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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ต.ค. 2024
- This video is one of my favorites of Mooses' material. A look around the Fletchers Granite quarry and finishing facilities in Westford,MA on 10/16/1992. First a look at their GE 80 Tonner in the quarry and then a good look at the cutting and finishing facilities and some additional switching with the GE. Video by the late Richard 'Moose' Ouellette. If you like our stuff, Please comment and/or subscribe!
You guys made my day! An unbelievable tour that reminded me of everything I love about the many dimensions of railroading---I am so thankful!!!!
I retired from Indiana Limestone Co. in 2015 after 17 years and its interesting how the daily routine and the mills are Parralell with only a few exceptions.
Thanks for sharing your post and if you are interested in seeing how close together the 2 really are,I believe there are a few videos of the Mill in Oolitic,Indiana.
The company frowned on its employees filming but believe,like this film,had an outside crew come in.
Take Care!
My Grandfather, Romulus and his two brothers worked this quarry and rode to work on bicycles from Grand Street in Lowell. Our family, years later, moved to Westford from Lowell. The quarries and the duck ponds beyond made for great adventure in summer and winter. How sweet it was.
Hello Leo, That's really cool, its great when some childhood memories come back. Craig
Leo Dunn Hey Leo, Steve Van Strien from Forge Village here.
Damn that's a good bike ride
10 thousand years from now they are gonna dig this site up and ask themselves what is this place? some will speculate that is was a temple to their gods, others will say that its a natural rock formation, they will have a big debate, but you and I know that its just a quarry.
This made my day.
um, what do you mean "just"? I'd say more a temple than anything, but that's just me :)
Lol this is crete in a nutshell. What is this room? It's for religious gatherings😆
I live in Quincy, Ma and we had a lot of quarries in my city many years ago, West Quincy was the home to the mills, they are all but gone now. We have one company that still makes headstones and a ballast quarry. We are home to the First Railroad in the US as well, it was built to move stones from the quarries to the Neponset River for use in building Boston and Washington DC. Quincy Granite is the most prevalent in the Washington DC area
This is awesome. I was looking all over for this, because I actually remember watching them tour this on an episode of This Old House back in 1981, when I was a kid. I haven't been able to find a copy of that. I remembered it a while back and was able to find it on air photos. Maybe I'm crazy, but I recall it went on a wood trestle farther down into the pit back then? As everybody has said though, this would make a great train layout. I actually submitted it to the guy who ran the mini layouts site a couple years back, before he passed.
Glad you liked it! I think you are correct about the trestle and by the way Venture Bros. is awesome, Craig
nhrrman
Yes it is.
That place is ‘NUTS’ ! I would have to wear ‘Depends’ working there! 🤪
Glad you liked it, Craig
Good stuff. Thanks.
Crank up the speakers when the 2 stroke Detroit diesel has some RPMs to it on that fork lift. They were the best industrial diesels ever made.
Wow, that is cool!
The company is still there and if you look on Google maps, the loco is still there.
Yup I live 10 minutes from it
This train crew probably plays Russian Roulette for relaxation - absolutely fantastic video.
I worked at the quarry in 1980 and 81. I happened to be working In the quarry when this old house came to visit. I usually worked on the railroad crew. The track did go further down than what this shows. I enjoyed my time there.
You can see they still have that train on google map. Looks likes it's been sitting for long time.
amazing to watch those saws cutting!!
wouldn't want an earthquake while negotiating that track into quarry.
Great stuff, really cool! Is this place still in business?
yes
source: I work there
I recall back then Fletcher's rebuilt their line to, and the connection to, the B&M's Stony Brook. Has Fletcher's ever used it since the rebuilding?
Very rarely. Rumor has it that after the rebuilt was finished the freight charges were much higher than expected. Apparently it cost a few executives their jobs. When they do use it derailments have been a problem.
