kcwright_rm
Cumberland & Eastern RRTC
Well CSX and Pan am have announced on their twitter pages that CSX will be planning on buying pan am
Some art i cooked up :hehe:
Some art i cooked up :hehe:
Pan Am's end
- Thread starter kcwright_rm
- Start date
Yay! It's no loss as far as we're concerned. This is a day that will be hopefully a change for the better.
The MEC was doing quite well in the 1980s as well as the newly reorganized and profitable Boston in Maine. The MEC had settled into a nice profitable and well maintained period and set up some nice partnerships with the connecting Canadian roads, BAR, and B&M. The B&M had come out of its bankruptcy that was brought on in the 1960s by the former president of the NH railroad Patrick McGuinness who went to jail for doing scummy financial side deals like selling the then brand new Talgo train for scrap and profiting from the sale.
However, New England railroads are always up for grabs, and in 1982 Guilford purchased the B&M and D&H along with the MEC through its subsidiary American Filter Corp which also had a majority stock ownership in the MEC. This was the beginning of the end of this tight group of regional lines that worked well together. The first thing they did was set out on union bashing, deferred maintenance, and cutting of crews. Guilford management did this by changing the ownership of the lines to a newly formed corporation called Springfield Terminal. The ST was a non-unionized 1 mile subsidiary B&M out of Springfield Vermont that was once a former interurban line. That short branch was abandoned immediately when Guilford took over.
The deferred maintenance led to freight cars rolling off the rails in standing derailments, a la, the Penn Central. A rolled freight car killed a freight conductor in Lawrence, MA and this lead to the month's long strike, which lead to systemwide shutdowns. The destruction of the D&H, closure of many branch lines, and main lines such as the MEC's Mountain Division and B&M Gorham, NH mainline, cost this region a ton of freight revenue as the newly minted Guilford changed from a regional railroad servicing many customers to one that focused on moving freight from Maine to Buffalo. This plan of through service never did well as locomotives died in-route, caught fire, or ran out of fuel. The track too was down to less than 10 mph in some locations causing crews to outlaw and stranding trains in the middle of nowhere. This, by the way, was on the 450 mile mainline between North Main Junction and Mechanicville, NY. The deferred track maintenance on the Conn-River line led to Amtrak canceling its Maple Leaf passenger train on that line due to such poor conditions.
Various industries and communities fought hard for their rail service, but were met with lawsuits and outright ignored court orders when Guilford was put on the spot. The company also went as far as to embargo or abandon long once important lines, but retain ownership in the middle. This was to prevent local interests from starting up operations on those lines. It was because of this that the MEC Mountain Division never returned to operation even though locals were interested in operating the line. The same occurred with the former White Mountain Branch from Rochester, NH to Conway, NH. This line was closed in the early 1970s above Sandown, NH but was in good shape. The state purchased everything but a short segment that was still under Guilford control. They've only recently relinquished control of these segments to the state DOT, but it's all too late now.
In the mid-2000s, Pan Am Railways was formed after Guilford purchased the Pan Am Airlines. That was a short-lived venture because the company was forced to shut that operation down due to poor service and maintenance! Pan Am had a change of management, I mean heart, and tried to win back customers, but it's been too little and too late. Norfolk Southern put in millions with their partnership with PAR, forming Pan Am Southern (PAS). This money was used to bring the once 40 mph to 60 mph mainline between Ayre MA and Mechanicville, up to 20 mph outside of the commuter region. The line west of Fitchburg was down to 10 mph in some locations and less in others.
So no loss. It's sad to see the old B&M fade away further and further, but perhaps CSX can bring some life to the lines once again. What's interesting is the CSX's Boston and Albany mainline was once the B&M's strongest competitor and led to some interesting court and political battles in the 19th century when the Fitchburg and Troy set about building the Hoosac Tunnel through the Berkshires. What's also interesting is the B&M will once again belong to its former owner, albeit very briefly the New Haven, since CSX also runs the former NH lines. The New Haven was instrumental in electrifying the Hoosac Tunnel and under their ownership had plans to electrify the mainline from Williamstown, MA and Deerfield, Deerfield to Springfield, and all within the B&M commuter territory.
