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Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England

Moderators: MEC407, NHN503

 #1518890  by NHV 669
 
gokeefe wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 7:48 amHow much traffic is NHCR generating right now?
Business with Rymes is good on the Stratford end, don't have specific numbers. Noted that they're recieving some storage cars again as well.

Whitefield end is just the hopper(s) of plastic pellets at this point, roughly a single car a month, give or take a week. Routing is CSX/PAS/PAR/SLR just to get the car to Groveton.
 #1518973  by BandA
 
Good time for the state to buy the ROW since it is "worthless" the price will never be lower.
 #1518994  by gokeefe
 
The information available seems to hint (just barely) that there may be some kind of railroad use under consideration.
 #1518999  by b&m 1566
 
BandA wrote: Tue Sep 03, 2019 2:15 am Good time for the state to buy the ROW since it is "worthless" the price will never be lower.
Pan Am might not be in a rush to sell it if the price is too low. Is the line from St. Johnsbury, VT to Whitefield, NH abandoned or is it still under common carrier? I'm not a wiz when it comes real-estate property but I would have to imagine the value might be higher if not abandoned vs abandoned.
 #1519003  by gokeefe
 
It has never been abandoned. At this point if Twin State's rights have lapsed then (I believe) the rights revert to Maine Central d/b/a Pan Am Railways.
 #1519011  by newpylong
 
gokeefe wrote: Tue Sep 03, 2019 9:52 am The information available seems to hint (just barely) that there may be some kind of railroad use under consideration.
To do what? There is nothing online and there are no bridge route considerations.
 #1519013  by gokeefe
 
At the moment NHCR is dependent on a single carrier. That would be one possible consideration.

Much further up thread VRS supposedly indicated interest in a more direct route to Portland, Maine in 2014. My assumption is Pan Am would of course be the carrier. This concept seems unlikely to materialize but it was nonetheless surprising to read about.

Speaking broadly I have been surprised at times by the occurrence of serious conversations about the (former) Mountain Division. It has come up more than I would have ever expected. The one particular example I'm thinking of was focused only opportunities in Maine.
 #1519017  by Cowford
 
"Serious" conversation regarding reactivation of the Mountain sub would imply that a railroad (and the Golden Eagle Railway doesn't count) was at least one of the parties involved in the conversation. I know of no such confirmed dialogues.
 #1519018  by gokeefe
 
Definitely not Golden Eagle and I will leave it at that ...
 #1519030  by NHV 669
 
VRS already has a direct route to Portland via PAR. Why would they want a duplicate route that adds an extra carrier, on track that has been OOS for twenty years?

The trees in Concord village as of Sunday are thick enough to completely obscure the RoW west of the station.
 #1519047  by newpylong
 
gokeefe wrote: Tue Sep 03, 2019 12:02 pm At the moment NHCR is dependent on a single carrier. That would be one possible consideration.

Much further up thread VRS supposedly indicated interest in a more direct route to Portland, Maine in 2014. My assumption is Pan Am would of course be the carrier. This concept seems unlikely to materialize but it was nonetheless surprising to read about.

Speaking broadly I have been surprised at times by the occurrence of serious conversations about the (former) Mountain Division. It has come up more than I would have ever expected. The one particular example I'm thinking of was focused only opportunities in Maine.
I don't believe any of these would warrant even a passing thought of reactivation.
 #1519063  by b&m 1566
 
Would if be worth it to NHCR to explore at least having trackage rights to St. Johnsbury? Would having a 2nd railroad to interchange with, give them a competitive market with the rates to try and grow some more business? Would it be worth it to have VRS meet them halfway in Gilman or something? I know there's next to nothing up there for business but would it be worth trying to attract business?
 #1519075  by gokeefe
 
NHV 669 wrote: Tue Sep 03, 2019 1:15 pm VRS already has a direct route to Portland via PAR.
I believe it's via PAS. If true that could be the answer. Pan Am could a higher division of the rate by (in some senses) stealing their own traffic.
 #1519115  by NHV 669
 
Why would they be worried about competitive rates on traffic that amounts to a single car a month that would require at least three other carriers no matter which way it arrives? All of this sounds quite silly, to be honest.

Business hasn't grown, because there is none.
 #1519116  by newpylong
 
b&m 1566 wrote: Tue Sep 03, 2019 4:34 pm Would if be worth it to NHCR to explore at least having trackage rights to St. Johnsbury? Would having a 2nd railroad to interchange with, give them a competitive market with the rates to try and grow some more business? Would it be worth it to have VRS meet them halfway in Gilman or something? I know there's next to nothing up there for business but would it be worth trying to attract business?
No because no one is going to pay to rebuild 20 something miles for them just to market that 1 car a month to a VRS gateway.
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