Hey Leo,
You are right about youthful adventures in the duck ponds and quarries. I actually feel sorry for today's youth with their X-boxes and electronic games. We had the "Best of Times" just like Bruce's song.
oh WOW!!! What a great and super rare video!!! I don't think the quarry does tours anymore. They sure haven't made a run to the Pan Am interchange in a VERY long time.
This looks like 1910 lol! That whole line has been re-opened. Fltcher to the PanAm junction. They actually get cars IN
My great-grandfather ran a granite quarry along the coast of Maine, so this reminds me of him.
The granite that he worked, contained inclusions of biotite (black mica), so it didn't always split straight. (Lots of spoil) I don't see big heaps of spoil at this quarry, so presumably the granite is of better quality.
I wish that was still in use
They just shipped a cut of cars today.
I use work right by this for granite state concert now. The train and rails are no longer in use but there still cutting stone here and gsc is making aggregate next to them
what a great video! I can't thank you enough for posting this! '92 seems like so long ago, but I guess it isn't. That's the most integrated quarry I have seen to date. I see aggregate production as well as dimensional stone, even a label that says asphalt plant. Also, I see a HUGE amount of block inventory, more inventory than I have seen anywhere else while looking online.I hope that place is still in business next century (22nd) and later! (some of those houses may have to make way for new faces to be exposed lol) Does anybody know how many tons of dimension stone they produce a year? What a joy it must be to work there!!
My grandfather, Roland Hill use to work at this quarry in the 1950's. I can remember riding in the cab of the steam locomotive now on display at Lowell National Park with him.
I drive by the quarry all the time. About ten years ago or so the rail crossing on Route 40 was upgraded, and the spur line to the Stony Brook Branch of the old B&M was upgraded. I stopped today, to take some photos. The rail line is all overgrown, probably has not seen any rail traffic in a couple of years. Not really sure if the quarry is still in operation. If so, they must be ferrying the unfinished granite blocks to the finishing facilities with trucks, because there clearly has not been any traffic over those rails for some time. There was a supply of finished stones in the yard near the finishing buildings, but I don't know if they are still producing at the rate they used to.
I love old quarry's and places like this they generally keep there old equipment or park it, so it does not get scraped and turned into cheap china junk. Plus they maintain there stock. As a collector and restorer of machinery I like these videos. Keep them coming.
***** Thanks Phil, Glad you liked the video, its one of my favorites....If you look at my favorite channels (on my home page), the top guy is Jack MP294, he has some awesome videos of a heavy equipment meet they do in Brownville,PA that is incredible. check 'em out if you get a chance. Craig
+farmerphil Well you know a well maintained locomotive lasts a long time. There are still diesels made in the 1940s in revenue service on some shortlines. Alco S2's, EMD NW2's and that sort of thing.
Yes they are still open, they actually have a pretty cool website. Craig
What a venue for model railroading! I'd like to see the next step, the stone's use in construction. 👍💯⭐
44 TONNER! Looks Just like the Claremont Concord one, on my picture!
I was in new hampshire the drilling is the worst part,we watched the blasters pour ammonium nitrate in the drill holes and two toots and boom a perfect line of granite
Absolutely fantastic. Sadly any quarries near Milwaukie were just for aggregates. The down on scene in the start is phenomenal. Special thanks!
I know this video is 23 yrs old, but is that caboose at 4:18 still there? It appears to be a B&M 1046 series wood caboose that is the same as caboose 104610 on display in White River Jct., VT. Caboose 104610 has been cosmetically restored, but it is missing one ladder and the cupola roof hand rail. If the Fletcher quarry caboose is still there, its ladder and hand rail would make the White River Jct caboose exterior complete. As a member of the WRJ Glory Days of the Railroad planning committee, I would appreciate any information!
It is still there.
The pieces are missing
UPDATE: Since the original post the ladders have been installed on the caboose 104610 that is on display in WhitecRiver Jct., VT. One ladder was rescued from a salvaged caboose and the other built from scratch. The cupola roof hand rail is still missing on the White River Jct. caboose.