The MEC was doing quite well in the 1980s as well as the newly reorganized and profitable Boston in Maine. The MEC had settled into a nice profitable and well maintained period and set up some nice partnerships with the connecting Canadian roads, BAR, and B&M. The B&M had come out of its bankruptcy that was brought on in the 1960s by the former president of the NH railroad Patrick McGuinness who went to jail for doing scummy financial side deals like selling the then brand new Talgo train for scrap and profiting from the sale.
However, New England railroads are always up for grabs, and in 1982 Guilford purchased the B&M and D&H along with the MEC through its subsidiary American Filter Corp which also had a majority stock ownership in the MEC. This was the beginning of the end of this tight group of regional lines that worked well together. The first thing they did was set out on union bashing, deferred maintenance, and cutting of crews. Guilford management did this by changing the ownership of the lines to a newly formed corporation called Springfield Terminal. The ST was a non-unionized 1 mile subsidiary B&M out of Springfield Vermont that was once a former interurban line. That short branch was abandoned immediately when Guilford took over.
The deferred maintenance led to freight cars rolling off the rails in standing derailments, a la, the Penn Central. A rolled freight car killed a freight conductor in Lawrence, MA and this lead to the month's long strike, which lead to systemwide shutdowns. The destruction of the D&H, closure of many branch lines, and main lines such as the MEC's Mountain Division and B&M Gorham, NH mainline, cost this region a ton of freight revenue as the newly minted Guilford changed from a regional railroad servicing many customers to one that focused on moving freight from Maine to Buffalo. This plan of through service never did well as locomotives died in-route, caught fire, or ran out of fuel. The track too was down to less than 10 mph in some locations causing crews to outlaw and stranding trains in the middle of nowhere. This, by the way, was on the 450 mile mainline between North Main Junction and Mechanicville, NY. The deferred track maintenance on the Conn-River line led to Amtrak canceling its Maple Leaf passenger train on that line due to such poor conditions.
Various industries and communities fought hard for their rail service, but were met with lawsuits and outright ignored court orders when Guilford was put on the spot. The company also went as far as to embargo or abandon long once important lines, but retain ownership in the middle. This was to prevent local interests from starting up operations on those lines. It was because of this that the MEC Mountain Division never returned to operation even though locals were interested in operating the line. The same occurred with the former White Mountain Branch from Rochester, NH to Conway, NH. This line was closed in the early 1970s above Sandown, NH but was in good shape. The state purchased everything but a short segment that was still under Guilford control. They've only recently relinquished control of these segments to the state DOT, but it's all too late now.
In the mid-2000s, Pan Am Railways was formed after Guilford purchased the Pan Am Airlines. That was a short-lived venture because the company was forced to shut that operation down due to poor service and maintenance! Pan Am had a change of management, I mean heart, and tried to win back customers, but it's been too little and too late. Norfolk Southern put in millions with their partnership with PAR, forming Pan Am Southern (PAS). This money was used to bring the once 40 mph to 60 mph mainline between Ayre MA and Mechanicville, up to 20 mph outside of the commuter region. The line west of Fitchburg was down to 10 mph in some locations and less in others.
So no loss. It's sad to see the old B&M fade away further and further, but perhaps CSX can bring some life to the lines once again. What's interesting is the CSX's Boston and Albany mainline was once the B&M's strongest competitor and led to some interesting court and political battles in the 19th century when the Fitchburg and Troy set about building the Hoosac Tunnel through the Berkshires. What's also interesting is the B&M will once again belong to its former owner, albeit very briefly the New Haven, since CSX also runs the former NH lines. The New Haven was instrumental in electrifying the Hoosac Tunnel and under their ownership had plans to electrify the mainline from Williamstown, MA and Deerfield, Deerfield to Springfield, and all within the B&M commuter territory.
blueodessey
Well-known member
Great write up up on historical......
I'm hoping CSX can do things right, and with that said, maybe they can bring some Customers back, it won't happen in the Short Term, takes time to mend Bridges with Public, but if they show honest effort to improve all around, there's hope on the Horizon....
Out here on West Coast, I have seen lots of Track ripped up, or abandoned etc......
