CSX Transportation's once-proud Beacon Park Yard in Boston, Massachusetts, (Allston-Brighton) sits abandoned, awaiting its fate. Though it's unknown at this time what will become of the land beneath the now-decrepit rail yard, it's fairly certain that the existing track and buildings will soon be ripped up and demolished, respectively.
Beacon Park Yard was built in the 1890s by the Boston and Albany Railroad. Before it was a rail yard it was a horse track: the Beacon Trotting Park, hence its current name. In 1900, the year which many consider to be the start of the "Golden Age of Railroading," the yard was acquired by the New York Central Railroad. It would remain a part of New York Central until the "Dark Ages of Railroading" that were the 1970s. In 1976 it was absorbed by the Consolidated Rail Corporation. In 1999, following the liquidation of Conrail, the yard was acquired by CSX. In the fifteen years that followed, Beacon Park Yard served as the final destination for CSX's Boston-bound trains, boasting a hump yard, an intermodal facility, and a refueling depot.
At some point in time, during the reign of either Conrail or CSX, the land beneath the yard was acquired by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Harvard University purchased the land from MassDOT in 2009; however, long-standing easements restricting the land to railroad use prevented Harvard from ousting CSX. Meanwhile, the bowed stretch of the Massachusetts Turnpike (Interstate 90) around the northern edge of the yard had been a growing source of concern for MassDOT. They would've loved more than anything to iron out the kink in the highway; however, doing so would require them to reroute the Pike through what is now the yard.
Neither Harvard nor MassDOT are known for taking "no" for an answer, so it was only a matter of time before a deal was put on the table: $100,000,000 for CSX to vacate the premises. CSX accepted the offer, and promptly invested the money in their Westborough and Worcester facilities. Now the yard sits, awaiting development.
As a result of the deal, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (part of MassDOT) acquired the track running along the yard's southernmost outskirts. This track will remain active indefinitely, as it is part of the MBTA Framingham/Worcester Line. Additionally, the MBTA gained ownership of the Grand Junction Branch, which runs from Beacon Park Yard, over the Charles River, to Cambridge, connecting North and South Stations. CSX switchers, now based out of Framingham, will still frequent the area, though they'll now answer to an MBTA dispatcher when they're on the property. The yard, excluding the mainline, will be demolished and replaced with a straighter stretch of turnpike.
What does Harvard gain from all of this? More than they deserve, in my opinion. In exchange for the land beneath the rail yard, which MassDOT will cover with highway, Harvard will be bestowed with the land currently beneath the bowed section of the Mass Pike. This land, once the kinked section of highway is decommissioned and dismantled, will represent 60 acres of prime real estate. It's unknown at this point what Harvard plans to do with the land, but you can bet that, whatever it is, they'll charge you upward of $50,000 per year for its use.
The deal may have been a "win-win" for MassDOT, Harvard, and CSX; however, it's a "lose-lose" for future Bostonians, in my humble opinion. We live in a wold where gas can cost upward of ten bucks per gallon (London), where population per square mile can be upward of 5,000 (Tokyo), and where real estate can cost upward of $50,000 per square foot (Hong Kong). Compared to the rest of the industrialized world, we in America have never had to deal with scarce resources, which is why we've been able to rely on cars and trucks for everything for so long. There will come a time, though, when we need a transportation system that consumes resources more efficiently than cars and trucks: railroads. We will miss our forsaken railroad infrastructure. Beacon Park Yard cannot easily be rebuilt. The fact that we're losing it is a bummer.
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Railfan for the love of trains and the betterment of rail transport.
Filmed with a Canon PowerShot SX230 HS in beautiful Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Edited with Apple iMovie.
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