"Up North" Gawking (District 1 sightings)

interchange action in keag:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ua7XTe6WYA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jayx9YB0YVA

Well the boxcar is certainly not obsolete in Maine I guess. What's with the red and yellow hoses? Is that to supply air for the brakes? That is unusual isn't it? I know there has to be propane for the switch heaters but that's a different system that I don't see.

The air will keep the reservoirs on all the cars up to pressure, so when they go to pick up the cars they don’t need to wait to pump up the air. I think if it’s within a certain time period of when they were set out it may also mean they don’t need to do a full brake test? In which case they’d just need to couple up, knock off the hand brakes, and go.

Yes that's an air plant, from the looks of it temporary - diesel generator powered electric compressor. I am sure they will get electrical service in there and build a shanty with a true air plant at some point.

Keeping air in the cars means the departing crews do not need to perform a Class I (Initial Terminal) brake test ie very time consuming if the cars have been off air for more than 24 hours. In 2015 the law changed, it used to be only 4 hours. If there is an air slip (a copy of the previous Class I brake test) they essentially can tie on, do a set and release (Class 3 Transfer Test) with telemetry and go.

Ck out branchline geep productions on YouTube- they have a chase from nmj to keag of a full train for interchange with Irving. Will try to post a link later.

*Bangor to Keag:

https://youtu.be/T916MdfrWQ8?si=qUx1eMuEygLiTsvl

Ken Rice wrote: ↑Fri Dec 29, 2023 1:20 pm The air will keep the reservoirs on all the cars up to pressure, so when they go to pick up the cars they don’t need to wait to pump up the air. I think if it’s within a certain time period of when they were set out it may also mean they don’t need to do a full brake test? In which case they’d just need to couple up, knock off the hand brakes, and go.

Interesting. They are really short consists of 40 cars maximum so I would think it's not that big a deal but hey, do it right CSX.

newpylong wrote: ↑Fri Dec 29, 2023 2:30 pm Keeping air in the cars means the departing crews do not need to perform a Class I (Initial Terminal) brake test ie very time consuming if the cars have been off air for more than 24 hours. In 2015 the law changed, it used to be only 4 hours. If there is an air slip (a copy of the previous Class I brake test) they essentially can tie on, do a set and release (Class 3 Transfer Test) with telemetry and go.

Thanks for correcting the details newpylong.

bostontrainguy wrote: ↑Sat Dec 30, 2023 10:34 am They are really short consists of 40 cars maximum so I would think it's not that big a deal but hey, do it right CSX.

It's an hour of work they don't have to do, and half an hour they don't need to wait to pump them so...

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

extensive footage of keag interchange movements

Eimskip containers have resumed out of Waterville according to some sightings posted on Facebook in the last several days

Rumford branch crew with 5948-2548-6142 westbound with 16 cars met Portland crew with 505-7622
and 19 cars at Leeds Jct after lunch today. Crews swapped consists, retaining the power they arrived
with and headed back home. List of train symbols I found posted online lists L053 eastbound M-W-F
and L054 westbound T-T-F but evidently they're back to the old routine of two crews meeting in the
middle and swapping trains on the same day. Don't know how many days a week they are operating
or if these train symbols are still accurate.

The mill at Rumford hasn't been doing so well recently. Car counts prior to the past few storms have been pretty lackluster, unless I am mistaken CSX cut back operations on the branch to four days a week not too long ago. They are probably working to clear the backlog at Rigby and Rumford, as the branch was out of service for almost two weeks due to washouts.

L053 today was 6152/2548/5948 and just 21 cars.