From similar Management Decisions, of which I never understood.....
I have nothing against Truck Drivers, but we are so plagued with sure vast amount of Freight moving in from Ports and other places, without having the Proper Regional Rail to Truck Hubs in areas like say Lancaster, Mojave, Etc, in high Desert, that our Road infrastructure is suffering......They are having to rebuild large sections older Freeways, because the Concrete was not engineered for this type of Vehicle Weight.......
Both Railroad and Trucking could co exist if these Regional Centers were built.....And speed would improve as well........
Lots of people have discussed over last 50 years, but we have certain mindsets in play that POO POO the ideas..........
Just my 2 Cents here John........
I'm hoping CSX can do things right, and with that said, maybe they can bring some Customers back, it won't happen in the Short Term, takes time to mend Bridges with Public, but if they show honest effort to improve all around, there's hope on the Horizon....
Out here on West Coast, I have seen lots of Track ripped up, or abandoned etc......
From similar Management Decisions, of which I never understood.....
I have nothing against Truck Drivers, but we are so plagued with sure vast amount of Freight moving in from Ports and other places, without having the Proper Regional Rail to Truck Hubs in areas like say Lancaster, Mojave, Etc, in high Desert, that our Road infrastructure is suffering......They are having to rebuild large sections older Freeways, because the Concrete was not engineered for this type of Vehicle Weight.......
Both Railroad and Trucking could co exist if these Regional Centers were built.....And speed would improve as well........
Lots of people have discussed over last 50 years, but we have certain mindsets in play that POO POO the ideas..........
Just my 2 Cents here John........
Great write up up on historical......
I'm hoping CSX can do things right, and with that said, maybe they can bring some Customers back, it won't happen in the Short Term, takes time to mend Bridges with Public, but if they show honest effort to improve all around, there's hope on the Horizon....
Out here on West Coast, I have seen lots of Track ripped up, or abandoned etc......
From similar Management Decisions, of which I never understood.....
I have nothing against Truck Drivers, but we are so plagued with sure vast amount of Freight moving in from Ports and other places, without having the Proper Regional Rail to Truck Hubs in areas like say Lancaster, Mojave, Etc, in high Desert, that our Road infrastructure is suffering......They are having to rebuild large sections older Freeways, because the Concrete was not engineered for this type of Vehicle Weight.......
Both Railroad and Trucking could co exist if these Regional Centers were built.....And speed would improve as well........
Lots of people have discussed over last 50 years, but we have certain mindsets in play that POO POO the ideas..........
Just my 2 Cents here John........
I agree. We lost a lot to truckers as well mostly because of poor business practices by the railroads. When a customer needs something and the railroad says maybe, it's only a matter of time when they switch. PAR is famous for that and for discouraging rail shippers by making the costs of doing business so high that a rail line is abandoned. They did this to two rather busy branches not far from me. The former Manchester and Lawrence, one of the earliest lines to open up in 1842, is all gone now. The middle got lost first then Guilford did more damage by canceling contracts on the upper end with numerous plastic companies and other shippers and then letting the industrial parks go in the south. The line was abandoned totally in 2001. They had let the maintenance go down so far that they couldn't even run a speeder down the line without derailing and couldn't guaranty delivery of goods. They used that as an excuse to kill the traffic completely after a small washout occurred stating there was little traffic on the line.
The same with the Peabody and Danvers area branches. These too were some of the earliest, also dating back to the 1840s. The Wakefield to Topsfield was allowed to go first by deferred maintenance. This was once the former Newburyport branch of the B&M, a competing line to the Eastern Railroad built right along the coast. The B&M line served many industries, but died a slow death under Guilford and Pan Am. The worst came when a tree was allowed to grow up between the tracks and that punctured a fuel tank of the lonely GP40 that was running at the time.
I could count many other lines on the Maine Central and other parts of the Boston and Maine as well.
kcwright_rm
Cumberland & Eastern RRTC
yeah pan am has been on a big decline, hopefully CSX will do good and rodney kantorski's statement wont be true anymore :hehe:
blueodessey
Well-known member
Good foot forward on CSX's Plans for Pan Am
Morning Folks,
Caught this Article while browsing my Train News yesterday,
I think this is a good foot forward on CSX's Plans for Pan Am
https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2020/12/03-csx-says-pan-am-acquisition-targets-growth
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation sees the potential for growth through its planned acquisition of New England regional Pan Am Railways.
