Pan Am Railways, For Sale/Acquisition/Merger?

strangelyamused wrote:wow that Facebook article/screenshot nearly gave me chills. Am i the only one sad to see Pan am go? Yes, they have their fair of problems but i will sill miss it. I can imagine NS not really caring too much for the smaller money making customers/general freight etc. I just hope it doesnt get slowly phased out until all thats left is intermodal and autos. And then comes the death of yet another small regional line. Im sure the autos and intermodal will stay but whats new england without a boxcars and old * engines?

I honestly don't think there is ANY danger of NS or anyone else cutting back customer service for the "smaller money making customers / general freight etc" below what they're getting now. If anything, there is opportunity for improvement. Regardless of what happens to Pan Am, I think you'll see less boxcars and more intermodal in the future. That's just the new reality no matter who's railroad it is. And if the rumors turn out to be true, there will still be plenty of "old engines" in New England. They'll just be a different color (and in better condition).

strangelyamused wrote:wow that Facebook article/screenshot nearly gave me chills. Am i the only one sad to see Pan am go? Yes, they have their fair of problems but i will sill miss it. I can imagine NS not really caring too much for the smaller money making customers/general freight etc. I just hope it doesnt get slowly phased out until all thats left is intermodal and autos. And then comes the death of yet another small regional line. Im sure the autos and intermodal will stay but whats new england without a boxcars and old * engines?

Which planet are you on again? No way it could get worse than the current regime. Boxcars will still exist but the industry, not NS, is moving away from them. Then again, the industry has also standardized on the 60 ft hi-cube, so higher payload with fewer cars

And actually, NS seems to be going after loose carload more aggressively as of late. Anything would be better than pan am.

rr503 wrote:Anything would be better than pan am.

I do not agree with that sentiment. As MMA showed us in Lac Megantic, real negligence costs lives not just pretty paint.

I agree that MMA was a disaster. They should be held accountable for what they did. But I think that pan am, with all their mx problems, is heading that way too. I need not remind you of all their derailments and broken engines, and I think that it is only a matter of time until it bites them.
NS, with all their class 1 problems, would be so much better on every front than the status quo.
Sorry I wasn't clearer

Very fair point and I think the question of derailments and the direction they may seem to be heading should be addressed.

I do not think Pan Am is taking the same direction as MMA. Although Pan Am may often use operational practices that indicate a cash poor railroad they do not have a performance expectation that is driving crews to violate safety rules. The key difference here is that Pan Am accepts slow trains where MMA compelled or encouraged their employees to operate in an unsafe fashion.

Indications in other forums right now are for an acquisition that would split the system in Waterville with Watco acquiring everything to the east and NS acquiring everything to the west.

gokeefe wrote:Indications in other forums right now are for an acquisition that would split the system in Waterville with Watco acquiring everything to the east and NS acquiring everything to the west.

So, not to be rude or anything, but that rumor is completely stupid. Why on god's green earth would anyone want the Waterville-Keag section. Even if in that situation WATCO were to get SAPPI, there simply isn't enough revenue to support the system east of Waterville stand alone.

I'd be shocked if a split system deal puts the split anywhere other than PAS/PAR or Rigby East/Rigby West.

KSmitty wrote:I'd be shocked if a split system deal puts the split anywhere other than PAS/PAR or Rigby East/Rigby West.

It seemed like a strange operation to me as well but if NS really wants to grab all of the traffic perhaps its the right option. It would ensure that NS gets all of the Rumford traffic but as we all know that doesn't seem like such a good bet right now.

I'm sort of overdosed on rumors at this point, especially after recently hearing that a certain former railroad employee was apparently known for making up stories and passing them off as inside info... but a different former railroad employee, who is not known for making things up, has indicated that things are going in a completely different direction than what we've been hearing, and that we should expect some kind of news or announcement on or after July 1.

I've got a big can of Morton Salt if anyone needs a grain or two to take with that information.

MEC407 » Wed Jun 22, 2016 2:40 pm
...I've got a big can of Morton Salt if anyone needs a grain or two to take with that information.

Given the possible high demand for that commodity and also to support an occasional shipper, it might be better to contract with Akzo.

gokeefe wrote:

KSmitty wrote:I'd be shocked if a split system deal puts the split anywhere other than PAS/PAR or Rigby East/Rigby West.

It seemed like a strange operation to me as well but if NS really wants to grab all of the traffic perhaps its the right option. It would ensure that NS gets all of the Rumford traffic but as we all know that doesn't seem like such a good bet right now.

Yeahhh not gonna happen. I could see NS funding an intermodal terminal in WTVL and getting haulage/trackage rights on just that commodity (Also NS has had haulage rights to WTVL for years).

Perhaps it is an ideal time for us to enjoy summer and forget about this, at least until it starts cooling down. Time away from the computer screen can do wonders...

If NS is going to buy anything east of Ayer, they are going to want to go for the entire MEC to Mattawamkeag. This will allow the railroad to capitalize on the Maine-based traffic and attempt to get a piece of the Irving outbound traffic from the Canadian Meritimes. It is hard to understand why NS would want to end at either Rigby or even Waterville if they are looking to go for the entire B&M. If all of this does come to fruition, how will CSX fit in?

If NS+PAR/S was to happen,CSX could ask for access to the same "markets" by asking the STB to grant access as a
condition of the merger to happen.

I don't see NS wanting that far East. I personally foresee another partnership and not an outright sale.

Though I agree, a lot of speculation out there. Whatever is going on at Spacestation Billerica is anyone's guess.