Eastern Railroad Discussion > Providence & Worcester Chase

On Wed 1/18/23 I drove from Cambridge out to Worcester MA with a vague notion of trying to catch some Providence & Worcester activity.  As it happened - I really lucked out!   Just as I was parking in the Union Station parking garage, with a good view of the CSX/P&W junction, the P&W WOGR (Worcester-Gardner) train pulled through the junction, turning north!   I missed the shot from the parking garage, but I had found my train!  Off we go!

1)  WOGR behind a pair of B39-8s approaching Holden MA.
2)  WOGR passing the former B&M Holden depot, which is now some kind of truck repair facility.   The depot still has the full train order signal in place.  (BTW - this is my second post of an existing train order signal in the Boston area that I have stumbled upon within the last 2 days.  See my post yesterday, 1/19/23,  on the Passenger Board titled "MBTA in Waltham" for another existing TO signal.)
3)  WOGR pulling into Gardner under the Rt 2 overpass.   Tracks in the foreground are the Pan Am Southern main between Ayer MA and Mechanicville NY, perhaps (??) soon to be run by G&W's Berkshire & Eastern.  I had just missed a westbound intermodal on this line as I was pulling into Gardner.  (I'll note in advance that I'm still not 100% up on all the changes brought about by the recent CSX acquistion/split-up of Pan Am, with all the scrambling of many of the former B&M lines throughout Massachusetts.  Any corrections welcomed.)
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/23 15:08 by dwatry.

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4)  The power has cut off the train in P&W's Gardner yard, and is pulling down to pick up the cars left in Gardner for Worcester.  The train will now become the GRWO.
5)  GRWO approaching Whitney Street on the south side of Gardner.
6)  GRWO running alongside Maple Spring Pond in Jefferson MA.
 

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7)  Tricky light on this shot!  GRWO approaching Millbrook Street on the north side of Worcester.   I knew the train would be all in shadow here but had limited other spots available and limited time!  A little Photoshop Elements work made this a better shot than it was at first.
8)  GRWO stopped just outside the P&W yard in Worcester at Southbridge Street.
9)  Finally got the OK to pull into the yard.

Total elapsed time for this chase - about 3 1/2 hours.  I first saw WOGR at the Worcester station at 1135am, and he pulled into Gardner at 1255pm.   He spent almost exactly an hour in Gardner, leaving at 155pm.  He got back to Worcester rigtht about 330pm.   I'm ready to do it again!
 

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Like the Pond shot!

TJY

Nice series! Has G&W actually started Berkshire & Eastern operations yet? I hadn't heard that thus far.

Great series of photos!

JUTower Wrote:
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> Nice series! Has G&W actually started Berkshire &
> Eastern operations yet? I hadn't heard that thus
> far.

I've been following this and have seen nothing to indicate the B&E has actually started up yet.
 

Per Kristine Storm [Genesee & Wyoming’s vice president, procurement],G&W anticipates starting operation of the Pan Am Southern through its newly created Berkshire & Eastern Railroad in 2023’s first quarter, once labor agreements are resolved.

I am curious what will become of the current Gardner interchange operations once employees of two G&W subsidiaries, B&E and P&W, are doing the interchange. For example, will this become an all-G&W run-through operation between E Deerfield and Worcester, eliminating the current time consuming pick-ups/set-outs (and the resulting dwell) at the Gardner yard? 

Thanks all for the notes on the B&E - I updated my text accordingly.  I notice that some of the regular photographers on Instagram are still referring to some movements in this area as "Springfield Terminal", which I thought was long gone!  

Can somebody clue me in as to,what the scope of B&E operations will be?  I haven't kept up on this. 

Until new labor agreements are resolved for all the Pan Am operating employees, the Pan Am employees will continue to operate under their Springfield Terminal agreements even though they currently are paid by CSX. Of course when new labor agreements are negotiated, Pan Am employees will individually decide whether they work for G&W or CSX.

It's worth researching Springfield Terminal to understand how Pan Am's turbulent labor history evolved around ST.

march_hare Wrote:
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> Can somebody clue me in as to,what the scope of
> B&E operations will be?  I haven't kept up on
> this. 

Here's an excerpt from a Trains Magazine on-line article from 2/26/21:

"...The Pan Am Southern consists of about 425 miles of rail lines and trackage rights routes, including the B&M main line between Mechanicville and Ayer that provides NS access to the Boston area via its so-called Patriot Corridor.Pan Am’s Springfield Terminal subsidiary currently operates the Pan Am Southern, which also includes the north-south route Pan Am uses between White River Junction, Vt., and its branches in Connecticut via Springfield, Mass.Berkshire & Eastern plans to hire 159 Springfield Terminal employees. That’s lower than the current number of employees Springfield Terminal uses to operate the Pan Am Southern, but G&W’s filing did not state by how much..."

Attached is a PAS system operations map that PAS lines highlighted in yellow. Note that most B&E tonnage will move east-west between Rotterdam Jct/Mohawk Yard in the Schenectady area and Ayer MA.

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You had a great day, Duncan, nice catches, congrats!

Bob
nerrp.com