“If you look historically, they’ve been able to grow a little bit faster than what we’ve been able to achieve. So we think the growth profile is attractive for us,” Chief Financial Officer Kevin Boone told an investor webcast on Thursday.
CSX will be able to improve customer service and operations of North America’s largest regional railroad, Boone says.
“We think from a customer service perspective, there’s an opportunity to add a lot of value there, and there’s some investments we can make to grow the business over the long term as well,” Boone says.
CSX Chief Operating Officer Jamie Boychuk has hi-railed the Pan Am system and has a sense of the railroad’s growth potential, Boone says.
Pan Am President David Fink has said the 1,700-mile regional has a robust growth pipeline that includes rebounding Maine paper and forest products traffic, as well as propane, biodiesel, municipal solid waste, aggregates, and Poland Spring water.
CSX is Pan Am’s largest interchange partner, with most of their interline traffic moving through the Worcester, Mass., gateway. The railroads also connect at Rotterdam Junction, N.Y., in the Albany area.
CSX did not provide specific answers to Trains’ questions regarding growth opportunities on Pan Am, such as extending single-line intermodal service to Maine or furthering Pan Am’s plans to build an intermodal terminal in Naugatuck, Conn., to serve the New York City market.
“We are evaluating all our opportunities and options to grow the business,” spokeswoman Sheriee Bowman says.
CSX also declined to provide specifics on its plans to improve Pan Am’s physical plant.
Track speeds on the regional's freight-only routes generally top out at 25 mph. Grants from the Federal Railroad Administration, matched by funding from Pan Am, support trackwork that will boost speeds on the former Maine Central to 40 mph from Royal Junction to Waterville, and to 25 mph from 10 mph between Waterville and Mattawamkeag, where Pan Am interchanges with Irving-owned short line Eastern Maine Railway.
“We are confident that there are opportunities for CSX to make select investments in Pan Am’s system to support growth and improved service and safety,” Bowman says.
The Pan Am acquisition, announced on Monday, is a turnabout for CSX, which has been selling low-density lines over the past two years.
Among them: Its route across the Florida Panhandle, a grain-hauling line in Illinois and Indiana, and an industrial branch in West Virginia and Ohio. Canadian National’s acquisition of CSX’s Massena Line, which links Syracuse, N.Y., with Montreal, remains stuck in regulatory limbo. And in October, CSX leased a Massachusetts branch to a short line.
Boone says it made sense to put those lines into the hands of other operators, but adds that CSX is winding down its line sales. “Quite frankly, our operating team is best in class. And I’d rather them have more railroad to run, because we think there’s a lot of value that can be created there,” Boone says.
The Pan Am deal is not a signal that CSX is swinging into acquisition mode, Boone says.
“Pan Am was more of a unique situation in terms of short lines. I don’t think you can look for us to be big buyers in that market necessarily over the next few years,” Boone says. “If there are assets that come up that are unique and are a fit, we’ll certainly look at those. But I wouldn’t read into anything there in terms of more transactions.”
CSX expects to file its merger application with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board by the end of the year. The railroad anticipates regulatory approval of the acquisition in the second half of 2021.
Norfolk Southern, Pan Am’s partner in the Pan Am Southern joint venture, has said the deal would undermine competition in New England. CSX would obtain Pan Am Railways’ 50% stake in Pan Am Southern, which is NS’s route into the region. Pan Am subsidiary Springfield Terminal operates the 437-mile Pan Am Southern, including dispatching.
NS signaled its opposition to a CSX-Pan Am deal in a preemptive letter sent to the STB early last month.
Pan Am, comprised primarily of former Maine Central and Boston & Maine trackage, is privately held. Terms of the CSX-Pan Am deal were not disclosed, but people familiar with the matter say the purchase price was nearly $700 million.
