Train Derails in Worcester MA, Blocking Burncoat Street and Diverting Traffic

JAN 24, 2018:  Part of Pan Am/CSX freight SEPO derailed Wednesday (1/24/18) morning, creating traffic problems in Worcester but causing no injuries...  Three locomotives and several box cars at the front of the train came off the tracks around 8 a.m... the train came to a stop just south of West Mountain Street just past where the tracks go under West Boylston Street. The box cars that went off the tracks were directly behind the three engines...  District Fire Chief Daniel O’Neil said the cars affected by the derailment were carrying paper. He said that for safety reasons, it is common practice to have cars without hazardous materials directly behind the engine. Other cars on the train contained liquefied petroleum gas. He said they were not affected by the derailment.

http://www.masslive.com/news/worcester/index.ssf/2018/01/train_derails_in_worcester_blo.html
https://worcestermag.com/2018/01/24/train-derails-off-burncoat-street/56966
http://www.telegram.com/news/20180124/derailed-train-moved-traffic-flowing-on-burncoat-street-in-worcester

Recent New England Model Railroad Announcements

N SCALE

Atlas:  Alco RS1 Locomotive – Rutland (Qtr2 – 2017)  

Atlas:  PS-2750 Hopper – B&M (Qtr2 - 2017)

Eastern Seaboard:  Magor/PC&F class XIH boxcar – New Haven, BAR  (due Dec ’16)

HO SCALE

Athearn:  EMD SD39 Locomotive – Guilford (B&M) (Sept ‘17)

Athearn:  40' 3-Bay Offset Hopper – B&M (Sept ’17)

Atlas: PS-2 Covered Hopper – Maine Central (Qtr1-2017)

Atlas: Code 100 Decorated Plate Girder Bridge – Providence & Worcester

O SCALE

Atlas:  50' PS-1 Single Door Box Cars (Modernized) – BAR, B&M (blue)

POSTCARD VIEW: Dual Depots, Ayer MA circa 1905

 

In this view, we are looking east, with the B&M's Fitchburg line toward Boston at right, and the Worcester & Nashua heading north/south.  Note the ball signal, and the current tower near the site today has yet to be built.  There is also a building behind what is now Carlin's, along the line to Greenville NH.

Boston Company to Offer First Private Passenger Rail Line

(SOURCE:  WPRI.com)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Boston company wants to offer the first private passenger rail line in the nation in more than 30 years, reviving a once-popular business model that was stopped dead in its tracks decades ago.

Boston Surface Railroad Co. is planning a commuter rail line that would shuttle passengers between Worcester, Massachusetts, and Providence in about an hour. No private passenger rail line has existed since 1983, and it’s been even longer since there was a significant private investment in passenger rail.

While some experts doubt that private rail can be a viable business, others say the market demand is there. Companies in at least two other states — Florida and Texas — have passenger rail projects in the works.

“We’re going through changes in this country with how people travel. Everybody’s looking for more choices,” said Robert Puentes, director of the metropolitan infrastructure initiative at the Brookings Institution.

The 45-mile stretch between Worcester and Providence presents the perfect opportunity for commuter rail because there are existing well-maintained tracks, which are owned and used for freight by Providence and Worcester Railroad Co., said Vincent Bono, CEO of Boston Surface Railroad.

Bono likens the project to a proof-of-concept to see if a private company can use existing infrastructure for passenger rail service for relatively little money.

“Because we’re private, because it’s an existing railroad, because they’re willing to operate it for us, we don’t have to spend ridiculous money,” Bono said.

He hopes the rail will be up and running by 2017.

The nation’s existing passenger railroads rely heavily on government subsidies. In recent years, Amtrak, the nation’s government-funded inter-city railroad service, has come under attack for expensive subsidies of its money-losing long-distance routes and losses from its food and beverage services, although the busy Northeast corridor route has growing operating profits.

Still, some doubt that private passenger rail projects can make a profit.

“If commuter rail is to be competitive, it has to maintain artificially low fares, fares that are below the fully allocated cost of service,” said Albert Churella, a professor at Kennesaw State University who specializes in the history of the railroad industry.

But companies in at least two other states see a market for private passenger rail.

