Seeking the Black and Orange: Railfanning the Grafton & Upton RR from North Grafton to Hopedale (MA)

Date: Thursday June 20, 2024 Location: all behind the Post Office Pub in North Grafton, MA, except as specified below Resolution: 4k with 30 FPS (iPhone 14 Pro Max) [details of the trains are below my description] I finally had a chance to head out to Grafton to try to catch the two recently painted locomotives of the Grafton & Upton Railroad, in their fantastic black and orange livery (thank you, Precision Locomotive Leasing!). Engines 1751 and 1501 are a sight to see, especially when compared to their ugly patched-CSX brethren! On our way to see the G&U, we stopped at the interchange with the MBTA Worcester Line to see if we could catch the CSX L002, the Worcester to Framingham transfer turn job, heading west, as it usually does around this time. We just made it as the L002 appeared only about five minutes after we arrived. Once that passed, we anticipated that nothing further interesting would pass there so we moved onto the next location, behind the Post Office Pub. That gives us a great view of the G&U building their GU-1 train for the day. We would catch GU-1 for the first time that day at 08:10. We were pleased to see that 1751 and 1501 were leading the consist - at least at that time. We got some excellent videos and photos of the train as it moved back and forth. It finally embarked on the day's trip at 09:03, though minus the 1751 and 1501. From listening to scanner chatter, I believe that they split the train, with one half stopping at "the mill" (the one near our location?) and the other half proceeding with business further south, eventually terminating in Hopedale. We had planned to chase them to Bellingham (or at least Milford), as I believed they serve Blue Lynx on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but it seems as though they didn't go there that day. It turned out to be a good chase. In addition to some nice videos, I learned more about their operations based on the different train configurations and consists at the various points we saw them. That's another checkmark on The List. I do still want to catch them on their way to Bellingham some day, as that is close to where I live. Enjoy! The list of trains I saw in Grafton, Upton and Hopedale is as follows: 1 Time: 07:20 Location: MBTA-GU Interchange Train Symbol: CSXT L002 (?) (Worcester to Framingham turn) Power: CSXT 485 (AC44CW), CSXT 473 (AC44CW), CSXT 5205 (ES40DC), CSXT 700 (ES44AH), CSXT 7561 (CM44AH); 5x0x0 Consist: Mixed Freight (91 cars) 2 Time: 08:10 Train Symbol: GU GU-1 (N. Grafton to Hopedale turn) Power: GU 1751 (GP9R), GU 1501 (MP15AC), GU 1160 (MP15AC), GU 1158 (MP15AC); 4x0x0 Consist: Yard Job/Mixed Freight ([unknown] cars) Comment: While still building the train 3 Time: 09:03 Train Symbol: GU GU-1 (N. Grafton to Hopedale turn) Power: GU 1160 (MP15AC), GU 1158 (MP15AC); 2x0x0 Consist: Mixed Freight (8 cars) Comment: On the move southbound; 1751 and 1501 are elsewhere 4 Time: 09:25 Location: Grafton, MA, near the Grafton Inn Train Symbol: GU GU-1 (N. Grafton to Hopedale turn) Power: GU 1160 (MP15AC), GU 1158 (MP15AC), GU 1751 (GP9R), GU 1501 (MP15AC); 2x0x2 Consist: Mixed Freight (8 cars) Comment: Black and orange now on the tail end! 5 Time: 10:19 Location: Upton, MA (Williams St. crossing) Train Symbol: GU GU-1 (N. Grafton to Hopedale turn) Power: GU 1160 (MP15AC), GU 1158 (MP15AC), GU 1751 (GP9R), GU 1501 (MP15AC); 2x0x2 Consist: Mixed Freight (9 cars) 6 Time: 10:54 Location: Hopedale, MA (Freedom St. crossing) Train Symbol: GU GU-1 (N. Grafton to Hopedale turn) Power: GU 1160 (MP15AC), GU 1158 (MP15AC); 2x0x0 Consist: Mixed Freight (2 cars) Comment: 1751 and 1501 gone again; the tankers were no longer in the consist; all that remained were two covered hoppers