Rail Train Over the Charles
A Keolis/MBTA rail train is making a rare trip north on the Framingham Secondary. The train had been dumping rail along the Franklin Line over the weekend, but the rest of the strings were for north side projects. Not wishing to take the train through the wye connector and thread thru Cove interlocking required this rare move. The train left with a south side Keolis crew on board from the siding in Foxboro. After crossing the diamond in Walpole they paused to pick up a Mass Coastal Railroad pilot for the trip from Walpole to Framingham. The connection from the secondary to the Worcester Line main (former B&A) is westbound only so the train had to pull down past CP22 by Nevins Yard and then shove up the west leg of the wye into CSXT's north yard to turn their whole train before pulling down the east leg to CP21. From there it was an 18 mile sprint east to CP3, where another reverse move was required to switch back into the remains of Beacon Park yard where the north side work train crew met them with a switch engine to pull the whole train over towards BET.
The 12 miles from Walpole to Framingham is normally freight only and Keolis crews aren't qualified on this route so it is a bit of a rare occurrence. Built as the Mansfield and Framingham Railroad in 1870 the 21 mile route between its two namesake points came under the aegis the Old Colony Railroad in 1879 and then the New Haven in 1893 when that system absorbed the OCRR. 40 years later passenger service ended, but for the past 86 years the line has been an important freight route. Passing from the NH to PC, CR and ultimately CSXT the line was sold by the latter in June 2015 to MassDOT for $23 million. The line is now dispatched and maintained under contract by Mass Coastal (hence the MC pilot) but still served by CSXT which owns the perpetual freight rights. This branch line is a 10 MPH railroad that normally sees 4 trains a day on its fairly flat route through wooded semi rural and suburban Boston bedroom communities.
It's not a particularly scenic route but this obscure location on the Medfield - Sherborn Line offers some charm. This shot require a mile hike in on some bucolic trails in the Rocky Narrows preservation to this crossing of the Charles River.
It's quiet and peaceful here and teaming with wildlife. I saw turtles and a snake while waiting for the train as well as a family enjoying the canoe trail along the calm river. A mix of state land and trustees property this is a special place and truly one of my favorites in the area.
In 1897, renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., acting as acquisition agent for Augustus Hemenway, deeded to The Trustees of Reservations 21 acres on the river known as Rocky Narrows, the “Gates of the Charles.” It became The Trustees’ first reservation. Additional land donations and acquisitions over the years has grown the reservation to 274 acres. It also abuts the Charles River State Reservation and the Sherborn Town Forest creating a fairly large swath of undeveloped wildland in this heavily populated portion of the commonwealth.
Anyway, I've always loved this scene and longed to get just the right shot here, but it requires a fairly early morning train. CSXT's normal schedule just doesn't work for it, but this extra was timed perfectly, so I knew it was worth the couple mile hike.
Here is third unit, MBTA F40PH-2C 1059 crossing the Charles River bridge at MP 15.35 heading north to Framingham.
Sherborn, Massachusetts
Monday June 8, 2020
Rail Train Over the Charles
A Keolis/MBTA rail train is making a rare trip north on the Framingham Secondary. The train had been dumping rail along the Franklin Line over the weekend, but the rest of the strings were for north side projects. Not wishing to take the train through the wye connector and thread thru Cove interlocking required this rare move. The train left with a south side Keolis crew on board from the siding in Foxboro. After crossing the diamond in Walpole they paused to pick up a Mass Coastal Railroad pilot for the trip from Walpole to Framingham. The connection from the secondary to the Worcester Line main (former B&A) is westbound only so the train had to pull down past CP22 by Nevins Yard and then shove up the west leg of the wye into CSXT's north yard to turn their whole train before pulling down the east leg to CP21. From there it was an 18 mile sprint east to CP3, where another reverse move was required to switch back into the remains of Beacon Park yard where the north side work train crew met them with a switch engine to pull the whole train over towards BET.
The 12 miles from Walpole to Framingham is normally freight only and Keolis crews aren't qualified on this route so it is a bit of a rare occurrence. Built as the Mansfield and Framingham Railroad in 1870 the 21 mile route between its two namesake points came under the aegis the Old Colony Railroad in 1879 and then the New Haven in 1893 when that system absorbed the OCRR. 40 years later passenger service ended, but for the past 86 years the line has been an important freight route. Passing from the NH to PC, CR and ultimately CSXT the line was sold by the latter in June 2015 to MassDOT for $23 million. The line is now dispatched and maintained under contract by Mass Coastal (hence the MC pilot) but still served by CSXT which owns the perpetual freight rights. This branch line is a 10 MPH railroad that normally sees 4 trains a day on its fairly flat route through wooded semi rural and suburban Boston bedroom communities.
It's not a particularly scenic route but this obscure location on the Medfield - Sherborn Line offers some charm. This shot require a mile hike in on some bucolic trails in the Rocky Narrows preservation to this crossing of the Charles River.
It's quiet and peaceful here and teaming with wildlife. I saw turtles and a snake while waiting for the train as well as a family enjoying the canoe trail along the calm river. A mix of state land and trustees property this is a special place and truly one of my favorites in the area.
In 1897, renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., acting as acquisition agent for Augustus Hemenway, deeded to The Trustees of Reservations 21 acres on the river known as Rocky Narrows, the “Gates of the Charles.” It became The Trustees’ first reservation. Additional land donations and acquisitions over the years has grown the reservation to 274 acres. It also abuts the Charles River State Reservation and the Sherborn Town Forest creating a fairly large swath of undeveloped wildland in this heavily populated portion of the commonwealth.
Anyway, I've always loved this scene and longed to get just the right shot here, but it requires a fairly early morning train. CSXT's normal schedule just doesn't work for it, but this extra was timed perfectly, so I knew it was worth the couple mile hike.
Here is third unit, MBTA F40PH-2C 1059 crossing the Charles River bridge at MP 15.35 heading north to Framingham.
Sherborn, Massachusetts
Monday June 8, 2020