Freight and General New England RR News

[Wash]

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]

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.

 

[GP40MC]

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

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

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]

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.

 

[Wash]

Live free or dry: Amtrak won’t let you buy booze while your train is in N.H. - The Boston Globe

Riders on the Amtrak Downeaster, which runs from Maine to Boston, will soon have to hold off on buying alcoholic beverages during the 35-mile stretch of the trip that goes through New Hampshire.

www.bostonglobe.com

Genuine question: Does this count as a restriction on interstate commerce?

 

[dhawkins]

Live free or dry: Amtrak won’t let you buy booze while your train is in N.H. - The Boston Globe

Riders on the Amtrak Downeaster, which runs from Maine to Boston, will soon have to hold off on buying alcoholic beverages during the 35-mile stretch of the trip that goes through New Hampshire.

www.bostonglobe.com

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]

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.


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.

 

[New England Born & Raised]

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.

All signs point toward demolition of old train station

PAWTUCKET/CENTRAL FALLS – In the end, a viable future for the old Pawtucket/Central Falls Commuter Rail Station on the line between the two cities might not be viable after all,

www.valleybreeze.com

 

[ceo]

Live free or dry: Amtrak won’t let you buy booze while your train is in N.H. - The Boston Globe

Riders on the Amtrak Downeaster, which runs from Maine to Boston, will soon have to hold off on buying alcoholic beverages during the 35-mile stretch of the trip that goes through New Hampshire.

www.bostonglobe.com

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]

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

 

[Subdivisions]

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

Or just not stop in New Hampshire at all

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

New Hampshire reverses itself, OK’s alcohol sales on Downeaster, for now

State officials are working on a way around a law that forbids serving alcohol that hasn't been purchased in the state. In the meantime, the Downeaster will have an exemption while it travels 35 miles of rails in the state.

www.pressherald.com

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]

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]

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.

 

[michaelw37]

Distressing news: there is now a funded effort to abandon the freight line in Falmouth in favor of a rail-trail:

"State and local officials this week expressed confidence that train tracks leading to Joint Base Cape Cod can be removed to make way for the proposed bike path extension from North Falmouth to the Cape Cod Canal, something these same officials have said would never happen.
The change of heart stems from negotiations with base officials regarding relocation of the rail line now leading to the military base.
Additionally, the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority said it can make $20 million in federal funding available to the project. Transit authority administrator Thomas S. Cahir said the federal dollars could cover the cost of the project “and cut 30 years off” getting the bike path extension done."

YouTuber South Coast Rail Videos has a good summary here about how this abandonment would increase truck trips to and from the Cape and squander a grant that the railroad's customer Cassova received just a year ago.

I was optimistic about the future of freight rail in Massachusetts with the CSX merger and ongoing IRAP grants. But between this and the Peabody abandonment, it seems like things are still in a phase of retrenchment. Not to mention the fact that this only digs the hole deeper against any future efforts to reestablish passenger service to Woods Hole for the ferry connection.

Writ-large, this is yet another case that is making me hostile to rail trails. I used to think that the trail-rail conflict was manageable, for instance through a rail-with-trail like you see along the GLX in Somerville. But in this case, a rail-with-trail option is on the table and there is nonetheless a push for abandonment because it is a much cheaper way of getting the trail. It's hard not be hostile to rail-trails as a concept when there are cases like this.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

Distressing news: there is now a funded effort to abandon the freight line in Falmouth in favor of a rail-trail:



YouTuber South Coast Rail Videos has a good summary here about how this abandonment would increase truck trips to and from the Cape and squander a grant that the railroad's customer Cassova received just a year ago.

I was optimistic about the future of freight rail in Massachusetts with the CSX merger and ongoing IRAP grants. But between this and the Peabody abandonment, it seems like things are still in a phase of retrenchment. Not to mention the fact that this only digs the hole deeper against any future efforts to reestablish passenger service to Woods Hole for the ferry connection.

Writ-large, this is yet another case that is making me hostile to rail trails. I used to think that the trail-rail conflict was manageable, for instance through a rail-with-trail like you see along the GLX in Somerville. But in this case, a rail-with-trail option is on the table and there is nonetheless a push for abandonment because it is a much cheaper way of getting the trail. It's hard not be hostile to rail-trails as a concept when there are cases like this.

The "rail line relocation" plan is pretty much garbage. A 2-mile spur off the Cape Main near Bourne rotary that dead-ends by the Bourne landfill, a full 8 miles from Cassova and 5 miles from the Joint Base. It's a more than useless trade-in, and Mass Coastal is digging in hard to oppose it. They've already sabre-rattled in public meetings and to the press that they'll defend their territorial rights to the Falmouth Secondary in front of the Surface Transportation Board, and contractually with MassDOT (they were recently renewed for another decade as the freight rail operator for the Cape).


