CSX Acquisition of Pan Am Railways

johnpbarlow wrote: ↑Sat Dec 18, 2021 6:49 am Parties who have said they will speak at STB's public oral hearings on January 13, 2022:

In favor:
- NHDOT: will discuss the Department’s support for this proposed transaction and the benefits to rail service in NH
- Cushman Lumber: will discuss growth opportunities from improved service, noting access to both PAS & NECR
- Law Logistics: will discuss the benefits of CSX taking over operations from Springfield Terminal Railway
- NH Central RR: will discuss the benefits of B&/G&W RR taking over operations from Springfield Terminal Railway and the partnership with Genesee & Wyoming to grow their business
- Maine DOT: will address Maine's support for the approval of the transaction, letter agreements with CSX and support from Maine's businesses, rail shippers and Passenger Rail Authority
- Boston Sand & Gravel: will discuss the importance of rail operations for BSG's supply chain, its railroad subsidiary New Hampshire North Coast, and the new opportunities made possible by CSX's takeover of operations from Springfield Terminal Railway

Thank you for passing along those who will be speaking in favor. Interested to see what NHCR would be stating regarding these benefits.

Will this new MDOT-based dispatch signal system in Billerica be used for the entire PAR/PAS system from Maine to NY state or just around MBTA territory?

The only reason I could see NHCR getting involved, is that they receive plastic pellets by rail. Most likely they will be speaking about the improved route times should the sale be approved.

Don't forget the Rymes business up in N.Stratford by the shop. Both of their connections are via G&W, and now Ed would have one less carrier (PAR) to deal with. The pellets are kind of a moot point, since none have come south from Groveton in over two years.

johnpbarlow wrote: ↑Wed Dec 22, 2021 2:44 pm Will this new MDOT-based dispatch signal system in Billerica be used for the entire PAR/PAS system from Maine to NY state or just around MBTA territory?

All of it.

Mr. Barlow, while installing this new Systemwide Train Dispatch center at PAR's offices, may seem like a waste, lest we forget, the merger has yet to be approved and once it is, there will be higher priorities in the integration than where PAR, T, and NNEPRA trains are dispatched. To get this activity moved to presumably 500 Water, I'll bet is 3-5 years "down the line".

First, and I'm asking, wouldn't "T" trains over Amtrak Boston-Providence be dispatched by Amtrak?

"T" trains over the B&M, and Amtrak NNEPRA, I would think would move to 500 Water "whenever".

So, I guess there is still the Old Colony to be handled by this "central dispatch".

All of the south side lines are dispatched out of Amtrak's dispatching center, with Keolis providing the staffing for the positions that handle the non-NEC lines (Needham, Franklin, Middleboro, etc.). The existing dispatching center in Billerica handles the north side lines as well as PAR/PAS.

There are actually 3 dispatching centers and 3 dispatching systems in use on MBTA.

South side is out of South Station/CETC with Amtrak handling the NEC and Keolis handling the rest. The Worcester Line desk is at South Station but operates on the dispatching system used by the North Side dispatchers. They use Amtrak's AMTEC dispatching system now.

North Side is dispatched out of Cobble Hill (which will move to Billerica and be the first occupants of the new building) except for the lines that are dispatched by Pan Am. They utilize an older ARINC dispatching system.

Pan Am dispatches the Freight Mainline portion of the MBTA (Wachusett-Willows, Lowell, Lowell Jct-State Line) along with the rest of their operation out of Billerica on TrainTrax which is the oldest system.

Pan Am is replacing their system in conjunction with MBTA/MassDOT on the North Side, so everything Boston North and possibly the Worcester Line will end up on that system (independent systems but the same thing). MBTA/MassDOT will have the ability to the port over all the south side territories if they want to split from Amtrak.

MBTA has requirements built into the deed that their trains must be dispatched out of Massachusetts. When CSX decides it's time to relocate their dispatchers, MBTA/Keolis will take over dispatching of the MBTA territory that Pan Am currently dispatches. It's my understanding those basic discussions have already been had between MassDOT and CSX.

