Eastern Railroad Discussion > CSX Beacon Park Yard & Worcester Intermodal Facility Questions

What trains originated/terminated at Beacon Park Yard in Boston before it closed? Also, where did the intermodal trains into MA terminate before the Worcester facility was opened? I assume somewhere in Boston or around Beacon Park? Thanks for any info!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/18 21:27 by RiverLineProductions.

Some trains originated and terminated at Beacon Park, while some originated or terminated at Worcester even before Beacon Park was closed and the Worcester terminal was expanded as part of the clearance project on the B&A.

I'm of no help with what trains originated and terminated in Boston before Beacon Park was shuttered. However, some symbols were designated as originating in Beacon Park when in fact it would just be a light power move to Worcester, where they'd pick up their train. So your milage may vary on what actually originated at Beacon Park.

I drove by Beacon Park on Saturday... Very sad sight indeed.....

This is a schedule of trains during Conrail days...1986.

Westward

TV-9 Beacon Park to Chicago 12:30 AM Tu - Sa
10:30 AM Sun
TV-5 Beacon Park to Elkhart 8:30 PM M-F
TV-7B Beacon Park to Columbus 9:00 PM Sat
TV-13 Beacon Park to Chicago 11:45 PM M-F
WNBP11 Works to Framingham, Westboro and Return 1 PM M-F
WNPB10 Works to Chelsea and return 4 PM ex. Sat

I also believe there was a manifest BOSE Boston to Selkirk


Eastward

TV-8B Selkirk to Beacon Park 3:00 AM M-F
6:30 AM Sa/Su
TV-6 Columbus to Beacon Park 6:30 AM ex Tu
TV-14 Chicago to Beacon Park 10:30 PM Daily

BOSE Selkirk to Boston

I think Q115, Q117, and Q119 were the last ones to originate out of Beacon Park before it closed, though I'm not certain. Q420/Q421 (CSX names for Conrail's SEBO/BOSE) had been gone for several years by the time the yard finally closed. There were a couple train pairs that officially worked out of Worcester, with light engines continuing on to Boston for servicing at Beacon Park's small shop, which is now gone.

B721/WABP-10 was based there off and on for years as well; other times, the crew worked out of a small CSX office within the produce terminal in Everett, making a round trip to Beacon Park. Since Beacon Park closed, the job has worked out of Framingham.

Working at the West Springfield ramp 2008-2015, I recall that all 3 of 'our' westbound trains originated at Beacon Park...Q015, Q017, and Q019. Eastbound, only Q016 and Q014 stopped at West Springfield and ultimately it was only Q016 as the St Louis originating Q014 rarely had more than 6-10 containers/trailers for Springfield. I think that happened before Worcester got upgraded. In talking with the usual conductor on Q016 (about 3 AM most days)as he was spotting 3-4 tracks worth of inbound loads, he said that quite often, they'd outlaw somewhere near Worcester and a relief crew be called for the last 40 miles or so to Beacon Park. I think that was one of the contributing reasons for closing Beacon Park. The other big reason was traffic there was dwindling. And to a man, every driver that went there to pick up or drop off complained about horrendous traffic problems around Beacon Park.

I think there was and still is) a UPS-only from Worcester that didn't stop at Springfield, but went straight through to Bedford Park (Chicago). I used to see its counterpart, Q020 (or 22?) blast through West Springfield just before noon when I was working the day shift (I was the only extra board worker).

For a while, Q119 was the Sunday-only version of Q015. I always wondered who the idiot was that added Q119 to our 'mix' of trains when we already had Q019! That caused a variety of headaches from trying to put containers into non-existent blocks on the computer, to problems 'releasing' the train in the computer as it wasn't scheduled that day, etc. Then they made Q119 a daily train to really confuse us!

