Iowa Pacific & Cape Rail

http://trn.trains.com/Railroad%20News/N ... 0Rail.aspx

Just read this - what does this mean for Cape Rail?

That they have new ownership. Hard to say beyond that, its behind a paywall.

Possibly a prelude to more CSX divestitures in SE Mass, since those rumors have been running hotter in recent months. They've already got one of their Stoughton Line customers relocating to Middleboro. The IP investment probably works to CSX's advantage by letting them entrust MassCoastal to grow their outsourced traffic while keeping the carrier landlocked and totally beholden to them. Better in that case that Iowa Pacific be the buyer instead of, say, P&W getting ideas about muscling in.

hopefully this will facilitate the expansion of passenger service, but with the politics of "progressive" Massachusetts, that remains to be seen.

f-line. i respect your knowledge but there is little volume and nothing profitable in cape rail freight. dinner trains et al are seasonal and probably margin-thin. the 'energy train' volumes are low and decreasing. sandwich station sludge is long gone. passenger rail? never.i recently tried to re-open the covanta ash to niagara move. was told they would remain local -bourne landfill now. landfill pricing and daily permit critical . the plant generates 500 tpd, 6 railcars 7 days. several years ago ,csxt floated a desire to sell everything east of the Hudson for $400 mil. i suspect the operating ratios on east of the hudson revenues didn't pass sell muster. if p&w made any sense state-wide, this would have been the opportunity. so why did i&p buy cape rail? perhaps the owners were better at fantasy than in proper pricing of target moves and the sell price was irresistable. i admit cape cod rail has historical attraction. for me it was watching 8 steamers , 4 to woods hole, 4 to hyannis most fridays , roar across the bridge . smokey, noisy but thrilling. sigh. ken patrick

In what some might see as an irony, perhaps even an IRONY, when I opened up this thread to read the most recent post, a J. B. Hunt ad appeared at the top, soliciting IM business. Three BNSF units hauling DS Hunt-branded containers provided the visuals.

KEN PATRICK wrote:blah blah threadjacking blah

If you ever read the posts before deciding to uncork another rant on the same tired thing as always, you'll see I never once referenced Cape Rail's profitability or the dinner train. The CSX employees here have been reporting that the rumors of SE Mass divestitures are heating up. That's happened before; it might be nothing. But that's what they're saying, so go shoot those messengers if your intel is better than the folks who work with the company. It is also FACT that one of their Stoughton customers is relocating to Middleboro Yard, where MC does CSX's sorting for them ahead of the nightly pickup.

If CSX is going to divest more territory between Attleboro and Braintree it is well within their M.O. to keep that traffic wholly captive to them as they have done with other divestitures and outsourcing to shortlines. That is far easier to do if Cape Rail's controlling interest is held by a non-local carrier and not somebody like P&W who already has existing overhead--but not yet local or interchange--rights inside that territory. If P&W were to swing a controlling interest, those overhead rights suddenly become a traffic siphon away from CSX. There is no question CSX's interests are being thoroughly served by who decided to make this bid. And it was IP's choice to plunk down the money, rationalized in some way by finances as most for-profit entities are wont to do. If they're stupid for doing that it's on them, so take it up with them. I don't know Iowa Pacific well enough to say anything about the business pros/cons from their perspective. Only that there's a logically self-serving angle for CSX that certain potential investors should prevail over others in their ex- or potentially ex-to-be- territory.

Well now...the first new thing, or should I say two new things are a pair of ex NYSW EMD E9s dropped off in Framingham bound for the cape. Im guessing they may still be in Framingham but if they havent come this way they may be going out tonight?
Ted

Narrowgauger wrote:Well now...the first new thing, or should I say two new things are a pair of ex NYSW EMD E9s dropped off in Framingham bound for the cape. Im guessing they may still be in Framingham but if they havent come this way they may be going out tonight?
Ted

E-9's? SERIOUS? Wow...
..COOL!

According ro a post from S & NC thread ,
as of yersteday they were in Middleboro,

Check'em out..............

http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo ... age=5&key=

Andy

I saw the pair in the yard in Hyannis yesterday morning.