Dormant railroad line being cleared for revival - 9/2021
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- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2021
- The Bay Colony Railroad's Millis Line has not seen a revenue move since February of 2019. Since then the line was overgrown with high grasses which made this line seemingly abandoned. In October of 2020 trestle work, which included the replacement of wooden timbers, was done on the bridge over the Charles River. Brush cutting over the entire line from Medfield Junction to the former GAF warehouse at the end of the line was done at the same time but no traffic turned up in 2020. Now in 2021 the Bay Colony Railroad is once again brush cutting the line for a potential traffic up turn. It is possible that this little used line that hasn't seen a train in almost three years may see traffic again.
This video shows current conditions and ongoing brush clearing at three locations along the Millis Branch.
Millis, MA
9/2021
Flickr:
www.flickr.com/photos/1404502...
Comments? Questions?
Just leave a note in the comment section and I'll get back to you.
©2021 South Coast Rail Videos 
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I saw that locomotive on the tracks when I rolled through there on a ride this summer. In fact, I crossed the tracks at several points, and the general condition of things meant that it looked abandoned. It makes me very happy to see an old railroad come back to life.
1701 needs a new home.
Bike riding?
Keep updates on this. This is so cool to see this come back to life. Thanks for posting
I love seeing discarded rail lines reinvigorated. It does look like the original tracks and road-bed will need re-laying, with new (realigned) rails and ties. A small price to pay for future prosperity and well-paying jobs.
All very true, but the line also needs well paying customers to pay for all this.
keep ur utopian comments to yourself
@@trains2057 Sure thing, communist.
At one time railroads were the single largest employer in the country. Whole cities like Altoona PA were built by the railroads. Literally.. but modern technology ended 90% of the jobs on the railroads. Even now short line railroads for example employ a tiny fraction of the number of people they would have had to employ to operate back in the steam erra.. and class 1 railroads are running much longer trains with DPU's which means same volume of freight or more moving with fewer train crews than would be needed w/o DPU's.. coming next will be remote/dispatch operated, and or AI controlled main line trains which would need maybe a crew of 1 to diagnose and fix problems like broken couplers.
Here in my state, a section of old ROW was restored to a mine. The tracks were removed by PC in the 70s and a mine needed a spur so they had several miles re-laid on the old ROW.
Being a train engineer on a some veteran railroads I recognise the picture. Going out, driving in the early summer sometimes the rails are not even visible. It feels like spooky. It's like driving out in the farmers field. Slippery? You bet!
The most important is the ties keeping the track width within limits. That's hard to verify during an inspection if there's feet of sallad hiding the track...
Why is "nature" growing at its best in railroad tracks?.....
This is always a good thing. I grew up next to a double tracked CSX mainline. But just up embankment was a rusty abandoned line. It now sees two trains each way.
Great video! I love to see old abandoned lines revitalized! In our area, that would be less than two year's growth. I couldn't maintain the area around our horses run-in the last two years, and we have 15 foot tall aspen trees growing there!
Hello from the UK. Interesting to see what appears to be a railway line coming back to life again. If they are clearing the weeds and are repairing the bridge, then they must be spending money on maintaining the line. So something must be about to happen. I expect that you will post any train movements that may occur in the near future then?
Always good to see old tracks come back to life.
Thanks for showing this. I've been waiting for this vid. I drive by this old diesel every day and have seen that line used occasionally. They still use it for Tresca Bros, a local concrete maker. I grew up in Needham and 1701 was used to pull grain cars down the Dover/Needham line to Newton until 2004 or 05. Then the grainery closed and the Needham/Dover line (which connected to this) has been vacant since. They wanted to make a rail trail in dover but the locals NIMBYd it down.
I'm a Dover boy and I think it'd be a nice thing to have a rail trail along there. I've walked it plenty in my life.🤔
This is why you don’t turn disused rail into bike paths. You never get the rails back
Depends on how old they are overall. Theres a few dead lines near me that will never be used as they use to just cinnect small towns.
EXACTLY!