I'm glad I got out of there when I did. On a recent visit there, I was told they finally got a new contract 2.5 years after the old one expired. There were two new surprises. One was that there are no longer 'sick' days and 'vacation' days. They're all some kind of 'paid' days. So instead of 10 days each, it's 20 days total. It reduces the problem of people using sick days for planned days off. I used to hear "I'm going to be sick on Tuesday.." from my co-workers fairly often. It also wipes out the ability to 'sell back' unused sick days at 1/2 price near the end of the the year. Sick days accumulated infinitely as they were carried over to the next year. Vacation was use it or lose it. I suspect now it's all use it or lose it. I sold back about 50 DAYS of sick time when I retired...conveniently timed 1 day after the last contractual pay raise took effect. I also sold back 2 weeks vacation as well. The other 'biggy' is that there are no longer ISRs and ISWs (Intermodal Service Representatives (clerks) and I.S. Workers (yard jockeys/packer operators). Now it's all ISEs...Intermodal Service Employees. That's a biggy in my book. You could be working as a clerk one day and the next having to jump on each car to lock/unlock/remove/place inter box connectors between double stacks, or other changes of duties with little or no notice. It also is a means to an end of eliminating contractor operations at some ramps. Our yard jockey crew was a contract company that changed every 3 years or so...just like clock work. Most of the employees were automatically transferred to the new company (if they wanted to) and often, at a cut in pay and/or benefits.

BRAtkinson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Working at the West Springfield ramp 2008-2015, I
> recall that all 3 of 'our' westbound trains
> originated at Beacon Park...Q015, Q017, and Q019.
> Eastbound, only Q016 and Q014 stopped at West
> Springfield and ultimately it was only Q016 as the
> St Louis originating Q014 rarely had more than
> 6-10 containers/trailers for Springfield. I think
> that happened before Worcester got upgraded. In
> talking with the usual conductor on Q016 (about 3
> AM most days)as he was spotting 3-4 tracks worth
> of inbound loads, he said that quite often, they'd
> outlaw somewhere near Worcester and a relief crew
> be called for the last 40 miles or so to Beacon
> Park. I think that was one of the contributing
> reasons for closing Beacon Park. The other big
> reason was traffic there was dwindling. And to a
> man, every driver that went there to pick up or
> drop off complained about horrendous traffic
> problems around Beacon Park.
>
> I think there was and still is) a UPS-only from
> Worcester that didn't stop at Springfield, but
> went straight through to Bedford Park (Chicago).
> I used to see its counterpart, Q020 (or 22?) blast
> through West Springfield just before noon when I
> was working the day shift (I was the only extra
> board worker).
>
> For a while, Q119 was the Sunday-only version of
> Q015. I always wondered who the idiot was that
> added Q119 to our 'mix' of trains when we already
> had Q019! That caused a variety of headaches from
> trying to put containers into non-existent blocks
> on the computer, to problems 'releasing' the train
> in the computer as it wasn't scheduled that day,
> etc. Then they made Q119 a daily train to really
> confuse us!
>
> I'm glad I got out of there when I did. On a
> recent visit there, I was told they finally got a
> new contract 2.5 years after the old one expired.
> There were two new surprises. One was that there
> are no longer 'sick' days and 'vacation' days.
> They're all some kind of 'paid' days. So instead
> of 10 days each, it's 20 days total. It reduces
> the problem of people using sick days for planned
> days off. I used to hear "I'm going to be sick on
> Tuesday.." from my co-workers fairly often. It
> also wipes out the ability to 'sell back' unused
> sick days at 1/2 price near the end of the the
> year. Sick days accumulated infinitely as they
> were carried over to the next year. Vacation was
> use it or lose it. I suspect now it's all use it
> or lose it. I sold back about 50 DAYS of sick
> time when I retired...conveniently timed 1 day
> after the last contractual pay raise took effect.
> I also sold back 2 weeks vacation as well. The
> other 'biggy' is that there are no longer ISRs and
> ISWs (Intermodal Service Representatives (clerks)
> and I.S. Workers (yard jockeys/packer operators).
> Now it's all ISEs...Intermodal Service Employees.
> That's a biggy in my book. You could be working
> as a clerk one day and the next having to jump on
> each car to lock/unlock/remove/place inter box
> connectors between double stacks, or other changes
> of duties with little or no notice. It also is a
> means to an end of eliminating contractor
> operations at some ramps. Our yard jockey crew
> was a contract company that changed every 3 years
> or so...just like clock work. Most of the
> employees were automatically transferred to the
> new company (if they wanted to) and often, at a
> cut in pay and/or benefits.

I believe the real reason Beacon Park closed was the value of the land. Harvard University wanted it and CSX ran away with hundreds of millions.... The mayor of Boston at the time Tom Menino pushe the deal through.

bluesboyst Wrote:

>
> I believe the real reason Beacon Park closed was
> the value of the land. Harvard University wanted
> it and CSX ran away with hundreds of millions....
> The mayor of Boston at the time Tom Menino pushe
> the deal through.

