Freight and General New England RR News

Wash

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Traveling southbound on the Downeaster today,
saw what appeared to be quite a few miles of preparations for installation of a second/third track between Saco and Dover, NH out the left-hand side of the train. Miles of prepared grade - some portions of it were even ballasted - and there were some grade crossing gates sitting in a staging lot near Dover. It appears that CSX promises to upgrade former Pan Am infrastructure are finally bearing fruit.
 

F-Line to Dudley

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Traveling southbound on the Downeaster today,
saw what appeared to be quite a few miles of preparations for installation of a second/third track between Saco and Dover, NH out the left-hand side of the train. Miles of prepared grade - some portions of it were even ballasted - and there were some grade crossing gates sitting in a staging lot near Dover. It appears that CSX promises to upgrade former Pan Am infrastructure are finally bearing fruit.
That's the new Wells passing siding. It was funded by federal grant long before CSX acquired Pan Am, and is finally getting underway.

There aren't any current plans to touch anything else on the Western Route. CSX is focused on repairing the abominable-condition Worcester-Ayer and Bangor-Mattawamkeag lines first, as well as renovating big Rigby Yard in South Portland. Those are the only projects that kicked off this year right after the merger. There'll of course be much more in subsequent years, but they're focusing first on the five-alarm essentials.
 

F-Line to Dudley

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Looks like there will be no reason for BO-1 or any freight to go east of Everett Jct soon...

https://www.salemnews.com/news/peab...cle_b8590e12-b876-11ed-abc5-6b5afd66e550.html
That's a hell of an about-face. After Rousselot bought the plant from Eastman Kodak they expanded the plant and its job footprint with a switch to biotech gelatin (which dovetails nicely with Boston's biotech industry). And it was only 3-4 years ago they got government grants to upgrade the Peabody trackage and add a new siding to the plant. I wonder if the fumes lawsuit from abutters had any bearing on their throwing in the towel.
 

fatnoah

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I wonder if the fumes lawsuit from abutters had any bearing on their throwing in the towel.
My guess is that lawsuit and possibly some incentive from CSX could have pushed things past the tipping point.

EDIT: $20+M worth of land might also be an incentive as well.
 
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dhawkins

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Genuine question: Does this count as a restriction on interstate commerce?
Between this and the kibosh on the Lowell extension to Nashua and beyond it really seems like someone in NH is really putting tax dollars used in public transportation under a microscope.
 

F-Line to Dudley

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Between this and the kibosh on the Lowell extension to Nashua and beyond it really seems like someone in NH is really putting tax dollars used in public transportation under a microscope.
NH spends zero tax dollars on the Downeaster. And for 21+ years it's been operating with drinks and nobody on the NH Liquor Commission noticed. Until now, conveniently when pols in the state started weaponizing against passenger rail. Only now is there selective enforcement of this arcane rule...that also has no appeal process whatsoever. :rolleyes:


I assume the Vermonter is also going to have to pause liquor sales too on its 24-mile scrape into the state. That train's only been operating 51 years without sanctioning under this stupid rule.
 
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Did not know where to post this.

It appears that the long vacant decaying former Pawtucket and Central Falls Depot that sits above three tracks used by Amtrak, MBTA Commuter Rail, and the Providence & Worcester Railroad (freight) appears headed toward demolition. It was built after the tracks had been moved a bit west of downtown Pawtucket and sunk to avoid road crossings. The over 30,000 square foot brick and granite beaux-arts style structure opened in 1916. It had two levels; the upper level housed the 96’ by 64’ waiting room along with a barber shop, restaurant, ticket office, and baggage areas. The lower level had the outdoor track area with two island platforms providing access to all four tracks. Some 140 trains a day once stopped at the new station with an average of seventy thousand passenger departures a month. The station however began to decline in time as less people used the train for transportation with the rise of the auto and it was closed in 1959. It has mostly sat empty since then further deteriorating with time. Its location on a bend in the tracks no longer meets station site codes. That along with prohibitive renovation costs necessitated building the new station which opened in January-2023 just a bit to its southwest.

Demolition will be a costly and very involved process as the large station sits over three very active tracks with two of them electrified. Furthermore, there is a new MBTA Commuter Rail station just to its south which requires commuter trains to reduce approach speeds in this stretch for stops.


 
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ceo

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Genuine question: Does this count as a restriction on interstate commerce?
It would, except that the 21st Amendment permitted the states to regulate the importation of alcohol.
 

NHMaples

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The obvious solution is for the vendor to purchase a proportionate amount of alcohol from New Hampshire. It is not a dry state.
 

F-Line to Dudley

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NH Liquor Commission walks it back; liquor sales to continue on Downeaster.

E.J. Powers said the commission renewed the liquor license of NexDine, the vendor that operates The Downeaster’s food and beverage service, in late January, even though it appeared to be violating the state law on buying liquor it serves in New Hampshire within the state.
Gee...you think that might've caused some legal trouble for the state if challenged in court? No wonder they called off the dogs.
 

RandomWalk

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They probably looked at the state revenue projections and thought they could stick it to the outsiders. Instead, it was the latest transportation-related own goal.
 

Roxxma

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I assume the Vermonter is also going to have to pause liquor sales too on its 24-mile scrape into the state. That train's only been operating 51 years without sanctioning under this stupid rule.
I know it's moot here now, but I wonder if Amtrak is exempt from New Hampshire's (and other states) licensing rules, since it runs food service on its own on most trains, as opposed to the Downeaster, where food service is contracted out to a private operator.
 

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