Boston Area Railfanning?

[fulltritty]

I will be up in Boston (better not wear my NY Yankees stuff) the week of August 8th for a conference and was looking for some suggestions for railfanning the area. I will be arriving via Amtrak at South Station around 1PM on Sunday and will have a rental. Looking at Google Earth, there appears to be a park/trail south of there by the water to hopefully shoot some MBTA commuter stuff during the weekdays after the conference is over. I also see an MBTA yard close by. Any suggestions for freight outside of the city? Thanks!

[Guilford Guy]

CSX has a yard in Allston MA, which is a little ways out on Framingham/Worcester branch of the commuter rail. In the city and immediate vicinity there is very little freight traffic. Just north of Boston CSX runs to a produce warehouse about 5 days a week, and Pan Am  has a few customers they service whenever they feel like it. If you're into ALCo locomotives, Boston Railway Terminal (long ago kicked out by CSX) has an S4 that is still in Boston close to South Station. (Link)
 

[Iain]

I will be up in Boston (better not wear my NY Yankees stuff) the week of August 8th for a conference and was looking for some suggestions for railfanning the area. I will be arriving via Amtrak at South Station around 1PM on Sunday and will have a rental. Looking at Google Earth, there appears to be a park/trail south of there by the water to hopefully shoot some MBTA commuter stuff during the weekdays after the conference is over. I also see an MBTA yard close by. Any suggestions for freight outside of the city? Thanks!

LinuxCon?

[John]

UCDMO 

[fulltritty]

Don't give away all of our secrets John.  I might have to go to the General Dynamics sponsered social and schmooze since they are bidding on the contract we currently have.... and probably will lose. 

[central.vermont]

How long are you up here for. An hours drive from Boston could get you some
train time on a large triple level N scale railroad with oodles of operation.
The layout belongs to member MEC_FAN. He models the BAR and MEC. The layout
can be run manually or completely automated.
Jon

[Dupesy]

And, there might be someone on here who's a conductor on the Commuter Rail.  Maybe.  Don't know who though.... ;D

[Guilford Guy]

It's not like you ever work at a convenient time, or go home early because you broke something...

[fulltritty]

I should be arriving at South Station around 1:30PM on Sunday. My conference doesn't really start until Tuesday as Monday is an early session that really doesn't pertain to me. I will be heading back early Friday morning on the Acela. I was thinking on going to Ayer on Sunday and Worcester on Monday or vice cersa. The conference ends about 4:30 every day, so I thought I would head over to the MBTA yard or just south of South Station and get the commuter rush.

[Guilford Guy]

You'll likely have missed the Ayer-Mohawk TOFC train assuming you'll be getting out there around 20 of 5 on Sunday. There should definitely be a local and possibly a coal train for you to see. If you're lucky a road freight will come by with some of the new SD40-2s.

[Dupesy]

I don't play on the south side, but a visit to the engine house on the north side can be easily arranged. 

[fulltritty]

How is the action in Ayer on a late Sunday afternoon and evening? Is it even worth going out there or just spending 1 1/2 days at Worcester? From the directions on Mapquest, it looks like I would get out to Ayer around 3PM.

Another thought instead of Ayer on Sunday, would it be better to head to Palmer?

[Guilford Guy]

With Pan Am you really can never tell at all. It's possible 4 or 5 will go bye within an hours, and it's possible none will come through the entire night. Palmer is a nice place and has good food, but there may not be that much movement. If you want to see more PAR traffic you could try to hit up Lawrence Yard where they should have a local working, and usually some road trains either running or waiting for a recrew. Another option that isn't as far as Worcester is to go the Framingham the hub of most Local runs east of Worcester. If you're into shortlines you can also check out the Grafton & Upton in North Grafton. They have a couple GP9s, a CF7,  a caboose, and an observation car. They don't run very often but it's a neat little railroad if you have time.

[fulltritty]

Thanks for the additional information. Is the CSX Boston Line frequency still 160.800 for dispatcher and road? How about the P&W frequencies for Worcester?

I was checking out that Boston Terminal Railway Alco from the first post and low and behold it is right behind the conference center I am going to be at all week.  ;D

[Guilford Guy]

Boston Line is still 160.800
Pan Am Road is 161.160 and yard is 161.400
Grafton & Upton is 160.245 so if you're in Framingham and hear them chatting you may want to speed westwards.
While there are less stack trains through Framingham then Worcester, you'll be able to spend more time there and will likely see more freights as there are locals that run both East and West out of Framingham, one that runs North to a plastics town, and one that runs south to Readville Yard on the North East Corridor. Both Framingham and Worcester have nice stations, though the Framingham one is not open to the public last time I checked.

Also, in the immediate Boston area itself CSX runs a local from Framingham, through the Allston Yard, over the Charles River on a bridge (I've always wanted a picture here) through the MIT campus, then out behind the Boston Engine Terminal and up the Rockport line of the Commuter Rail. If you want to see more shortline power as well, and aren't concerned about being out late, DOBO runs several days a week, usually on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays. The train comes through Somerville southbound, usually between 11:30PM and 12:30AM with two New Hampshire Northcoast GP38-2s and NHN Hoppers. You'd probably much rather be sleeping though!