39 Points

Rank: Rail Enthusiast

Hi everyone! I’m just starting a new switching layout. This will be a proto-lanced layout. The Framingham and Lowell Railroad, once dissolved under Conrail, is reborn in 2012. The line was partially restored to serve a handful of businesses that settled in the city of Lowell in the early 2000s and 2010s. For now, only 1.1 miles of the original 26.7 mile branch line has been returned to service. But the railroad is optimistic that customers will see the value in rail shipping again compared to the high fuel costs plaguing the trucking industry. As a shortline reborn, the F&L does not own any locomotives or rolling stock at the moment. Instead, they lease a single MP15AC from GATX Locomotive Group which is more than enough to serve their 4 customers. The 3 named are real businesses from the Massachusetts area where relocating to Lowell (or starting their company there) would have made sense if they wanted the rail connection. The final industry is a car shop. I’m always a fan of adding a mechanical car shop to your layout. It gives you the justification to have any rail car pass through for a day or two, even if you don’t have an intermodal ramp, auto unloading facility, coal mine, or whatever. Everything needs new wheels eventually!
Thanks for reading, can’t wait to see what others share as the group grows!

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