Portland Waterfront Rail Ops (Yard 8, Intermodal, etc)

Even better news for the Downeaster as it will ensure that new housing stock continues to get built.

I recently read somewhere (can't remember now) that L.L. Bean had moved their container traffic to New York. This happened several years ago when they took their intermodal traffic off of CN/SLR in Auburn. I had never heard where it went to. Around the same time MaineDOT/IMT started making a lot of noise about the importance of a dedicated barge between New York and Portland. Now I think I understand why. They wanted to capture the L.L. Bean container stream and use it as a base load to build a service for other customers (maybe ...).

Here is a recent (May 2017) economic impact analysis done for the IMT expansion from Maine DOT: http://www.maine.gov/economist/docs/Eco ... 0FINAL.pdf

The analysis briefly discusses L.L. Bean's container traffic:

Several businesses have already taken advantage of the operational efficiencies associated with the IMT
expansion. Although L.L. Bean still uses the Port of New York for Asian imports, it trucks containers to the IMT’s
bonded warehouse where they can clear customs faster in Portland than the Big Apple. In addition, Poland
Spring now sends bottled water from its Kingfield and Hollis plants to the IMT to take advantage of
transportation options by rail and ship.

I am sure this is traffic that Eimskip would like to capture somehow, but at the moment their route network simply does not support it. As far as I know they have no presence in the Pacific whatsoever. On the other hand it is interesting to consider that this traffic could be affected by the opening of the Northwest Passage if Eimskip were inclined to run that route between Portland and Shanghai.

Interesting that L.L. Bean is also using Massport's Conley Container Terminal for some services as well. Unclear if they are clearing customs or landing containers off ships.

September 2017 Press Release.

Twelve of the world’s top 15 shipping lines call the Port of Boston home versus only five shipping lines four years ago and investing in Conley reduces the amount of goods that are trucked from New York, which lowers costs to consumers, improves air quality and alleviates highway congestion. Businesses using the Port of Boston and Conley Container Terminal include the Kraft Group’s International Forest Products, L.L. Bean, Jordan’s Furniture, and Christmas Tree Shops.

Interesting take from the Journal of Commerce on the significance of G&W's acquisition of the P&W to the Port of Portland.

Genesee & Wyoming’s plan to acquire Providence and Worcester Railroad Company will expand the largest U.S. short line rail operator’s intermodal connections into the U.S. Northeast.

The move will help G&W, a railway highly dependent on now-slumping carload traffic, tap into an intermodal customer base via connections to Class I carriers moving cargo to and from the East Coast’s busiest port terminals in New York and New Jersey. But the $126 million acquisition could also allow G&W tap intermodal shippers searching for ways to avoid sporadic congestion at the Port of New York and New Jersey by using ports such as Maine's Port of Portland.

A gateway the size of Portland can only provided limited relief for the large number of shippers moving goods through New York and New Jersey. Nevertheless, the Maine port has made significant progress just in the past year, now boasting biweekly calls that provide direct connections with North Europe and Asia via the Port of Halifax in Canada.

I recall reading this article when it was originally published nor do I remember any discussion about the potential implication of this acquisition.

I don't see it. Trucking a container from the Port to Auburn and then sending it to Canada and then back down to avoid the NY/NJ ports is asinine. If needing to go to points south it will move by Pan AM out of there or not at all by rail.

My impression as well. I was trying to understand if they were talking about interchange business via Gardner.

Eimskip is partnering with CMA-CGM to offer connecting service between Portland and Asian markets, with connections at Halifax.

http://www.eimskip.com/eimskip-cma-cgm/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Doesn't this already happen? They transfer containers onto different steamship lines at Halifax now to reach distant ports . Is this a marketing/billing thing?

Poland Spring publishes Maine Economic Impact Study: https://www.nestle-watersna.com/Content ... t_2017.PDF

See page 13 and 14 for discussion of Poland Springs impact on rail transit in Maine

For most of its history, Poland Spring has transported truckloads of its bottled water from its bottling plants in Maine to wholesale distribution centers in
Massachusetts where it is redistributed for shipment to final customers. In 2016, the company began a pilot program with Pan American Railways whereby some
of that road traffic was diverted to rail transport. Instead of trucking all pallets of bottled water from plants in Hollis and Kingfield, Maine to a wholesale
distribution center in Clinton, Massachusetts, certain pallets from the Kingfield plant were diverted to the rail depot in Waterville, and certain pallets from the
Hollis plant to the rail depot in Portland. These pallets were then shipped by rail to the rail depot in Ayer, Massachusetts, then trucked the much shorter distance
from Ayer to Clinton.

and

perhaps most importantly, more certain rail transport options give Poland Spring greater freedom to consider expansion to sites in Maine further
west and north of the Company’s existing plants as ways to further serve the growing national market without the added cost of longer and longer
truck transport requirements; this possibility is particularly true if the Company can commit sufficient volumes to obtain more dedicated—
Poland Spring only—trains as they now have on Fridays and Saturdays from Waterville.

Are they still loading in Portland?

They are not.

Confirmed yesterday by President David Fink at the 29th Annual Meeting of TrainRiders Northeast:

Poland Spring is now only considering sites with rail access for its next bottling plants.

"Active" rail access I wonder?

Well, it's certainly not going to be Fryeberg so we can put down the Mountain Div. can of spray foam. The locals voted PS down by a large margin in this year's referendum, so that site is now eliminated from consideration rail or no rail.


Lincoln has seemingly maintained pole position as frontrunner all along, so they're probably still the odds-on favorite.

If I had to choose I would think Rumford might actually be a serious contender. Otherwise, yes, Lincoln seems to be way ahead.