Congratulations to the folks who showed up to walk on the under construction Methuen Rail Trail!. Displayed are about half the folks who attended. the weather was ridiculously warm which made it easier to appreciated the work in progress.
See you all next New Years Day
First the rails and plates get detached from the ties, now they get disassembled for shipping!
The rails are being sorted according to wear and tear, the BETTER pieces are going to become a tunnel in Queens.
You’re invited. Come one, come all. If you didn’t make it to First Night, you can still start the New Year off on the right foot by joining us for ‘FIRST WALK’ on the ever developing Methuen Rail Trail. You can begin your New Years resolution to take better care of yourself or to get more exercise by meeting us on Sunday, New Years Day at noon behind IHOP at the N.H. end of our Methuen Rail Trail. The sun is supposed to shine, but dress in layers anyway, and if you like, add a hat and mittens. The ground could be muddy so wear appropriate footgear.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
After all the metal is removed from the area, a forklift comes in and scoops up the ties for bailing and removal.
Unfortunately some of the spikes need to come out by hand, especially those on the Spicket River Bridge.
Then the Excavator comes in and grabs a string of rails and pull them out of place. Shaking them like pick up sticks so they loosen up and fall onto the ground.
When they are loose, the bolts on the connector plates are heated and removed with a sledge hammer.
Once they are segmented the machine picks them up and stacks them for removal.
The other metal bits are collected into a dumpster for the scrap company,
Before the construction began on the sections that border the conservation lands, silt and animal barrier was installed on both sides. A trench is dug and the barrier is laid in and back filled. It remains until construction is completed.
There aren’t that many tires left out on the trail, but these were more in the swamp than on the trail. We skipped them up till now since the rest of the year they are surrounded by water and shrubbery. Amazing what you get get done with a bit of rope. There is still a lot of cleaning to be done in areas outside the railbed.
Iron Horse Preservation makes plans with Conservation to put up temporary erosion controls around sections that need to be protected. In Methuen it will mostly be for the protection of the Blanding’s Turtle and other reptiles are who confused by the warm weather.
What a successful event we had today. At least 12 people showed up this morning to walk the trail in the fog. Not everyone all at once of course, just small groups of 2 to 4 people and a couple of onesies with and without dog accompaniment. It was inspiring to see so many folks enjoying the trail at once. It was warmish and damp, but knowing New England it could have just as easily been brisk or painfully cold, any way it works out to a nice walk before breakfast, brunch or what have you.
Right now we are penciling it in for next year same time, same day. Only then the trail will be paved and the area around the depot and under five corners will be cleaned up so. Next year we can start off from the depot and go in either direction. Perhaps popping into the IHOP for a coffee before walking back. It will be nice to see many more people using the area recreationally, and perhaps we won’t have to bring so many trash bags.
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