All Aboard Florida is working on a $2.25 billion project to build a passenger rail from Miami to Orlando. It plans to begin operating a limited route by 2017.

Texas Central Railway is developing a $10 billion high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston beginning in 2021. The company has said the bullet train would make the 250-mile trip in 90 minutes.

The Worcester-to-Providence rail line would be much smaller scale than those.

Bono said capital costs are budgeted at $3 million to $5 million, because the company needs to build very little: a short passing track and a passenger platform at the Worcester train station. It plans to keep costs down by relying on equipment it will get refurbished — three used locomotives and 12 former Amtrak passenger coaches.

Boston Surface has entered into a memo of understanding with the freight railroad, which owns nearly the entire route.

A feasibility study was just completed, and the project is in the planning stages. Bono says it doesn’t need federal or state money.

Puentes said the private ventures can help economic growth and recovery.

“This is the right conversation to be having, particularly in a place like Rhode Island,” he said.

Providence & Worcester Rail Yard in Line for $450K from State

(SOURCE:  Telegram.com -By Lisa Eckelbecker - Telegram & Gazette Staff )

BOSTON - State grants worth more than $2 million will go to industrial railroad projects in Massachusetts, including a grant of almost $456,000 to Providence and Worcester Railroad Co. in Worcester.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation said it awarded five grants as part of the state's Industrial Rail Access Program, which gives money to businesses and municipalities to boost economic growth by improving rail networks.

In Worcester, the state grant will go toward work at the Providence and Worcester Southbridge Street railroad yard, the state reported. The railroad is a freight carrier.

Catania Spagna Corp. of Ayer, which processes and sells oils, was awarded $500,000 for rail siding track expansion and unloading improvements in Ayer, DOT said in a news release.

The state reported other grants were awarded to Borden & Remington Corp. of Fall River, $383,910; Pioneer Valley Railroad of Westfield, $175,045; and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and Fore River Railroad Corp. of Quincy, $500,000.

Micro-Trains Offers Providence & Worcester Coal Hopper Set in N Scale

One of the 4 cars in the set

Micro Trains has released a set of 4 factory weathered coal hoppers in N scale.  

Item# 99305270 - P&W (4-Pack)...$119.95

Worcester Man in Sombrero, Poncho Accused of 'Surfing' Atop MBTA Train

(SOURCE:  MassLive)

After a Saturday afternoon pub crawl in Boston, and possibly one too many alcoholic beverages, a Worcester man has been summoned to court after being found "surfing" on a MBTA commuter train.

According to a MBTA Transit Police report, the unidentified 28-year-old man was detained by Southborough and Ashland police when the train's engineer stopped the train at 9:45 p.m. between the two towns after being told that someone was on top of the train. At the time, the train was traveling 40 miles per hour.

The engineer told police that after climbing to the top of the engine, he saw that the "man's body was half over the top rung of the ladder, 'like a child clinging over a shopping cart.'"

"The engineer said the man climbed down on his own power and was brought to Southborough MBTA Station where the police removed him," according to the report.

Transit police have not identified the man, who was wearing a sombrero and poncho when he told municipal and MBTA officers that he had been drinking with friends in Boston since 3 p.m. that afternoon. The man's identity will be made public when he is formally charged with trespassing.

The man told officers that he had become separated from his friends and began walking car to car to find them, but he denied being on top of the train, according to the report. Officers noted that the man's hands "were blackened, which were consistent to being in contact with the outside of the train." He was later released to a friend.

The Worcester-bound train arrived 24 minutes late to Union Station because of the incident, according to the MBTA.

New MBTA Diesel Headed to P&WRR

Brand spankin' new MBTA diesel #2001 is reportedly on it's way to the Providence & Worcester railroad for final setup. Will we soon see it plying MBTA rails??

10/14 UPDATE:  The unit should be on P&W property as I type.