You're right! I forgot that at some point in the past, Harvard actually became the owner of the land and leased it to the railroad.

bluesboyst Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I drove by Beacon Park on Saturday... Very sad
> sight indeed.....

I don't know what is sad about it. There's no industry in Boston proper requiring a rail yard there. Using yards in the Worcester-Framingham area obviously works just fine to support industry on the south shore or Chelsea.

I have a series of slides that I shot in March of 1979, in which we caught a Conrail eastbound diverging from the B&A mainline at Framingham, heading southeast to what I assume was Readville. I was with friends who knew the area well (which I did not, at the time). It's a surprising train--all or almost all TOFC with a three unit set of ex-PC geeps leading.

Was there still a TOFC ramp in Readville at that time? Everybody else in the chase car with me at the time is now deceased.

march_hare Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have a series of slides that I shot in March of
> 1979, in which we caught a Conrail eastbound
> diverging from the B&A mainline at Framingham,
> heading southeast to what I assume was Readville.
> I was with friends who knew the area well (which I
> did not, at the time). It's a surprising
> train--all or almost all TOFC with a three unit
> set of ex-PC geeps leading.
>
> Was there still a TOFC ramp in Readville at that
> time? Everybody else in the chase car with me at
> the time is now deceased.

Hi.. there was a TOFC ramp in Readville where the MBTA has their commuter rail facility now. I heard that NIMBY's complained and it stopped sometime in the early 80's. Then Conrail had a salt pile there....again NIMBY's complain....so that ended that...

abyler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> bluesboyst Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I drove by Beacon Park on Saturday... Very sad
> > sight indeed.....
>
> I don't know what is sad about it. There's no
> industry in Boston proper requiring a rail yard
> there. Using yards in the Worcester-Framingham
> area obviously works just fine to support industry
> on the south shore or Chelsea.

For me it is SAD. So now the containers come off in Worcester and get trucked to the Boston area, putting more truck traffic on I-90....
I agree there is no general freight in down Boston anymore with the exception of the Cold Storage company on the South Side, Houghton Chemical at Beacon Park and (Boston Sand and Gravel, and maybe another consignee on the north side)...

Just to complete the story of the evolution of the land formerly occupied by Beacon Park yard (originally named for a horse racing track that preceded the RR yard at the site, the Beacon Trotting park, in use between roughly 1864-1890), the Boston Extension of the Mass Pike that currently curves to the north and east around and over the yard largely on an "aging" viaduct, will be straightened out by routing the highway through the yard. This will permit Harvard to develop land north of the relocated Pike (and Boston University may use some of the land too). And the MBTA plans to construct Boston West station and an 8 track mid-day layover yard for commuter trains.

See MassDOT "Allston I-90 Project" presentation: https://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Portals/0/docs/infoCenter/boards_committees/boardDirectors/Allston_I-90_Update021317.pdf

---

bluesboyst Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> abyler Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > bluesboyst Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > I drove by Beacon Park on Saturday... Very
> sad
> > > sight indeed.....
> >
> > I don't know what is sad about it. There's no
> > industry in Boston proper requiring a rail yard
> > there. Using yards in the Worcester-Framingham
> > area obviously works just fine to support
> industry
> > on the south shore or Chelsea.
>
> For me it is SAD. So now the containers come off
> in Worcester and get trucked to the Boston area,
> putting more truck traffic on I-90....
> I agree there is no general freight in down Boston
> anymore with the exception of the Cold Storage
> company on the South Side, Houghton Chemical at
> Beacon Park and (Boston Sand and Gravel, and maybe
> another consignee on the north side)...

They aren't getting trucked into Boston, because there is next to no warehousing in Boston either. They are getting trucked to warehouses out by I-495, which is why the bulk transload terminal and intermodal terminal are now out there.

abyler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They aren't getting trucked into Boston, because
> there is next to no warehousing in Boston either.
> They are getting trucked to warehouses out by
> I-495

Bingo.

Real estate in Boston is way too high-priced to be used for warehouses anymore. Bellyaching about the closure of Beacon Park being a cause of sadness won't change that. It also won't change the number of large trucks riding the Pike, because there just aren't that many, especially east of 128/I-95.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/18 06:27 by pennsy3750.