Official Mass Coastal Thread

Good news, folks. Cape Rail (part of the Cape Cod Central) won the freight contract from Bay Colony for
cape freight.

http://www.nationalcorridors.com/

This means that a passenger-rail friendly operator
will be running all operations on the cape!

Doesn't leave much business left for the Bay Colony...

Here's a map showing Bay Colony operations:
http://www.baycolonyrr.com/system%20map.htm

And according to the front page of their web site, they're hiring for conductors. Hmmm....

It also says updated last 1/19/06...

shadyjay wrote:Here's a map showing Bay Colony operations:
http://www.baycolonyrr.com/system%20map.htm

And according to the front page of their web site, they're hiring for conductors. Hmmm....

Comparing that to Mass Coastal's map: http://www.masscoastal.com/map.php It definitely looks like Bay Colony has suffered a major loss here.

Bay Colony will pretty much be a thing of the past as of January 1st. With all of the Southeast MA lines going to Mass Coastal, that only leaves Millis. I really doubt what little service is left there justifies the cost of keeping an entire railroad open. While I am sad to see any shortline die off, BCLR had to go. They scared off alot of customers here on the Cape, and deferred maintenance on the tracks for far too long. I suppose I am going to have to change my screen name now, huh?

BayColony1706 wrote:They scared off alot of customers ... and deferred maintenance on the tracks for far too long ...

Gosh... what other railroad does that sound like?

Well Bay Colony still has an operation in Florida with a tourist/dinner train.

Hahaha. I think the Fays of Bay Colony went to "Tim Melon's School for Self-Destructive and Detrimental Railroading" .

The operation in Florida is their sister Company, Seminole Gulf Ry. I'd expect the BCLR locos to eventually make their way south in the near future.

It would seem to me that Bay Colony may as well sell their rolling stock to Cape Rail too. That would make a clean changeover of the whole operation.

Mass Coastal is buying brand new trash cars for their "Energy Train" (no longer called Trash Train). Also, they are bringing in 4 GP locomotives. BCLR is going to take their trash cars to Mid-City scrap, and they are going to be chopped up. As for the locos, I'd assume they will wind up in Florida to replace Seminole Gulf's aging ex-Chessie GP9's.

What could this mean for the ex-CCRR equipment still owned/stored? by BayColony?

MEC407 wrote:

BayColony1706 wrote:They scared off alot of customers ... and deferred maintenance on the tracks for far too long ...

Gosh... what other railroad does that sound like?

Umm ummm....Penn Central? No wait...

I am not sure what will become of the CCR equipment at SEMASS...
Don't know how road-worthy any of that stuff is after sitting idle for almost 10 years, subject to bums and vandals.