Boone spoke with analyst Allison Landry at the Credit Suisse Eighth Annual Industrials Conference
And some additional:
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/csx-confirms-plans-to-acquire-pan-am-railways
Morning Folks,Caught this Article while browsing my Train News yesterday,
I think this is a good foot forward on CSX's Plans for Pan Am
https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2020/12/03-csx-says-pan-am-acquisition-targets-growth
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation sees the potential for growth through its planned acquisition of New England regional Pan Am Railways.
“If you look historically, they’ve been able to grow a little bit faster than what we’ve been able to achieve. So we think the growth profile is attractive for us,” Chief Financial Officer Kevin Boone told an investor webcast on Thursday.
CSX will be able to improve customer service and operations of North America’s largest regional railroad, Boone says.
“We think from a customer service perspective, there’s an opportunity to add a lot of value there, and there’s some investments we can make to grow the business over the long term as well,” Boone says.
CSX Chief Operating Officer Jamie Boychuk has hi-railed the Pan Am system and has a sense of the railroad’s growth potential, Boone says.
Pan Am President David Fink has said the 1,700-mile regional has a robust growth pipeline that includes rebounding Maine paper and forest products traffic, as well as propane, biodiesel, municipal solid waste, aggregates, and Poland Spring water.
CSX is Pan Am’s largest interchange partner, with most of their interline traffic moving through the Worcester, Mass., gateway. The railroads also connect at Rotterdam Junction, N.Y., in the Albany area.
CSX did not provide specific answers to Trains’ questions regarding growth opportunities on Pan Am, such as extending single-line intermodal service to Maine or furthering Pan Am’s plans to build an intermodal terminal in Naugatuck, Conn., to serve the New York City market.
“We are evaluating all our opportunities and options to grow the business,” spokeswoman Sheriee Bowman says.
CSX also declined to provide specifics on its plans to improve Pan Am’s physical plant.
Track speeds on the regional's freight-only routes generally top out at 25 mph. Grants from the Federal Railroad Administration, matched by funding from Pan Am, support trackwork that will boost speeds on the former Maine Central to 40 mph from Royal Junction to Waterville, and to 25 mph from 10 mph between Waterville and Mattawamkeag, where Pan Am interchanges with Irving-owned short line Eastern Maine Railway.
“We are confident that there are opportunities for CSX to make select investments in Pan Am’s system to support growth and improved service and safety,” Bowman says.
The Pan Am acquisition, announced on Monday, is a turnabout for CSX, which has been selling low-density lines over the past two years.
Among them: Its route across the Florida Panhandle, a grain-hauling line in Illinois and Indiana, and an industrial branch in West Virginia and Ohio. Canadian National’s acquisition of CSX’s Massena Line, which links Syracuse, N.Y., with Montreal, remains stuck in regulatory limbo. And in October, CSX leased a Massachusetts branch to a short line.
Boone says it made sense to put those lines into the hands of other operators, but adds that CSX is winding down its line sales. “Quite frankly, our operating team is best in class. And I’d rather them have more railroad to run, because we think there’s a lot of value that can be created there,” Boone says.
The Pan Am deal is not a signal that CSX is swinging into acquisition mode, Boone says.
“Pan Am was more of a unique situation in terms of short lines. I don’t think you can look for us to be big buyers in that market necessarily over the next few years,” Boone says. “If there are assets that come up that are unique and are a fit, we’ll certainly look at those. But I wouldn’t read into anything there in terms of more transactions.”
CSX expects to file its merger application with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board by the end of the year. The railroad anticipates regulatory approval of the acquisition in the second half of 2021.
Norfolk Southern, Pan Am’s partner in the Pan Am Southern joint venture, has said the deal would undermine competition in New England. CSX would obtain Pan Am Railways’ 50% stake in Pan Am Southern, which is NS’s route into the region. Pan Am subsidiary Springfield Terminal operates the 437-mile Pan Am Southern, including dispatching.
NS signaled its opposition to a CSX-Pan Am deal in a preemptive letter sent to the STB early last month.
Pan Am, comprised primarily of former Maine Central and Boston & Maine trackage, is privately held. Terms of the CSX-Pan Am deal were not disclosed, but people familiar with the matter say the purchase price was nearly $700 million.