Yes you lose right of way sometimes when you remove the tracks
There are many abandoned lines. Many of those were commuter lines from back when traveling by rail to go from small town to small town was happening.. before the convenience and on demand functionality of a car was invented. No more late trains. You control you're depart and arrival time!
And many more were sole use lines servicing single customers line now depleted, bankrupt, or otherwise out of buiseness mines.
@@jasonplatco7881 yes exactly people are in love with their cars
Sure Hope that they are able to get some Business and start running Train's once again I Love it when Railroads come back to life. Keep us updated on the progress of the opening of the Rails. Awesome video...
Really interesting, thanks for posting this, please keep us updated. Best wishes from England 🙂🇬🇧
Super Video! Thumbs Up!👍
Great Video, Love seeing a track being cleared to be used again...please keep us up to date Thanks
Definitely keep us posted.. Hopefully you can be there when they move that train
Perfect example of Nature showing us who the real boss is.
Georgia Dept. of Transportation is renewing a train line from Vidalia, Ga to the Altamaha River.
Awesome to see the line being revived. Certainly got their work cut out for them.
We used to have a railroad run through my town in Lexington Tn. But they pulled up all the tracks in the 80's.
Nice to see it coming back.
well Railroads are never truly Abandon. Not until the Rails are removed. We have railroad tracks near me that once went unused back in the 40s. back in 2019 The Track was cleared of trees and section of rails were replaced, Ties were replaced and Track is now used few times a day. Despite a bunch of people not wanting it, since there was a few people that have houses near it. and decided to pour dirt over the tracks, put up fences and laydown grass over it. So they could get bigger lawn. Dont think they were happy when excavators came in and removed the fence and grass. I know one couple was very upset and pissed. Since they had just bought the house less then a year before. Had a Pretty nice Brick 4 car garage put in. Thing had to be built for like $40,000 to $70,000 range.
I always like seeing rail line revivals, & prefer that over a trail. Though if there is no likelihood of revival then trails are nice being apart from road traffic. Most rail lines before abandonment can use the option to railbank the line, which means in under 30 years a line can be revived. Beyond that it can possibly be a more complicated process .
Outstanding. Great to see.
Great video to watch!!!👍
Keep us updated as work progresses. Thanks
Great video! I’m all subbed up for number 7000 great work!
Awesome video. I need that weed cutter for my back yard. It will do the whole yard in 60seconds. Thanks for posting this. :)
Great video, thanks for sharing!
it's good that the tracks are not abandoned anymore:)
whoot whoot
We have loads of old lines want coming back to life wish they would do it here in the UK.
I'm surprised they don't just spray with a herbicide. Hope the line can get back in operation.
So glad that the rails were not removed , except for the vegetation looks like no encroachment.
Thanks for documenting this 'new' activity......at 12:30 on the tape you are at Union street, there is a quick pan of the pavement when there appears to be dig safe markings on the pavement surface, there may be a way to call dig safe and ask if there is any search on file at this grade crossing. Thanks for your efforts.
awesome!!!!
I appreciate that you didn't use the word abandoned. That word is used much too often. Rarely is anything truly just "abandoned". Kids these days like to use it when they trespass and vandalize.
WOW ! I recognize the engine from seeing it quite a while ago in Ft. Myers, Fl. (Seminole Gulf Railway).
Steel rails once again see the light of day. That IS a good thing. Now let us see steel wheels on those rails. Fingers crossed.
Hoi.is here a part 2? amazing to see it here from the Netherlands, mutch compliments for the people that save thid railway,good job.thanks/ greetz:Peer.
Had herd that the lone will have a lumber truss company will be moving in to the old gaf building
Keep up the spirit!
That looks like the slowest way to cut brush ever invented.
Yeah, why not deploy a whipper snipper team first and use the dozer and work side-on to avoid driving on the rails and avoid potential track damage to the railhead and unnecessary sustained pressure to the baseplates, dog spikes not to mention any salvageable sleepers.
Maybe they could extend this to Needham Jct for the MBTA which could add service out to Millis or West Medway
Reminds me of videos of the G&U in the late 2000’s (complete with an old BCLR GP9!)