Here's an STB filing with a bit of good news showing the municipalities and private enterprise can still come to terms: "CSX is pleased to report to the Board that CSX has reached the enclosed settlement agreement with the Village of Voorheesville, NY (“Voorheesville”) regarding potential issues between CSX and Voorheesville arising out of CSX’s application in the above-referenced proceeding [ie, the CSX acquisition of PAR and NS reconstruction of the connecting track at Voorheesville for its daily pair of container/auto trains that are to use trackage rights over CSX to Ayer [assuming NS still has any IM traffic to/from Ayer operating in 2022!]]..."

https://dcms-external.s3.amazonaws.com/ ... 303452.pdf

Now if NS can just get the Altamont folks to not obsess about two new daily trains rumbling through their community ...

Good to learn, Mr. Barlow.

Now I would think that Chessie would want a presence of Topper in the region - at least E-W X Mass, or the B&M PAS. One member participating at this discussion has written me privately expressing concerns that the acquisition can only be anti-competitive. He's "out there" and I'm "here" (and pretty well locked down account my age and COVID).

Chessie should be "helping out" to dig out and stabilize Hoosac as well as have Class 3 or higher on the PAS. I must wonder where would any Short Line amass the capital needed for such?

Having Shipper's Routings specifying an interchange to NS at Ayer (yes Chessie, you are being "short hauled") would enable movement to major interchanges such as Kansas City not served by Chessie, (and with the Wabash, Topper has hands down the most direct routing avoiding Chicago) and thereby attracting more maritime operators to call at Saint John.

I wonder if CSX has any plans for rebuilding or redesigning the Mattawamkeag yard/interchange. With traffic almost certainly going to increase significantly through that interchange, does the present set-up work, especially since there's traffic going both West to MNR points as well as East to NBSR points. Is there a possibility that they implement a run through train from say Waterville to SJ where they can bypass switching at Keag altogether? Looking at the yard on google maps, it doesn't appear to have a lot of space/track, especially if CSX starts running much bigger trains up that way.

Since the interchange with MNRY is via haulage rights over EMRY, and there's also an interchange with MNRY via CP at Northern Maine Jct, I suspect (unless the rate split is significantly more favorable via Mattawamkeag) that whatever MNRY traffic there is will go via CP since it's a shorter/more direct route overall (NMJ > Brownville Jct vs NMJ > Mattawamkeag > Brownville Jct).

johnpbarlow wrote: ↑Fri Dec 24, 2021 5:10 am Here's an STB filing with a bit of good news showing the municipalities and private enterprise can still come to terms: "CSX is pleased to report to the Board that CSX has reached the enclosed settlement agreement with the Village of Voorheesville, NY (“Voorheesville”) regarding potential issues between CSX and Voorheesville arising out of CSX’s application in the above-referenced proceeding [ie, the CSX acquisition of PAR and NS reconstruction of the connecting track at Voorheesville for its daily pair of container/auto trains that are to use trackage rights over CSX to Ayer [assuming NS still has any IM traffic to/from Ayer operating in 2022!]]..."

https://dcms-external.s3.amazonaws.com/ ... 303452.pdf

Now if NS can just get the Altamont folks to not obsess about two new daily trains rumbling through their community ...

It's a win for Voorheesville since they weren't really worried about the connection and its 2 trains compared to the CSX main line. They leveraged the situation to finally get the quiet zone which they have been wanting for years.
Altamont is a different story, there is no reward for them. They will be going from a line that was out of service for decades, to a short line running small trains at slow speed, to a 25 MPH line running main line trains.

So yes, they are wary and likely won't be as ready to compromise as Voorheesville. Do I think they could stop the deal? No, as the line was never abandoned like I thought until I was corrected here.

But at the same time, I can see why they may try to fight a deal between these big corporations that will have a big impact on their lives.

I was under the impression that CP wants to cancel that haulage agreement, especially since they're going after the same business. I don't think the haulage rates are very good either. I do think there's likely going to be quite a bit of business from the county moving over CSX, so will be interesting to see what they end up doing.

Mattawamkeag would either need a complete rebuild, or it would just be easier to build a new yard altogether. Prior to the derailment at Enfield, Eastern Maine had a crew based at Mattawamkeag which would take the Pan Am power and cars up to Kirby Siding where the east bound traffic would be dropped and the west bound traffic picked up. At the time that worked fairly well, since 907/908 would have to stop and make a drop. As of late, 907/908 have been meeting at Kirby fairly frequently, so it would be hard to leave interchange traffic on the siding without interrupting normal train ops. It would be ergonomic to build a yard east of the river, which would eliminate the back up moves across Route 2 and by doing so, they would have more room for more tracks.