Boone spoke with analyst Allison Landry at the Credit Suisse Eighth Annual Industrials Conference
And some additional:
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/csx-confirms-plans-to-acquire-pan-am-railways
Thanks Blue for the article.
I expected NS to complain because of their PAS involvement. (Pan Am Southern - Pan Am plus Norfolk Southern). Part of the PAS deal meant that NS put in the big bucks to update the infrastructure on the southern and western end, essentially all trackage west of Ayre, and the Connecticut branch lines. This brought these lines up, including the mainline, back up from 10 to 20 mph and less, back up to 25 mph. As I said the mainline was once 60 mph for passenger and 40-45 mph for freight. Sad. The investment, if I recall was something like $24 million from Norfolk Southern.
With CSX upgrading the lines, it'll be a welcome thing to get the lines back up to useful shape again. This means the mainline will be a 10 hour, or a bit less travel with the faster speeds in the commuter territories where they can go faster, and not outlaw somewhere in east you know where.
Let's hope that NS doesn't put a clinker into the ointment and tie up the deal on CSX.
I expected NS to complain because of their PAS involvement. (Pan Am Southern - Pan Am plus Norfolk Southern). Part of the PAS deal meant that NS put in the big bucks to update the infrastructure on the southern and western end, essentially all trackage west of Ayre, and the Connecticut branch lines. This brought these lines up, including the mainline, back up from 10 to 20 mph and less, back up to 25 mph. As I said the mainline was once 60 mph for passenger and 40-45 mph for freight. Sad. The investment, if I recall was something like $24 million from Norfolk Southern.
With CSX upgrading the lines, it'll be a welcome thing to get the lines back up to useful shape again. This means the mainline will be a 10 hour, or a bit less travel with the faster speeds in the commuter territories where they can go faster, and not outlaw somewhere in east you know where.
Let's hope that NS doesn't put a clinker into the ointment and tie up the deal on CSX.
blueodessey
Well-known member
Canadian National’s acquisition of CSX’s Massena Line" it's a potential double Whammy
Thanks John,
This is one of those things I wonder about too, hopefully NS and CSX can work it out.....
So now with this other issue "Canadian National’s acquisition of CSX’s Massena Line" it's a potential double Whammy......Be interesting to see how Regulatory Officials weed this out of Limbo........
" Among them: Its route across the Florida Panhandle, a grain-hauling line in Illinois and Indiana, and an industrial branch in West Virginia and Ohio. Canadian National’s acquisition of CSX’s Massena Line, which links Syracuse, N.Y., with Montreal, remains stuck in regulatory limbo. And in October, CSX leased a Massachusetts branch to a short line. "
Thanks John,
This is one of those things I wonder about too, hopefully NS and CSX can work it out.....
So now with this other issue "Canadian National’s acquisition of CSX’s Massena Line" it's a potential double Whammy......Be interesting to see how Regulatory Officials weed this out of Limbo........
" Among them: Its route across the Florida Panhandle, a grain-hauling line in Illinois and Indiana, and an industrial branch in West Virginia and Ohio. Canadian National’s acquisition of CSX’s Massena Line, which links Syracuse, N.Y., with Montreal, remains stuck in regulatory limbo. And in October, CSX leased a Massachusetts branch to a short line. "
The Massena line is out of Massena, NY and crosses the St. Lawrence Seaway up there at Watertown. The line didn't see the traffic CSX hoped for, therefore, they're spinning it off. The line is probably in limbo due to Quebec's investment in the intermodal facility to assist CSX. CSX plans to close that facility, which has things in a knot.
The reason for the spin-offs comes from this H H Harrison started the process in 2017, but on a more aggressive schedule. The current management under Jim Foote is going slower.
CSX Transportation zeroes in on line-sales mileage figure: 4,500 | Trains Magazine
It makes sense if they aren't utilizing the lines. A short line or other carrier can manage the lighter-density lines better than the big companies and can focus energy on building customers up and servicing those on the line currently. The Staggers Act and STB helped a lot with this matter and makes the process easier. It beats ripping up the tracks for a rail trail which happens so often.
