Pan Am Worcester Main Line

So I thought this buyout and consolidation was supposed to make things more efficient.

We have no clue what the dwell times are in the respective yards and the transit times. It could be temporary while B&E works out their kinks, or the mill could be getting a better price, or the product could even be moving faster going around PAS. We just don't know enough to make assumptions. Furthermore, the mills are on CSX, and the origin is not on PAS, so no one really needs to throw PAS a bone and give them a share of the routing when it really comes down to it.

Saw a video of m426 eastbound at sterling st in downtown Clinton taken this morning. Train was 10mph
So still work for csx to do apparently to get to 25

Yes they never finished the track work between Clinton and Harvard. It's very odd.

Any idea what work is left to do? The last thing I saw them do south of clinton before going to 25 there was running a loram machine to surface the rails. Don't know if that has happened north of clinton.

Our you tube rail expert is now claiming CSX let RJ Corman do a crappy job on the Worcester Line. I'm sure some of these 6'-6" 275 lb track workers would like to meet him so he can show them how to do it right.

newpylong wrote: ↑Thu Nov 02, 2023 10:58 am

F74265A wrote: ↑Thu Nov 02, 2023 8:51 am Which makes it even stranger if in fact VT slurry is moving via Rotterdam-Selkirk-Worcester-Ayer

I guess they could go via CP to the VTR at Whitehall too. Not sure what the deal is.

Two OMYAs on today's CPKC 120, two Thiele cars as well. They never seem to come more than 2-3 at a time, but are frequently spotted on both 120 and 121.

Do those cars go to csx at nmj or on to nbsr/emr for an irving customer? I think there are paper mills somewhere on the irving system

Yeah see how those have been restenciled. Not likely in OMYA service anymore.

Plenty of OMYA cars carry those SHPX marks, they're stored all over up here on the WACR. I was told this is an MNR bound car, guessing it's for Twin Rivers Paper in Madawaska.

Grain train G954 arrived in the Hill Yard a short time ago (18:00+/- )and was handed over to B+E to cut in two and deliver to Ardent Mills.

The last 7 days I noticed M426 and 427 have been erratic, so I looked at the Chester webcam log. It appears 426 has run 4 times. 427 looks like 5 times. Neither one ran today.

It's been 72 hours since an M426 passed through Chester. One of the regular posters on the cam noted a lack of available crews.

Re: shortage of CSX crews for the B&A, on Monday 11/6/23 Millers Railfan posted a Youtube video of a 167 car DPU-configured M436 train bound for Worcester with P&Ws ahead of the DPU and Framinghams behind. Ordinarily this would have been 2 trains. CSX has job postings for conductors at Selkirk and Framingham as well as Lawrence, Portland, and Waterville.

Observed Nov 7, there is a new Hot Box Detector and Over Height Detector at X15.4 (200 yrds west of the old OHD at South Meadow Rd). Also, a new solar powered rail greaser a bit west of there at the woods crossing.

NHV 669 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 08, 2023 5:20 am It's been 72 hours since an M426 passed through Chester. One of the regular posters on the cam noted a lack of available crews.

Chester Rail Cam shows M426 through at 12:38. At about 14:30 apparent M427 sitting at Graniteville.