New England Model Railroad Items at 2013 National Train Show

(Information from the Model Railroader magazine website)

New England related model railroad items on display at the 2013 National Train Show, July 19-21:  

HO SCALE:

Alco S-2 diesel locomotive:  Boston & Maine (black, red, and white in two numbers); Upgraded tooling, five-pole skew-wound motor with dual flywheels, and directional light-emitting diode headlights. Direct-current model, $149.95; with ESU LokSound Digital Command Control sound decoder, $259.95. Fourth quarter 2013. Ready-to-run. Master Line. Atlas Model Railroad Co., 908-687-0880, www.atlasrr.com

Electro-Motive Division GP7 diesel locomotive:  Boston & Maine (McGinnis scheme. SoundTraxx Sound Value decoder (prime mover, three air horns, and bell), acetal handrails, and E-Z Mate Mark II knuckle couplers. $189. October 2013. Sound Value line. Ready-to-run. Bachmann, 215-533-1600, www.bachmanntrains.com

Electro-Motive Division SW1 diesel locomotive: Boston & Maine.  Five-pole skew-wound motor with dual flywheels, directional lighting, and all-wheel drive and electrical pickup. $99.98. Ready-to-run. WalthersMainline. Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 414-527-0770, www.walthers.com

N SCALE:

Alco S-2 diesel locomotive: Boston & Maine (black, red, and white in two numbers. Die-cast metal hood and chassis, prototype-specific radiator shutters, and directional light-emitting diode headlights. Direct-current model, $119.95; with ESU LokSound Digital Command Control sound decoder, $239.95. Fourth quarter 2013. Ready-to-run. Atlas Model Railroad Co., 908-687-0880, www.atlasrr.com

Alco RS-3, diesel locomotive:   Vermont Railway. Two road numbers per scheme. Directional lighting, Scale Speed motor, and blackened metal wheelsets. $119.95.Third quarter 2013. Ready-to-run. Master Line. Atlas Model Railroad Co., 908-687-0880, www.atlasrr.com

Alco PA-1 diesel locomotive:  New York, New Haven & Hartford.  Paragon2 sound and operation system, plastic shell with die-cast metal chassis, and can motor with dual flywheels. PA-1 and PB-1 sets, $249.99; single PA-1 or PB-1, $199.99 each. October 2013. Ready-to-run. Broadway Limited Imports, 386-673-8900, www.broadway-limited.com

Chesapeake & Ohio-style cupola caboose:  Boston & Maine,  Grand Trunk Western, Providence & Worcester (one number). Two car numbers each except as noted. Weighted and detailed underframe, window glazing, and Accumate knuckle couplers. $18.95. Ready-to-run. Trainman series. Atlas Model Railroad Co., 908-687-0880, www.atlasrr.com

Recent New England Model Railroad Announcements

N SCALE

Atlas: Alco S2 Diesel Locomotive (w/sound) – Boston & Maine (due 4^th qtr ’13)

HO SCALE

Atlas: 42’ Coil-steel Car w/hood – Providence & Worcester

Atlas: 52’ Evens Gondola – B&M, GT, Amtrak (3^rd qtr ’13)

Broadway Limited: I-5 4-6-4 Steam Locomotive – New Haven

Intermountain: 2 Bay Covered Hoppers – New Haven, B&M (due Fall ’13)

CSX Opens Massachusetts Double Stack Route

(via the Trains.com Newswire)

WORCESTER, Mass. – CSX Transportation has opened New England’s first main line route that can clear double stack intermodal containers. The railroad worked in conjunction with the commonwealth of Massachusetts to raise clearances on the former Boston & Albany route between the New York state line and the newly expanded intermodal terminal in Worcester.

The project involved increasing vertical clearances at 31 locations between Worcester and the state line to 21 feet. West of the New York state line, clearances have already been raised. Previously, double-stack trains destined for New England points had to stop in Syracuse, N.Y., to be converted from double-stack to single-stack configurations. The reverse occurred on westbound trains adding time and cost.

The project was part of a larger agreement with the commonwealth that enabled Massachusetts to acquire CSX lines in the Boston area to increase commuter service. In conjunction with that project, the intermodal terminal in Worcester was expanded.

“This is an excellent example of how the public and private sector can work together on projects that benefit the public, strengthen the economy, and enable highway to rail freight conversion to reduce strain on public infrastructure and serve supply chains seamlessly,” Clarence W. Gooden, CSX’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer, said.

Worcester MA Union Station Kit Due December 2012

The N Scale Architect has announced an N scale craftsman kit of the  Worcester Massachusetts Union Station.  The kit is due to arrive in December.  Information can be found HERE.

The company also offers a New Haven signal tower in N/HO scales,