I agree NS will be the fly in there. I'm sure that current agreements will still be honored and perhaps a new partnership will be formed. You know how business do things.
I can't find much on the short line in MA that's leasing the CSX line. It's probably down on the South Shore where there's a big collection of former New Haven lines out to Cape Cod and in and around Weymouth, Braintree, Brockton and others. It could, however, be the Franklin to Milford segment, which connects to the Grafton and Upton. The G&U is an aggressive short line between the namesake communities that connects to CSX on the Buffalo line and to the south in Milford. The G&U rose back up from the ashes like the Phoenix. The rail company shrunk down to a tiny switch operation in North Grafton and was ready to give up when an investor bought it and restarted the line up completely. They have rebuilt their tracks literally from the ground up with new track, ballast, and everything. There's a tank farm and intermodal facility in Hopedale right on the Milford line and a larger yard being rebuilt in Milford where the line connects to what is the former New Haven Air Line which the Penn Central ripped up from Franklin to Vernon, CT right after they got ahold of the NH in '69. The MBTA (T) runs commuter rail up to Forge Park/495 and then the rest of the line is typical branch to Milford.
blueodessey
Well-known member
Morning John,
I could talk to you endlessly on Railroad issues that I have seen! Add infinitum :hehe:
Thank you for excellent information on historical and Current issues......As you know, I grew up loving the Railroad since I was probably 3-4 yrs old, I had wooden Toy Train set back then, and here we are now......
"The G&U is an aggressive short line between the namesake communities that connects to CSX on the Buffalo line and to the south in Milford. The G&U rose back up from the ashes like the Phoenix. The rail company shrunk down to a tiny switch operation in North Grafton and was ready to give up when an investor bought it and restarted the line up completely. They have rebuilt their tracks literally from the ground up with new track, ballast, and everything. There's a tank farm and intermodal facility in Hopedale right on the Milford line and a larger yard being rebuilt in Milford where the line connects to what is the former New Haven Air Line which the Penn Central ripped up from Franklin to Vernon, CT right after they got a hold of the NH in '69. The MBTA (T) runs commuter rail up to Forge Park/495 and then the rest of the line is typical branch to Milford."
This is what I would call a Can Do Attitude.......Lets hope the STB can work out this Spaghetti mess in the best way of preserving an improving said Trackage.......
So retrospect, and having PHL, ( https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=pacific+harbor+line ) in my backyard, well close, within 45 miles of me.......They are a great Shortline, and the Employees all work together for the good of Organization.......And I learned over the years what Short Lines can do for the for Class 1's and 2's that Regional do not want to deal with......
So here is Hoping in your Story about possible Shortline coming into to handle that less than optimum traffic will come to fruition............
Have a Blessed day John.......:wave:
I could talk to you endlessly on Railroad issues that I have seen! Add infinitum :hehe:
Thank you for excellent information on historical and Current issues......As you know, I grew up loving the Railroad since I was probably 3-4 yrs old, I had wooden Toy Train set back then, and here we are now......
"The G&U is an aggressive short line between the namesake communities that connects to CSX on the Buffalo line and to the south in Milford. The G&U rose back up from the ashes like the Phoenix. The rail company shrunk down to a tiny switch operation in North Grafton and was ready to give up when an investor bought it and restarted the line up completely. They have rebuilt their tracks literally from the ground up with new track, ballast, and everything. There's a tank farm and intermodal facility in Hopedale right on the Milford line and a larger yard being rebuilt in Milford where the line connects to what is the former New Haven Air Line which the Penn Central ripped up from Franklin to Vernon, CT right after they got a hold of the NH in '69. The MBTA (T) runs commuter rail up to Forge Park/495 and then the rest of the line is typical branch to Milford."
This is what I would call a Can Do Attitude.......Lets hope the STB can work out this Spaghetti mess in the best way of preserving an improving said Trackage.......
So retrospect, and having PHL, ( https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=pacific+harbor+line ) in my backyard, well close, within 45 miles of me.......They are a great Shortline, and the Employees all work together for the good of Organization.......And I learned over the years what Short Lines can do for the for Class 1's and 2's that Regional do not want to deal with
......So here is Hoping in your Story about possible Shortline coming into to handle that less than optimum traffic will come to fruition............
