Pan Am Southern / Patriot Corridor Discussion

MEC407 wrote:Lest anyone fear that a railroad with Southern in its name wouldn't be able to handle our tough winters, I give you this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jug21OGb0Q" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nice catch! Posted today at that!

All of that and not a single word said. Not NS's comments in the box below the video.

Published on Jan 26, 2015
Extreme winter weather is a challenge for railroad operations. Norfolk Southern has a rigorous plan in place to respond to cold weather. This year we have taken additional steps to help keep customers’ shipments moving as efficiently and reliably as possible, including:
_ Hiring additional train crews.
_ Increasing the size of our locomotive fleet.
_ Adding infrastructure to increase capacity at several major yards.
_ Positioning resources and people at key locations across our network.

CN,
Sorry- I did not elaborate more on my post, but yes, I concur with your statement. I feel its more of a harmonization that will have to occur- but yes, I do not see any kind of reroutings, etc that will occur.

With that being said- and now I am getting ahead- what happens to SEPO/POSE and any additional CSX agreements?

Nothing.

You can guarantee PAR trackage rights will be retained where they exist over PAS today.

gokeefe wrote:

MEC407 wrote:Lest anyone fear that a railroad with Southern in its name wouldn't be able to handle our tough winters, I give you this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jug21OGb0Q" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nice catch! Posted today at that!

All of that and not a single word said. Not NS's comments in the box below the video.

Published on Jan 26, 2015
Extreme winter weather is a challenge for railroad operations. Norfolk Southern has a rigorous plan in place to respond to cold weather. This year we have taken additional steps to help keep customers’ shipments moving as efficiently and reliably as possible, including:
_ Hiring additional train crews.
_ Increasing the size of our locomotive fleet.
_ Adding infrastructure to increase capacity at several major yards.
_ Positioning resources and people at key locations across our network.

So far I've heard this from all RRs but NS seems to be the only one that did anything about it from what I've seen...

And that video is bad @$$

MEC407 wrote:Lest anyone fear that a railroad with Southern in its name wouldn't be able to handle our tough winters, I give you this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jug21OGb0Q" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Its nice to see the MW guys getting a shout-out for once. Great video!

I do believe there is real wake up call coming to the operations at Guilford. Between the crew shortages , the dwell time for cars, trains canned, track conditions, dispatching ect.

NS did not become a partner to watch trains sit idle for 1 or 2 days.

Spring is but a month and a half away and is a good time to clean house.

Single track Fitchburg to Deerfield today. POED waited over 4 hours for an eastbound. What a joke.

Sounds like classic Guilford. Before the Downeaster rehab, I remember it taking two days for POED or EDPO to make it to their destinations.

There really has not been any significant updates to the Fitchburg to Mechanicville main line since the 2009 rebuild when PAS started. NS has worked a few rail trains to shore up curves here and there and some spot ties installed, but outside of that; not big tie jobs across any part of the route, no siding in Pawnal, only a portion of the new signal system has been installed and if functioning and no improvemetns to East Deerfield Yard. Most of the major track work that ST has been working on has been centered on improvements for the benefit of passenger trains starting with the Downeaster Extension in 2010 then the Conn River line, with the latter not even being finished yet. It will be interesting to see what happens during this coming work season as to whether just spot work will be done or, if significant work is done, who is going to do it and where. With NS purchasing the the south end of the D&H probably by mid year or so, and if approved, their attention will then shift from the D&H purchase to PAS and that is when ST will have to begin to figure out what role they are going to play on the PAS line at that point.

AD-1 cabbed out west to get 22K this morning while their train from last week (Friday) still sits at Hoosick Junction waiting to be brought to Deerfield.

Their cars for CSX left at Hoosick Junction on the interchange track one week ago today are still there.

Does VRS have any recourse here at the STB (or anyone else for that matter) due to PAS's poor interchange service?

fogg1703 wrote:Does VRS have any recourse here at the STB (or anyone else for that matter) due to PAS's poor interchange service?

Send it to CP in Whitehall and let them deliver it to NS and CSX?

So there is actually a paper barrier for VRS right now as part of the NS trackage rights on CP they can not directly interchange with VRS. That traffic must go VRS-CP-NS. The VRS-PAS traffic is all bound for PAR (and maybe some other nearby RRs?). I believe there is a motion to change this with the D&H deal.

Is there a clause in the NS/PAR agreement that lets NS take over PAS operation if they fall into disarray for X number of days/weeks? That's obviously far easier said than done, but NS doesn't strike me as a company that doesn't plan far ahead.

Word on the street is that following the D&H sale, salt trains will take the PAS-VRS routing along with a chunk of the traffic that heads out via Whitehall. Anything westbound off the VRS at North Bennington is bound for CSX at Rotterdam Jct.