Wat G & U Means
@@Nakedbilove408 The Grafton & Upton Railroad
Always nice to see an old line restored to use. Why can't they have a brush cutter which rides the line??
Damn. They’ve got a real job ahead of them. Love seeing this happening. To me it means trains are making a come back, but there’s gotta be an easier way.
So what are they going to use the line for? I checked their progress and it looks like theyve cut a mile down towards dover center but continuing that way leads to the needham section which got convertes to a rail trial a few years ago. The tracks end on the bridge going ovet the charles between needham and dover.
Wow, I just wanna grab my sickle and jump in their and help, maybe even jump in the water clear under that Timber Bridge, I'm that type of a idiot I like to work, especially for good causes. Nice to see a old road bed come back to life. Please keep us updated.
Yes!not only should they bring the line back to life,what about this nice locomotive?she deserves to be brought back to life too! How about getting her into the shops for rebuilding.this is a rare diesel locomotive that needs to be restored back to working condition so that she can produce revenue for the line.and she can make this line prosperous again!so,what about her,when they restore the line ,remember her!you already have the locomotive, and the equipment needed to run again.
Why would a train be a `she`? Why do men always talks `she` to a car? Dont you have a girlfriend or so?
I'am Your Newest Subscriber Great Videos
What is the abandoned building at 12:00?
That 1701...looks to be from the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad here in NC? That paint color and scheme look familiar....but could be wrong. Thinking there is a tourist line in Florida that has that color scheme too?
This seems encouraging. And isn't it nice that some local punks contributed to the effort by smashing out the ditch lights on 1701? Ah, yes. We can always count on there being plenty of punks, anywhere in the nation, to destroy. They never build anything...........
Test 1, 2, 3
I once heard that it easier to destroy than to build. Sigh"
That line is going to need a lot of work, hope it works out for them. Better call RJ Corman.
Who was operating the machine? Guys from parent company Seminole Gulf? Its almost to the date they did this last year because I stumbled by it on the first week of October 2020. They cleared everything from the 27 bridge to the old customer all the way at the end and nothing happened. Very interested to see whats gonna happen now.
😎 cool
It seems like it would have been easier to put a rail truck or tractor with a bush whacker on it to clear the track.
it will take years with that little thing!!
Hopefully I get to see the line in use.
Will they be sparaying a herbside after cutting the brush to pervent further growth?
Or torch the weeds?
They still torch weeds? I'm thinking that it's too risky especially now with global warming and dryer conditions. Imagine the nearby forest accidently catches fire and burns thousands of acres.
Excelente, ^^^^^^
using that method its gonna take a while to complete. They should’ve put weed killer on it when bridge was reworked.
Weed killer doesn't remove stumps or woody bodied plants that are a physical barrier to restoring the line to something you can move a train down w/o derailing.
Is this the line that ends just before crossing Rt 109? In Mullis across from the bowling alley??
Yes
Of course the line from Needham Junction to Medfield Junction, through Dover, is long gone. For a bit MBTA talked about reinitiating commuter rail through there but the idea died a quick death.
Yep i grew up in needham and rember 1701 pulling those grain cars through needham and dover down that line. Last time I saw it going through was around 2003 or 04 I think.
Can someone tell me where this is ? Also how can I follow up on this story ? Thank you 🙏🏽
I like stories like this.
Now, that's a weed whacker!
You bet cha!
Abandoned train. Thank you for sharing offline
They will probably be using that line for bulk cement delivery's transferring to bulk trailers.
It would be handy if us overseas folks were told where this is please. Cheers from Australia.
It's in Massachusetts. USA. My sister lives in Millis.
It clearly says the location in both the video and description
CSX is an American firm, greetings from NZ 👍
Really enjoy your videos. Is there any updates on this line.I am interested in the area where the brush clearing machine is in the video.
First Train in 4 years - BCLR Millis Line - 1/6/2022
ruclips.net/video/1kR4y3ZFgnk/видео.html
This video shows a train on the cleared line earlier this year. Unfortunately nothing else has arrived on property for the customer since.
@@SouthCoastRailVideos thank you.
Great they found the resources to fix that railroad !
