Walking through Marlborough will take two days; the first gets me almost to the center of town, ending at the Fire Department Station 3 at 260 Boston Post Road.
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| 1119 Boston Post Rd, Sudbury to Fire Station 3 in Marlborough |
The road is getting a bit more curvy now since we're getting a little bit more into the hilly area of Massachusetts, heading for the Appalachian Mountains. Below is a map that shows the terrain of the town. You can see there is quite a number of hills.
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| Terrain of Marlborough, MA |
Marlborough has much more commerce than the other towns I've passed through since leaving Boston. In fact, it seems to me more like a "normal" town in that it has a number of ordinary features such as a Target store, an auto salvage yard, a Home Depot, Dollar Tree, Staples, quite a few restaurants and little stores, a strip mall, apartment complexes and even a couple of mobile home parks--and all right on US-20. This could be a town in Michigan if it weren't for the high cost of living here: 135 vs 100 for US average (per
City Data), though it seems a little lower than the towns earlier on my route--income not quite as high ($77,000), population not quite as white (68%).
One of the businesses I encountered fairly soon in my walk is the headquarters for a railroad: the
Grafton and Upton Railroad Company. This is a smallish, privately owned railroad that has been in operation since 1874 to serve the towns of Grafton and Upton (not far from Marlborough) and other surrounding areas. It was part freight, part passenger over the years and has changed ownership a few times. The most recent owner has rejuvenated the railroad, fixing the tracks and doing other refurbishments that were no doubt needed.
Of course, like most railroads these days, it's strictly a freight operation. And its main services seem to be transloading (i.e. transferring shipments from one mode of transportation to another, such as train to truck) and warehousing, bulk transfer and transfer of propane. The propane transfer has become controversial because the people of the towns the railroad passes through are worried about the safety of such hazardous chemicals. The railroad did not have to apply for permits for its operation, apparently due to laws that were enacted a while ago that exempted railroads from such regulatory restrictions. There is an interesting article in an online publication that talks about this controversy with respect to Grafton and Upton:
Railroad Bullies.
Well, I guess that's enough for today's discoveries. I've reached my destination: the Fire Barn. (Maybe they'll let me use their bathroom.) Tomorrow I'll continue to see what can be seen in Marlborough.
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| Marlborough Fire Department Station 3 |