I'm not sure who in MassDOT is listening to the bike lobby, but they should know better. The trail plan will get slapped away in an instant in front of the STB if Mass Coastal and Cassova file an adverse abandonment injunction. It literally has almost no chance given the caselaw precedent. And the next step after handing the state a loss in front of the STB would be for Mass Coastal to seek breach-of-contract damages from MassDOT in a lawsuit over those recently renewed trackage rights and all those targeted track work grants. MassDOT lawyers are probably telling those officials "Shut up shut up shut up!" for giving this whole scheme a cloak of legitimacy (however uncoordinated), because MC ain't fucking around with its legal threats or the confidence they have that the feds will uphold precedent.


Yes...depressing nonetheless that we still have divide-and-conquer weaponization to this degree. There was a real rail-with-trail study done here, and while it was an expensive prospect it was at least an earnest attempt to placate everybody. The bike lobby didn't even feign interest in that; they've been full-on from Day 1 for the earth-salting. As you said, they pay for it immediately in truck traffic, and Cape Cod Central gets deprived of some of its most scenic route for the dinner train (which, if the state invested in a wye leg at Cape Jct., could ping all the way from Hyannis to North Falmouth encompasing the entire Lower Cape).

 

[GP40MC]

Off Facebook...You can see how bold the bike path group is getting...

Ben Converse discussion on Facebook
Our notorious friend, Kenneth Cheitlin, is making some serious moves and getting community support to remove more rail mileage on Cape Cod. He has support from local elected officials as well as CCRTA's Tom Cahir, who now seems to feel that the Falmouth Secondary should be eliminated.
For those who feel that the removal of this branch will be impossible, please consider the following:

• Mr. Cheitlin announced that his group is planning to disrupt Mass Coastal's contract renewal next year, and is preparing a case to present to the state that the railroad is bad for the community. While it sounds far fetched, their success so far in convincing state officials is notable.
• 
  
• Mr. Cheitlin admitted that his group has submitted FOIA requests for Mass Coastal's financial records in an attempt to prove that the railroad is "making no money". This is an aggressive escalation on their part.
• 
  
• Mr. Cheitlin also suggested that the state has revenue thresholds that the railroad will not meet, per their FOIA requests for financial records, therefore justifying abandonment.
• The group has been successful in convincing elected officials that rail does not "benefit the community", an absurd and provincial argument.

For those of us who live on Cape Cod, I really think it's time to get serious about challenging this effort. I know many of us have been reticent to do so - we are a group of railfans, and this is a thorny issue. But if we want to prevent more rail mileage from being destroyed, I think we'll have to fight for this one.

I am planning on writing an op-ed for the Enterprise. A meeting with Senator Moran (for those of us who are her constituents) may also be worthwhile. Stating the obvious, but Mass Coastal may need to have a defensive legal strategy lined up. These people will not quit, and they have money to burn on their effort.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

The one vector MassDOT has for forcing an abandonment is withholding the Falmouth Secondary from the next trackage rights renewal. That would sidestep the breach-of-contract damages and the STB slapping the trail away instantaneously, depending on how the current contract's renewal clauses are worded (i.e. how much leeway they give to change the next contract). But that's still likely going to result in a lawsuit and an adverse filing in front of the STB. Interstate commerce caselaw tends not to look kindly on state actors sabotaging business for private entities unless it meets a very high standard of private good, so Mass Coastal would still likely have the upper hand...albeit a weaker hand than an open-shut breach-of-contract case.

Bottom line...the whole freakshow could end up tied in litigation for years any which way if push comes to shove. And the pols pushing for this probably aren't aware of that.

EDIT: http://photos.nerail.org/s/?p=275905
Bumper sticker by the pro-rail folks stuck to the crossing equipment at the former Barlows Landing stop, with the dinner train passing by.

 

[NHMaples]

This is from a March 16 article, but I'm not sure how new tracks constructed on the base would connect to the existing line.

"State Rep. David Vieira, R-Falmouth, meanwhile, said the Legislature is already considering a new rail-spur option for Otis Air Base on Joint Base Cape Cod that would, if necessary, replace the Cataumet tracks."

It seems to me that the possibility of receiving $20,000,000 in Covid stimulus funds is part of the incentive for moving ahead with the rail-to-trail option for Phase 4 sooner rather than later, but without a replacement for the existing spur I don't see how that could happen.

Bourne officials endorse Bourne Rail Trail plan, federal funds sought (capecodtimes.com)