MethuenRailTrail » Area Trails

Iron Horse Preservation does Bradford

admin — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:56:56 +0000

Here are Kyle and the Boys doing their thing in Bradford.
Once the Ties are removed they are bundled and shipped to Pittsburg to be used for fuel. Then the surface is cleaned and graded and a new surface is laid in. Bradford has chosen a recycled asphalt surface which should set up nicely.

Before and after sneak peak

admin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 23:39:29 +0000

Methuen Oakland Ave Bridge

Newburyport overpass with Stairs.

Before and after peek

admin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:22:19 +0000

RT 213 Underpass in Methuen

Underpass along Bruce Freeman Rail Trail

Bruce Freeman Rail Trail images

admin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:01:09 +0000

I took a turn on the Bruce Freeman trail the other day and came back with some images.

My images at Flickr

Bruce Freeman Rail Trail website

Phase 1 (6.8 miles in Lowell, Chelmsford, and Westford) is now open.

Fresh paint

admin — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:47:29 +0000

The kids in Methuen have been oh so busy. We have fresh tagging under the Rt 213 overpass. Admittedly the art work is quite impressive and obviously represents an investment of time and energy. However when the trail is completed this particular type of artwork will look out of place; in the meantime it is worth the walk to go check it out.

On the other hand someone scrawled traditional graffiti on the wooden trestle. This is a much bigger crime against nature. Hopefully much of the paint will not survive the winter, making removal easier in the spring. Small amounts of graffiti can be ignored for the time being but this will appear in every picture shot at this location.

Fresh trash behind Village Mall

admin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:57:28 +0000

Apparently someone at the Village Mall decided it was easier to toss their bags of leaves over the hill onto the trail. These are from the last 2 months or so; they were not there before that. Tim Vermette has been getting out there quite regularly to clean and this kind of thing is disheartening.

ed. The owners of the Village Mall are looking into the clean-up crew who did this.

Today on the Trail November 30

admin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:55:59 +0000

Tim Vermette has done some exemplary work cleaning the north section of the trail. That section of the trail from Five Corners to the New Hampshire State lines makes a terrific short walk.

Rail Trail Clean Up Day Results!

admin — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:06:09 +0000

We tackled a short section of track that parallels Pine St. And runs from parking lot south towards the Bridge at Five Corners. Unfortunately this area is filled with years of industrial waste from the businesses on Pine St and illegal dumping from houses on either side.

We focused on liftable items within 20 feet of the Rail Road tracks, even though the property does extend much further. Items that aren’t removable by hand will have to wait for a time when the area will be accessible by trucks and trailers and equipment.

Among the mostly metal detritus, there were approximately 13 tires, 5 electrical spools, 3 chairs, many asphalt shingles and 1 suitcase. Much of the industrial waste is unidentifiable, and seems to be general large trash pushed over the hill onto the rail road property.

Methuen Rail Trail Alliance Members who did such great work:

Julie Levesque

Tim Vermette and his sons Matt and T.J.

Rosanne and Ewald Apel and their children: Nikolas, Lukas and Jessica.

Rachel Banks

Kelly Tondo

Joyce Godsey

Googlemaps: Southern N.H. Rail Trails

admin — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:31:02 +0000

Googlemaps: Southern N.H. Rail Trails
A compilation of all rail trails in southern New Hampshire.

View Southern N.H. Rail Trails in a larger map

Methuen Rail Trail group ride

admin — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:08:19 +0000

Another late post, my apologies. Last Sunday had incredible weather…the kind that you read about in old books about New England. On the spur of the moment, we got a few folks together for a quick trip on the Windham Rail Trail…we were NOT alone.

Odd some days I get out there and it seems that everyone called ahead and arranged the day. From my experience it seems Monday holiday mornings are FAMILY days, and it seems Sunday mornings are DOG day, or rather BIG DOG day. It seems a new trick is for walkers to bag their Dogs leavings and then leave the bag on the side of the trail for the return trip…as practical as this is. I and the other trails users found this habit slovenly and rude. If you are reading this…knock it off.

If you want to ride for long stretches pretending you are alone on the trail, weekday mornings are ideal. Basically all day week days until about dinner time you can be alone for most of your ride, but the more I ride the busy times, the more i LIKE the happy communal atmosphere that a busy trail gives off. Everyone is smiling, everyone nods as you go past. Dog people talk to dog people, children people try to rein in their kids as they go tearing up ahead unmonitored, it has a very town and country feel to it.

We are hoping that if we keep doing group rides at the drop of a hat, we will eventually build up a base of interested riders to have ‘Official’ group rides.