railwatcher wrote:It takes two days to drive from Florida, legally, using Federal DOT laws for trucking or busing. It takes under half a day (being very generous, more like 1 1/2 hours) to go from Geneva to Lakeville. And Binghamton to, I assume (being dangerous here) Cohocton maybe 4 hours, and 8 hours from New York to Hornell. With this being said, and the fact that I understand that CSX has to check out the engine as to being "road worthy." Why does it take so long to get from "point A to point B?" The cost of letting a unit sit alone in an unwatched or underwatched yard can create an opportunity for vandalism. So an engine, I would think, should move along fairly quickly along its way, to avoid potential problems. Shouldn't they be considered valuable merchandise and moved right along?
Thanks, your answers are appreciated.
From Geneva to Lakeville by road is a short trip. By rail, it is a different story. It's a matter of when CSX has time to handle the locomotive move. Remember, Lyons is no longer a fully active facility. It's is more like Genesee Junction (but in much better condition.) There is no crew stationed at Lyons, so, when the traffic on the main quiets down, CSX will run a local out of Rochester (from what I have heard) that will then head to Lyons and pick up the 418. The local must then change direction and head onto the shore like they used to and the LA&L has to be there with waiting arms to receive the engine. This all has to happen at a time when CSX has a nice big window of time before any of their trains which are certainly more important to them come through town. Up to this point the 418 has been safely tucked away in Geneva alongside the Finger Lakes locomotives. It is in a safer location there than it would be at Lyons or Genesee Junction.
The 550 is a whole other story. I doubt there is a train that leaves Florida, headed directly for Rochester in one shot, along the way, crew changes, block swaps, drops, pickups, and other "ordinary" CSX actions can cause delays. Remember, to CSX, the 550 is another product that they are shipping and it doesn't say UPS, or Chicago bound so "it can wait" might be the mentality. Hopefully it is closer than it was last week. If it were an engine transfer from one CSX terminal to another CSX terminal for CSX engines, it might go by quicker because it'd be important to them. I'm just hoping they have not goofed up the 550.
And then there is the 418 (the first time). This one from what I hear was simply a lack of understanding that just because it says Ontario on it does not mean it is meant for Canada or for being bounced between Buffalo and Toronto.
Another example of this sort of thing would be with the Medina E8s that spent an extra week or so in transit due to the crews forgetting to set out the big behemoths in Buffalo.
Somewhere along the Atlantic Coast (not Atlantic Coast Line
), there is an Alco C425 anxious to get to its new home. Let's hope it makes it in time.