Dick H wrote:Had the P&W owners not decided to take the money and run, the P&W might have'
been interested in the HRRC if Hanlon had decided to "retire". With their "can do"
attitude, which is likely to be history under the G&W bean counter, if the downhill
slide of the NECR is any indication, the P&W would have had a much improved
operation if the HRRC within a year or two.
FYI, the NECR has had choked yards and numerous major slow orders taking over
the main line trackage already after the federal $$$$ track rebuild.
P&W--or any G&W arm--never had interest in the Berkshire. It's well below the threshold of the kind of upside G&W collects when it goes buying, and since all things P&W are bullseyed on the Worcester nerve center the second remote flank to CSX in Pittsfield never made a lick of strategic sense (even before considering the repair bill).
The Maybrook is
still a different story even post-merger: they've got business (and business prospects) in Danbury to exploit, Metro North congestion makes it more difficult than it needs to be to get out there during the day, and the Walk Bridge construction is going to wreak havoc on them. Competently-maintained, Devon-Derby-Danbury is still the superior route for them and they'd much prefer to use their overhead rights there instead of Devon-Norwalk. Now, they're not going to be the ones to overpay for that track, or else P&W would've done it already. But both P&W and their new owners are well aware of how untenable a situation HRRC is becoming and are still waiting for the first shoe to drop on state action. G&W knew full well when sizing up P&W that the clock is ticking on Walk Bridge and how that increases the pressure on CDOT to make a move, and they're plugged into all that HRRC/CDOT scuttlebutt with headquarters being a stone's throw away down in Darien. I doubt the overall plan to exert their trackage rights--or seek full-on local rights--Derby-Danbury once the state "fixes the glitch" so-to-speak has changed much. They won't be seeking anything more than that, of course, but the value proposition of a flexible-use connection to Danbury is just as solid post-merger as it was pre-.
The Berkshire would be of definite interest to a fixer-upper indie willing to roll up its sleeves. Think A.J. Beliveau of CNZR or John Delli Priscoli of Grafton & Upton...who've both done more with less. Or, I guess Iowa Pacific might have some look-see interest given the presence of DRM and Berkshire Scenic on the corridor, although I think that's a stretch given that their usual buys aren't quite as 'rustic' a fixer-upper as this. But its right-sized place is a zit little reporting mark that can make a go of it with threadbare margins and synergies with the passenger excursion resources, not anything even rising to CSOR's size or corporate-owner connections.
