RIDING THE B&M FOR TEN BUCKS
New Casino in Everett as seen from MBTA No. 1154 on June 30, 2018. Mal Sockol photo
Amtrak No. 693, The Downeaster, makes station stop at Haverhill, Mass., en route to Portland on July 22, 2018. Mal Sockol photo
Feature Story by Mal Sockol
During the summer of 2018, the MBTA offered a special $10.00 ticket, good for all MBTA trains, on Saturdays and Sundays. I took advantage of this deal three times, boarding an inbound each time at South Acton station and riding into North Station so as to travel all five ex-B&M routes radiating from Boston. These routes end at 1) Wachusett, 2) Lowell, 3)Haverhill, 4) Newburyport and 5) Rockport. Since all weekend trains operate on two hour headways, my plan was to ride each train to the end of the run, then re board when that same train returns to Boston. I could then catch another consist moving out to a different destination. Three days were needed for me to ride all routes.
I was unfamiliar with the old Eastern RR and first took the Newburyport run and, later, the Rockport job. Trains to either place use the former Eastern RR main as far as Beverly where the two lines diverge. From Boston to that junction, scenery is mostly old-industrial etc., (Swampscott depot was nice), although we passed alongside the Everett Casino construction site. It is a gigantic building and may warrant its own depot. Beyond Beverly, scenery is idyllic New England, with views of inlets, tidal flats, boats and even views of the ocean. Newburyport ends out of town, but Rockport trains terminate within a fifteen minute walk of Bear Neck Cove. (Very pleasant).
The quickest trip was to Lowell. There was a brief contact with freight at Lowell yard. The run to Haverhill was longer and used the former Portland main, via Reading, not the “Wildcat” via Wilmington. Again, old-industry at Lawrence and Haverhill. No freights were seen in Lawrence yard. Shortly before my Haverhill job departed from North Station, Downeaster No. 692 arrived from Brunswick/Portland. Later, this Amtrak train would surprise me when it came east through Haverhill at track speed as I waited on the platform to board the return train for Boston. Same consist as No. 692, now running as No. 693. Power was a P42 leading with an F40PH No. 90214 “cabbage” (cab-baggage car), trailing.
Finally my favorite B&M trackage, the Fitchburg Div. It is the Pan Am Southern freight main from Willows to Wachusett. At Ayer, we passed PAS Train No. 23K, solid westbound containers, holding on the west wye. Perhaps a run-by at Wachusett, where the MBTA trains have a separate station track? Did not happen! As my return train from Wachusett approached the crossovers allowing it to regain the main, there stood No. 23K, holding in the clear for us to occupy the crossovers. Commuter trains must use the westbound (north) track at Fitchburg Sta., hence the need for the crossovers.
The MBTA offered this $10.00 weekend special for South as well as North Stations, from mid-June until the Sunday before Labor Day. Apparently pleased with its popularity, the state of Massachusetts will continue the weekend deal into mid-December.