Have a Blessed day John.......:wave:
Blue,
This sounds a lot like myself. I too grew up next to a small railroad yard. When I was around 3 years old, my dad brought me across the street to watch the trains... The rest is history! I then grew up loving everything that runs on rails, and as you noticed the history behind the lines.
The little G&U is an amazing short line and would make a nice Trainz route someday. The line was once an interurban that did some freight switching and fell under ownership of the Washington Mills which switched from electrics to Alco S4s and GE 44-tonners in the late 1940s. The line soldiered on for decades as a tiny operation and when the mills closed, as most have done in New England, the railroad operation was separated and allowed to continue operations. The online traffic declined slowly over time as businesses switched to trucks or went out of business. When the new company took over, there was only a tiny bit of switching done at the Millbury/North Grafton end of the line. The pushed along the mainline from 2010 to recently and rebuilt the tracks with new rail, ties, and even rebuilt the yard in Milford as well as some of the connecting branches around the area. They've been quite busy at this and it would be great if they are the ones who received the operation lease for the Forge Park-Franklin line as that would extend their system from Millbury - North Grafton to Franklin.
When the line was rebuilt, sadly they scrapped their S4 on the premises before someone could buy it from them. There was a bit of a snit over that and rightly so, but it's gone now and replaced with GP9s and other small diesels. The online industries now consist of scrap, construction debris, methane, plastics, wood products, wood pellets, and other goods. The landscape is rural with some typical factory towns in between with a lot of recent development. So far the railroad has been able to fight the NIMBYs who had an absolute hissy fit when the railroad started up operations again! They had lost their walking trails and complained about the noise.
It's history like this Blue, that gets put behind every route I build in Trainz. That bit of history helps define the look, feel, and operations of the route I'm working on.
This sounds a lot like myself. I too grew up next to a small railroad yard. When I was around 3 years old, my dad brought me across the street to watch the trains... The rest is history! I then grew up loving everything that runs on rails, and as you noticed the history behind the lines.
The little G&U is an amazing short line and would make a nice Trainz route someday. The line was once an interurban that did some freight switching and fell under ownership of the Washington Mills which switched from electrics to Alco S4s and GE 44-tonners in the late 1940s. The line soldiered on for decades as a tiny operation and when the mills closed, as most have done in New England, the railroad operation was separated and allowed to continue operations. The online traffic declined slowly over time as businesses switched to trucks or went out of business. When the new company took over, there was only a tiny bit of switching done at the Millbury/North Grafton end of the line. The pushed along the mainline from 2010 to recently and rebuilt the tracks with new rail, ties, and even rebuilt the yard in Milford as well as some of the connecting branches around the area. They've been quite busy at this and it would be great if they are the ones who received the operation lease for the Forge Park-Franklin line as that would extend their system from Millbury - North Grafton to Franklin.
When the line was rebuilt, sadly they scrapped their S4 on the premises before someone could buy it from them. There was a bit of a snit over that and rightly so, but it's gone now and replaced with GP9s and other small diesels. The online industries now consist of scrap, construction debris, methane, plastics, wood products, wood pellets, and other goods. The landscape is rural with some typical factory towns in between with a lot of recent development. So far the railroad has been able to fight the NIMBYs who had an absolute hissy fit when the railroad started up operations again! They had lost their walking trails and complained about the noise.
It's history like this Blue, that gets put behind every route I build in Trainz. That bit of history helps define the look, feel, and operations of the route I'm working on.
The rumor that I've heard is that CSX is looking at Mattawamkeag (Keag) and the NBSR interchange to access the Canadian Maritimes. We in Maine desperately hope this is true, because if CSX breaks the PAR main apart, it will almost certainly severely and detrimentally impact those communities north and east of that point. The former CM&Q, now CP, at NMJ (Northern Main Junction) is not really an option as CP can get CSX traffic at much "better" places. So it does seem that Keag may see some improvements and more traffic, I do hope to see more traffic east of Rigby (S. Portland, ME) but am quite concerned that CSX will eliminate the Waterville Shops. It will be interesting...
Thor
Thor