Letter To The Editor: Runaway Freight Train

The following is a letter to the editor submitted to Foxborough Patch. If you have a letter you would like to share, you can send it to Foxborough Patch Local Editor Dan Libon at Dan.Libon@patch.com

On June 17, 2015, MassDOT acquired the Framingham Secondary Line, a stretch of railroad track that begins in Mansfield and runs through the towns of Foxboro, Walpole, Medfield, and Sherborn before reaching Framingham. This track provides the spur required to connect a commuter rail line from Gillette Stadium to Boston using the Fairmount Line. However, in addition to offering the missing link for this commuter service, under the State’s Freight Plan, they also intend to upgrade this Mansfield to Framingham track and use it as a hard-working freight line. The MBTA paid $23 million for this 22-mile track and must invest another $35 million for track improvement, a hefty cost/mile ratio for that short run of rail to transport freight.

However, we are not writing to argue the wisdom of this acquisition or the questionable advantages of freight using this route, but to offer insight into how this freight line has affected our lives and our neighborhood.

Think of the power and energy of a hurricane or a tornado and then one can imagine the effects of a freight train. The noise is seismic and its intensity rivals a natural force in nature. It thunders and shakes the ground and rattles our windows.

Here, in our Foxborough, County Street neighborhood we must endure 1 a.m., 4 a.m., and daytime disruptions. The locomotives idle at jet engine levels right behind our backyards waiting for carriages and tanker cars to switch tracks and form the main line. This shunting and idling are intolerable in the dead of night. The Mansfield Train Yard has extended beyond its boundaries onto our streets.

This idling can roar for up to 90 minutes and when the locomotives do decide to move, when the line is not blocking our Spring St intersection, the horns blast and up to 75 cars are dragged across our, otherwise, quiet neighborhood intersection with red lights flashing and bells clanging away, and all hell breaking loose in an area surrounded by homes. And aside from the number of carriages loaded with trash, the tanker cars contain hazardous materials like sodium hydroxide, liquified petroleum gas, sodium hypochlorite, and liquified carbon dioxide.

Initially, our leaders described our complaints as anecdotal. This 4 a.m. video footage shows otherwise. Below are edited films that prove our points. If this freight train passes through your area and town you may want to watch.

Donald DiMauro
Todd Hassett

Image via Shutterstock