"Up North" Gawking (District 1 sightings)

I think the dirty dirt clean up at Orrington may finally be over. There hasn't been any moves to or from the site since I think the end of last year. Last time I was passing through the area, the branch had a number of downed trees on it. So I am not sure if those are from a recent storm, or if the MOW dept has ended track patrols on it. They were doing a tie job on the in service section to keep it open, however they stopped at I-395 and all of the new ties from there to Holtrachem have yet to be installed.

Per a friend who lives in Mattawamkeag, CSX has been visiting landowners towards the west end of the yard trying to get them to sellout, most likely for a future yard expansion. So far none have.

Well that is pretty interesting.

I presume eminent domain is always an option, although that would normally be far more time-consuming. I don’t know, of course, how that might play out at Mile 1, but I do know someone who handles real estate for a major railroad who tells me that almost without fail, they always get the land they want for purposes like this. Usually, a check for 3-4 times assessed value while presenting the possibility of an eminent domain ruling for considerably less provides sufficient incentive to sell.

Yesterdays edition of LO54-RUPO with Eng 505-6229 and 33 cars shown leaving Leeds Junction and passing
SLR 3035 at Danville Junction lifting interchange cars from CSX.

Its also worth noting that WAMA or whatever CSX is calling it, hit a car in Enfield a few days ago. And a rare sports car at that. The driver claimed that the lights weren't activated at the time, which was supported by several other witnesses. Which I am sure that incident will be investigated, and the driver will likely be at fault since there is supposedly video of the accident taken by a railfan.

While it might be the drivers fault, I do think CSX should have taken the initiative to cut the brush back at the crossings more. A lot of places haven't got a trim since Pan Am did it in 2020 and you can't really see down the tracks until you are almost on the crossing. It probably would have been best if CSX had done this before the speeds were bumped up. It seems like every other railroad in the state (SLR, NHN, CPKC, NBM Railways, and even the tourist operators) cut a wide opening on each side of the crossing so even if the lights aren't working you have good sightlines.
But it seems like CSX rather keep the existing tree tunnels vs spending in brush removal.

news story with video about the train/car collision in enfield

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l_rtC511c0

Classic TR 7 - hopefully it's easily repairable!

Wonder if this was moving on the main or switching the lumber company. Maybe the lights did not come on, but it looks like the car ran into the side of the train. He couldn't see the train crossing in front of him? Even if a train is flagged across a roadway, once the engine has crossed the flagman are gone and it is pretty obvious what is going on. Got to blame the car I think.

Rumor, with video evidence, of big trackwork in Keag area to expand yard and interchange capacity. If this is true, CSX must have big long-term plans for the Irving interchange.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFu3KjEBF34

Wow. Something is going on in Keag. Looks like a lot more than just adding a siding doesn't it?

bostontrainguy wrote:Wonder if this was moving on the main or switching the lumber company. Maybe the lights did not come on, but it looks like the car ran into the side of the train. He couldn't see the train crossing in front of him? Even if a train is flagged across a roadway, once the engine has crossed the flagman are gone and it is pretty obvious what is going on. Got to blame the car I think.

It was the road job, which was doing 25 MPH. The crossing lights were on at the time, a railfan on Facebook said he had a video of it from his drone, but is refusing to share it with CSX because he "doesn't want to get involved".

Not cool.

Its not so bad that they are clearcutting the forest for expanded rail yard, but they will be spraying roundup or other defoliants next to the river for years to come. Imagine the economics of a rail yard in northern maine vs say beacon park or even west springfield.

I was referring to the bystander not sharing their evidence.

As for the defoliants, that is not done by water sources. If you look trackside there are markers where the weed sprayer must stop nearing water.