NASHUA – Once a week the railroad tracks owned by Pan Am Railways that runs through downtown Nashua are used to freight goods through the city up to either Milford or Concord, traveling over tracks that some citizens believe are in need of maintenance and repair.

When passing over it’s intersection of Main Street, the freight train moves at what could be seen as walking pace. The train typically carries a variety of goods up through the state, such as sand and gravel, box cars containing mixed goods, lumber, plastics, grains, nylons, steel, clay and other raw materials as well as tank cars with sodium hydroxide – also know as caustic soda, which is a corrosive chemical used to make soaps and cleaners.

With so many goods passing over a visibly warn track, residents of 52 Main Street, a condominium complex behind Peddler’s Daughter, have growing concerns, fearing that the train may derail causing damage to either their building or any of the others that line the railway.

“I’m really concerned that there would be a derailment and somehow the building on either side would be hit,” said Eric Drouart, a resident in the building who has taken the lead from the Condo Association at 52 Main to try and address the issue.

Tuesday Drouart pointed out to the Telegraph certain spots along the rail where wear and tear and age are the cause for his concern starting behind BEA System’s Canal Street location and continuing past the Main Street intersection.

He noted the area is lined with cross-ties that are deteriorated or buried underneath the ground and rail spikes that are either not fastening the rails or are missing altogether, as well as spots where the tracks have rails that are rusting and missing pieces – including a particular gap that is approximately 2 inches long.

Drouart said the main concern regarding a derailment causing damage to buildings becomes more pressing when you factor in the train often carries the caustic soda, which can cause burns when it comes in contact with skin.

“I’m appalled,” Drouart said, “I’ve noticed that there are some chemical tanks that contain what is called sodium hydroxide, which is a highly corrosive liquid.”

The concerns don’t stop at property damage and environmental impact from a possible chemical spill, Drouart said human life may also be at risk, as empty cans and bottles and various other items show signs of residents and displaced individuals hanging out around the area of the tracks.

“Homeless people might sleep in the bushes a long the track, if it tips over that could be catastrophic,” he said.

While Drouart has brought up his concerns to both the city and Pan Am, he said he has gotten less than desirable responses. After a minor derailment on June 1, 2017, where the engine of one a freight slipped off the tracks at the intersection causing a delay in traffic, he sent picture to the company’s Facebook and did not receive a response.

While the concerns have grown, Drouart also reached out to Tim Cummings, Nashua’s director of Economic Development, who at the time said the city has attempted to contact officials regarding the state of the tracks.

“We have repeatedly raised this concern to the appropriate entities, including Pan Am,” Cummings said in an email to Drouart on Aug. 2, 2018.

“The rail running around Franklin/Main/Canal Street areas is in very poor condition,” he added.

Cummings couldn’t be reached for a comment by press time regarding whether or not the city has been in contact with Pan Am since that time.

Officials at Pan Am Railways, a company which own train tracks from Massachusetts to Maine, said the company does routine inspections and repairs to keep the railway in working condition.

“Our tracks are inspected weekly, and they are inspected yearly by an outside company that brings in outside technology to test them,” said Cynthia Scarano, the company’s executive vice president, “and if there are any repairs that need to be made we bring them up to classification.”

Currently, the railway running through Nashua is up to the Federal Railway Administrations standard Scarano said.

If they were to fall below those expectations, Scarano said the company would address the issues immediately in one of two ways – lowering the speed of the train or stopping service until repairs are finished.

Mathew Plamondon can be reached at 594-1244 or mplamondon@nashuatelegraph.com, @telegraph_MatP.