Clearance Issues on the Nashua

 

Clearance issues were the theme of Wednesday's paddle on the Nashua River from Oxbow N.W.R. in Harvard, MA.  About a half mile from the railroad trestle my upriver progress came to an end at the above pictured mess of blowdowns.  The railroad is also confronting clearance issues where its tracks pass through a trestle bridge spanning the Nashua...

The bridge recently had its entry/exit cross beams replaced (orange colored steel) to gain more height...

Interesting to see how they adapted the replacement beam to the bridge's riveted construction...

This work on this bridge and several others is being done to allow for the passage of double-stacked container trains which will soon be traversing the line.  Presently the line sees 2 conventional-height freight trains each day running between Mattawamkeag, ME and Selkirk, NY.  One such train, the westbound 427 with locomotive # 473 in the lead, was seen standing still at the site of the former Still River Depot...

The future double-stacked container trains will be re-routed from the Hoosac Tunnel route which isn't able to accommodate double-stacks.  Raising the height of the 5 mile long tunnel would be too costly.

Facing clearance issues of another type were some folks planning to use a powerboat for collecting water samples from the river.  The very steep launch at Oxbow N.W.R. isn't really suited for launching a trailered boat, and I believe they ultimately decided against trying to do so. 

 A turkey vulture with its disproportionate-sized head was seen...

A blue heron...

A Pinata that nobody should smash open...

Earlier in the week, on Monday, I paddled the Assabet River from Cox Street in Hudson, MA...

Paddled down to the dam at Gleasondale where someone had perhaps marked a possible spot to land if intending to portage the dam...

Purple loosestrife provided the most color...

Trash on Monday included 36 "nip" bottles...

Trash on Wednesday included 33 "nip" bottles along with 4 empty cans of Rust-oleum paint...

...perhaps from some colorful "Tagging".