Passenger Trains > MBTA Train in Milford, MA Today

Milford is on a line from Franklin, MA/Forge Park area and has not had commuter service in 50 years. Today a train with an MBTA locomotive and a few MBTA coaches(one was bi-level) and an Amtrak car showed up unexpectedly.

Does anybody know what this train was : railfan special or a T inspection trip or something else. TIA.

This was a periodic tech evaluation of all MBTA route mileage - the Amtrak car was the Corridor Clipper track geometry test car. AFAIK, Milford MA is not expected to get MBTA service anytime soon but since MBTA owns the rickety track between current end of service station at Forge Park MA (just west of Franklin along I-495) and Milford, it will get inspected. Rumor had it that because MBTA/Amtrak's equipment move route between southside and Boston Engin Terminal, the Grand Junction branch between Boston and Cambridge, is temporarily out of service, Pan Am's rickety Worcester main between MBTA at Worcester and MBTA at Ayer would get evaluated by the Clipper. That list of defects might be lengthy even though the Commonwealth of MA just replaced every fourth tie on Pan Am's 10mph line that hasn't seen maintenance of any magnitude in years.

mp16 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Milford is on a line from Franklin, MA/Forge Park
> area and has not had commuter service in 50 years.
> Today a train with an MBTA locomotive and a few
> MBTA coaches(one was bi-level) and an Amtrak car
> showed up unexpectedly.
>
> Does anybody know what this train was : railfan
> special or a T inspection trip or something else.
> TIA.

I think it is much longer than 1968 since Milford has had passenger service.....