This brings back some memories I have tried hard to forget. I spent one summer while in college working on the railroad crew there. You could say that working on the rail trestle in the quarry(without railings or safety lines) convinced me to stay in college.
I did too which partially explains my hearing loss. They had a guy with a giant blow torch that would score the surface of stones: had to be 125 decibel plus. Tough place to work for some very hard workers.
Glad you liked it Brian....its one of my favorites. They actually have a pretty cool website if you care to check it out, Craig
The Fletcher quarry locomotive can be seen on Google maps image mode. It appears to still be there.
it is still modern method for some countries' quarry now
This is some really fantastic footage, I have never seen anything like this on youtube, thank you for sharing it with us!
John Ramsay Yeah that's an awesome vid...one of my favorites! Craig
Fascinating. I occasionally see the locomotive as it crosses Route 40.
From the Earth...
Great video...
Thanks for sharing...
☮️
Impressive how they rolled that stone with the overhead crane.
What a great modeling project this would make. Thanks .
Hi Liam, From what I understand they still occasionally run it! Craig
nhrrman I saw the engine cross route 40 a couple times back in 2014 and 2015 but not since.
great video, are they still open?
There are old Andrews-style trucks under flat cars.
These trucks were still in use in 1992?
i do not think these cars were used in interchange service.
I believe in the late 80's these were outlawed because of problems with overheating bearings.
if these cars were used in interchange service, then the law may have happened later but I'm sure it was the late 80's when these were outlawed.
the FRA monitors railroads 36" gauge or larger. nothing below 36" is monitored. the FRA has strict rules regarding rail equipment that can be interchanged.
mike
Michael Appleby arch bars were banned in the 30's
maybe I can ask you guys a general question: are the trucks under most cars (used on open track, interstate) affixed as part of the car as a whole, or does the body of the car simply rest on the trucks? And if they simply rest on the trucks, why are they not affixed? thank you!
The locomotive is a GE 80 Ton, not a 44 ton unit
Hard working men
That's pretty cool Roger, that quarry is very interesting, Craig
And its going to be a huge pond some day few hudo feet deep with talls of cranes and tranes at the bottom
Thank you for posting this , now the video will be viewable long into the future.
They look pretty active online if the Google and Bing satellite maps are recent.
My dad use to work here and lemasurier quarry around the corner
Glad you liked it....its one of my favorites, Craig
Those guys must all be deaf. Not a ear muff in sight to save hearing. Those saws must make a high-pitched helluva racket. When was this 1901 with no worker safety and of course no unions???
Even in 1992 earplugs were available. Far more effective than muffs.
Is that a Plymouth?
Thanks, glad you like it! Craig
Flint Stones part two
Did I see a bobber?
awesome. thanks for sharing!
that's a long way down
According to railroad.net they closed in June of 2010.
Is it still around?
very likely not. when all the good usable rock is removed, the rest is left. there is no cleanup. it can't be cleaned up minus debris.
+Michael Appleby oh what a sad end for a beutiful railway
Yes.
I've been there before, the railroad doesn't look maintained at all.
Yes it is, and they recently had a movement by rail on 4/29/2021. They no longer go directly into the cut, but on occasion interchange with Pan Am at Stony Brook.
I did a search on google earth, looks like a lot of the quarry track has been removed and the flatcars parked. I did not see the locomotive, unless it was in the shed. There is still a good deal of track on the property. Wondering if they are still using the rail line in the quarry to haul out slabs, or have gone to a new system. It looks like there may still be a load-out at the trestle in the pit itself. Would be sad to see the line has been shut down. Phil
IronAcres, It still shows as being there as of today on Google maps. Follow the tracks from the Domino's Pizza to the SE and before you get to the big Fletcher's building you will see an item that is red and white. That is the loco. It looks like the track has been upgraded recently at least in the area of the interchange. The last time Google did a drive in that area was sadly, 2015. The tracks at Brookside Road were still there then but had weeds growing on it.
I am pretty sure you can see the flatcars if you look down the track from the road
They no longer run into the cut, but occasionally interchange with Pan Am.