Visiting One of the Most Dangerous Train Yards in the Area
Just to take pictures & videos
Driving through West Springfield, you may notice some of coolest looking freights all lined up on display as you drive through the curvy road that is Memorial Ave. While you’re dodging potholes & what feels like endless construction zones running parallel to the Big E, you may spot a train yard that is slightly hidden from view from the trees & storefronts that line the road. The hustle & bustle of the busy roads prevent most people from even noticing one of the most exciting & interesting art galleries in the city! Rolling canvases that only stay sleeping for a short duration before waking up & kicking into a loud motion of steel & aluminum creating friction along the railroad tracks.
No matter what direction you’re facing, you can catch a glimpse of the massive train yard. Sitting at approximately 32 railroad tracks in the yard, all with enough space to park a relatively large sized freight train, this yard is one of the biggest in the area. It’s ran by CSX for mainly intermodal operations. That means they deal with facilitating the transfer of cargo from freight trains to trucks & vise versa. They are currently seeking federal funding to help improve the safety of citizens & workers at the Memorial Ave crossing. While CSX has been in communication with local officials to address the safety concerns & help improve the flow of traffic, the same town officials have expressed their frustration with the lack of communication regarding train schedules & crossing blockages.
I enjoy watching & listening to 22 News because they aren’t charging for the news like MassLive is & they are pretty accurate in terms of the weather & information. They report on things in a timely manner, & most of the time, in an unbiased fashion. They had a couple of solid interviews regarding the CSX West Springfield location that are worth a watch.
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Side note : I remember taking this picture the day after I painted this face & I thought it was hilarious that workers were sitting in their truck right next to it. Funny enough, CSX was backed up at the time on the tracks. In this area in Springfield, MA the mainline track merges together. From the CT side, only Amtrak & CT rails use that line, passenger trains. The other line, coming from West Springfield is only for CSX. At least, I only ever seen CSX on that line. I’ve seen other companies in the city, but I believe they have a different line for them. I could be wrong, the system I used for railroads is a little tricky & complicated. I enjoy glancing over it from time to time to see if I can find any new layups & rest areas.
What site & system do I use you may ask… Well I’m not a gatekeeper & the information is already out there so have it. Openrailwaymap.org
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I wanted to look into some more information regarding this CSX train station. After doing some of my favorite research, google, I found out that the town is interested in implementing an overpass on the Memorial Ave side that is similar to the Front Street overpass. If you’re from the area, you will recognize the Front Street crossing as one of the best & primetime benching locations. You may got stopped at the crossing for more than 20 minutes, but it’s a thing of beauty if you have the time & the want to see some of the best rolling canvases swing through the area. This spot is lucky because they see trains from all along the east cost lines. Construction is set to begin in 2027 for Front Street & when that happens, CSX is reporting that the Front St & First St crossings will be closed.
That means that one of the best spots to seeing freight trains passing by will be gone forever. You could stand on the overpass & see some of the stuff, but it’s nothing like standing ground-level with a massive freight train rolling right in front of you. I truly love the sound, the smell, & the rush of seeing all of the cool things people put onto the trains. I’m going to miss that spot if that becomes a reality.
For the time-being, you can check out these subpar camera angles from the crossing
West Springfield Front Street Railroad Crossing
A better livestream is available for Springfield, MA & they have both passenger trains & freight trains rolling through. I could watch it for hours
The company called RailWorks is working with CSX for the construction & upgrade of their location. On their website, they are proudly bosting the construction of a new 2800-foot track & installing for #10 turnouts. Upon further research a #10 turnout “is a device that allows trains to transition between tracks. The "number" indicates the ratio of the turnout's length to its offset, with a #10 turnout having a ratio of 1:10. This means that for every 10 feet of track length, the track will move 1 foot to the side. #10 turnouts are typically found in situations where higher speeds are desired on the straight track but slower speeds are acceptable on the diverging route” also known as a switch. RailWorks also installed two road crossings & will continue to expand operations while allowing CSX to continue normal operations. This only allows RailWorks to work on 1 railroad at a time, which would explain the delay in any visible progress.
The following pictures are pictures of Wreck & GO from the 413 on pillars of the overpass facing i-291 in Springfield, MA. Shortly after the city caught wind of my highway sign stunt, they decided to go on a major cleaning spree of the city. These pillars hadn’t been cleaned in months! But speak on the growth of graffiti in your city & the haters will find a way to take the fun away. All the really did was give everyone a free canvas.
Further down the highway, another face can be spotted poking out from the trees. It’s a subtle smiley face for anyone using the exit. If you look closely, you can see someone painted over a highway sign arrow! They didn’t fix that when they were covering everything grey.
I seen a YouTube video where the guy was riding around on his E-bike & claiming the streets are beginning to become overran by the homeless & drug-addicted population. I can agree to the statement, because it feels like on every single street corner you can find someone holding up a sign with a asking for spare change. I’m no genius, but that’s tax-free revenue being mainly used for the consumption of illegal narcotics. Anyway, that’s a story for another time.
As a sendoff note, I want you to consider this. CSX is refusing to pay for the safety implantations, but the city has access to a previously created federal fund, Rail Dollars, that is allocated for safety measures around railroad crossings. Should the federal government pay for these safety measures or should the company creating the problem pay for them?
Peace & Love from the 413