick buildings on the north side
But odds on it is the connection on the north side of the p&w track to Gardner
I found a picture of the area of the Norton property being redeveloped and it is many of those old brick buildings on the north side
by johnhenry
I am local to this. The demolition is all on the north side of the Gardner Branch and this is the track that has been rehabbed. The demolition gondola cars are spotted on two different but parallel branches heading north thru the area from this track.
Norton/St Gobain was a PanAm/Guilford customer during my time of observation (since mid 1990) despite the sidings coming off the P&W track. Deliveries to this north side (mostly coal for their power plant) stopped sometime ago (maybe 15 or more yrs ago?). Covered hoppers to the south side siding stopped around 5 or 10 yrs ago.
Despite this, it is the P&W that rehabbed the north side track connection and has been delivering/receiving the demo cars.
Norton/St Gobain was a PanAm/Guilford customer during my time of observation (since mid 1990) despite the sidings coming off the P&W track. Deliveries to this north side (mostly coal for their power plant) stopped sometime ago (maybe 15 or more yrs ago?). Covered hoppers to the south side siding stopped around 5 or 10 yrs ago.
Despite this, it is the P&W that rehabbed the north side track connection and has been delivering/receiving the demo cars.