But did they just leave that train behind ???
Not sure but the loco looks to be a GP 9.
You are right.this girl is an honest to goodness rare high hood gp9. This girl was on the Florida central railroad.and was last seen on the bay colony railroad.as their 1701 she was painted. Grateful with a yellow and red stripe on her nose and both sides of her body.
How long was it closed ? Where does it go too ?
Tracks are in such bad shape, more the ties are. Hard to believe a train will be able to use as is.
Nice update!! Btw when this line was closed??
What use will this serve ? Passenger or freight or both ?
Just small freight moves.
And nice that they aren't spraying poisons. I like that.
Where was this
Wait what city/ town was this in
Millis MA
So did this line get reactivated? It's December 2022 and I would like to know.
ruclips.net/video/1kR4y3ZFgnk/видео.html
To get overgrown that fast those rails had to be in poor shape to begin with without really any ballast.
Well it's not surprising given the line has been in a very low service state for decades
The brush cutter started in 1964. Should be finished by 2024.
That is a very slow and expensive way to cut the weeds and brush
South coast rail, great video. I hope the engineers put down another section of track, with a working crossing gate, at the street.
You have to dig really deep into your pockets for a new crossing warning system.
Will the line be cleared through Dover to Needham? Is there a customer thereabouts? The bridge over the Charles river may need some work if that's the plan.
No they are clearing the Millis Line. Part of the line you listed no longer exists.
Dover wants to make the line through the town a rail trail - with two dead ends!
@@bradfordtownley9363 they tried that a few years ago and all the locals nimbyd it.
That brush cutter must be being paid by the hour...That's the slowest way to clear the line of brush I've ever seen. Very inefficient!
where would the potential traffic come from? thanks for staying on top of this.... very encouraging.
If I had to guess I’d say Tresca Cement in Millis, MA
@@SouthCoastRailVideos makes sense - thanks, again
I take it weed-whackers haven't been introduced to that part of the world, yet?
Grafton upton. Maybe or back to bay colony
Have they cleared the line for use ?
I believe work has stopped. Perhaps the deal fell through or was postponed.
It would have been a lot more enjoyable if they had a brush cutting locomotive, something like the snow blowers but instead with big weed whacker units on it just cleaning up the tracks as they slowly chugged forward.
Some of those rails do not look safe to travel on...so many dips and humps. Cross ties must be totally rotted away. I hope the rail line was able to replace/repair those bad rails.
Get people who are interested in trains and let them help doing this.
I do beleive that csx has been approved to travel up through Maine I read an article that electric or hybrid trains would be used so I think there will be a few opened . Article said amtrack or a passenger train company was giving pushback on this
Yes CSX is coming to Maine, and with that, they will be returning a few major branch lines back into revenue service, Calais/Eastport branches, N. Anson, Veazie, and Dover-Foxcroft is also on the list for consideration. Also talks of getting partial service back on the Mountain Division.
@@GP9railfan that is great to hear . Looking forward to more updates
On the railroad that is referred to as "A GUT LINE".if you run on that track it's with nothing but guts.
Thats a tinker toy, need to get Hydro Ax.
will there also be a video when the railroad line is completely cleared of bushes and earth? I would be interested in that. And when the first locomotives or even trains are running again.
And I, too, am in favor of activating disused railroad lines. Especially in rural areas, where public transport sometimes only runs every hour or even less.
The biggest problem inGermany is when you want to reactivate tunnels on the lines. Because bats have often found their new home in them. That's where environmental protection gets into trouble with itself.
See the attached link.
ruclips.net/video/rR-uUaQtEsA/видео.html
Is the cultivator for the excavator only available in the USA or is it also available in Europe?
Greetings from Germany.
And a year later, nothing further has been done, no new businesses and precious few consists have been through. I live not even a half-mile from here.
Unfortunately that’s how business works sometimes. So many things came into play here for only 15 cars. At this point they haven’t given up and there’s still possibilities. Stay tuned I guess but I won’t hold my breath.
train go BURRRRRRR
Get the roundup in that
It would have been cheaper to maintain the line lol