[July 22, 2011] Power problem update: Blackburn still out, Varian shut down for the day; MBTA trains delayed Tweet Jul 22, 2011 (Gloucester Daily Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- With Gloucester, Cape Ann and much of New England under a National Weather Service excessive heat warning, a major sector of Gloucester business community remains without power. Miles Schlichte, the city's emergency management director and a deputy fire chief, confirmed this morning that Blackburn Industrial Park, home to Varian Semiconductor, Good Harbor Fillets, a host of other businesses and institutions such as Cape Ann TV and the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School, remains without power after a failure that hit amid the heat wave around 2:30 p.m. Thursday. Meanwhile, emergency work in Manchester to bring power online is also affecting the commuter rail, according to Scott Farmelant, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Company, which operates the trains. T riders can expect delays today and tomorrow. The city is also asking businesses and residents to help conserve electricity during this period of stress on the local system by using only what is essential. The Rose Baker Senior Center on Rogers Street is open as a cooling shelter until 8 tonight and tomorrow from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. A security guard at Varian said the company had shut down for the day, while phones are also down at Cape Ann TV, Gloucester Engineering and Ryan & Wood Distilleries, among others. National Grid, which had more than 4,400 residents and businesses without power at times on Thursday, was showing 77 customers without electricity this morning, with the outage focused on the industrial park and just to the west of it, along Cherry Street. Schlichte said that a power cable feeding the park failed, and that National Grid will undertake a long-term project to fix it. The utility giant, he said, is working on a temporary patch for the area, but is not yet listing a time by which the power might be restored. According to a Thursday night statement from National Grid, one of the utility's underground conduits shorted out three electrical wires Thursday afternoon. Other major outages around Cape Ann Thursday temporarily took down electricity in National Grid's Manchester, Beverly, Riverdale, and Rockport substations. The emergency work National Grid is doing in Manchester involving a power cable that lies beside the Gloucester branch commuter rail line has caused the closure of the outbound track on the line, Farmelant said. As a result, all trains on the line will use the inbound track at reduced speeds between Montserrat and West Gloucester stations. The National Grid project will cause delays of up to 30 minutes for all service on the line. Customers are encouraged to check mbta.com for T alerts. The emergency work began at mid-day. According to National Grid, the work is required to avoid a potential power outage on the North Shore. The entire project is expected to last 30 hours. All outbound passengers who are boarding at Montserrat, Prides Crossing, Beverly Farms, Manchester or West Gloucester must do so at the inbound platform. MBCR apologizes for any inconvenience this work causes. The following trains should expect delays: Inbound on Friday: Train 126, departing Rockport at 4 p.m.; Train 130, departing Rockport at 5:35 p.m.; Train 94, departing Rockport at 6:45 p.m.; Train 136, departing Rockport at 7:50 p.m.; and Train 142, departing Rockport at 10:45 p.m. Inbound on Saturday: Train 1104, departing Rockport at 7 a.m.; Train 1108, departing Rockport at 10 a.m.; Train 1112, departing Rockport at noon; Train 1116, departing Rockport at 2 p.m. Outbound on Friday: Train 127, departing North Station at 4 p.m.; Train 129, departing North Station at 5 p.m.; Train 131, departing North Station at 5:35 p.m.; Train 133, departing North Station at 6:10 p.m.; Train 95, departing Swampscott at 7:31 p.m.; Train 137 departing North Station at 8:30 p.m.; Train 143, departing North Station at 10:40 p.m. Outbound on Saturday: Train 145, departing North Station at 12:10 a.m.; Train 1101, departing North Station at 8:30 a.m.; Train 1105, departing North Station at 10:15 a.m.; Train 1109, departing North Station at 12:15 p.m.; Train 1113, departing North Station at 2:15 p.m. We will update this story here at gloucestertimes.com as more information becomes available. To have a text update regarding this story and other local Breaking News coverage sent to your mobile phone, just sign up for the Times' free text-alert service on thegloucestertimes.com homepage. For more up-to-date coverage, follow the Times news team on Twitter at Twitter.com/gdtnews and gdtsports. For full coverage, look to tomorrow's print and online editions of the Gloucester Daily Times and gloucestetimes.com. Steven Fletcher may be contacted at 1-978-283-7000 x3455, or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @stevengdt. To see more of the Gloucester Daily Times or to subscribe, go to http://www.gloucestertimes.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, Gloucester Daily Times, Mass. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]