RonM wrote:My view from the couch. It appears there's just not enough business interest in the Enfield area. There's an oil dealer and a concrete plant on the active part that are not using rail and another oil facility and warehouses up in the Moody / Shaker Road area. I'm sure they have been approached and/or aware of the railroad. Maybe they can't justify the expense of setting up for rail(?). Any new business looking to set-up shop could just as easily set-up in current CSOR or CNZR Griffin Line zone. And that is happening on CSOR. There's been chatter of a new rail user in Enfield... Whatever happened to that? Economy downturn spoilage?
Then there's the issue of the number of grade crossings on the line and the nimby/banana crowd. The residents of East Windsor just shot down the CT State Police Training facility interest. One can only imagine the uproar if frequent freight trains start rumbling by. It could most likely develop into another G&U scenario.
CNZR locals aren't the driver for CDOT's expressed interest in a partnership with MassDOT to reconnect the Armory. It's all about clearing the overhead freight congestion off the Springfield Line north of Hartford and opening up a double-stack clearance route to Hartford. The thinking goes:
Springfield Line-specific considerations
-- Springfield Line where it parallels closest to the river is the most unexpandable portion of the line. It can never be >2 tracks.
-- All points south of Hartford the Springfield Line either has available freight bypasses (Valley + Air Lines) or additional 3-4 track capacity (Hartford-Newington Jct.) to tap. In Hartford-Newington's case the Busway boondoggle is on a revokable Amtrak easement, which Amtrak has stated may be needed--and which they will not hesitate to take back--if their 2040 inland HSR plans send high-speed rail onto the Springfield Line to Hartford either from the west @ Danbury or from the south @ New Haven. Therefore, this is the only portion of the Springfield Line that has no deep long-term options for load-spreading freight traffic is the Hartford-Springfield portion. And passenger loads will eventually reach the point where this becomes a problem.
-- From the northern tip of Hartford Yard to Springfield there is no local freight except for the CSOR Bradley Branch jobs and 1 local customer, Enfield Lumber. >90% of current and potential freight traffic--CSOR and PAS--runs strictly overhead between Springfield and Hartford and could be diverted.
-- If a bypass existed all CSOR and PAS thru traffic can be re-routed to the Armory on overhead rights, while CNZR retains local rights and gains the interchange.
Armory-specific considerations
-- Double-stack route from West Springfield to Springfield. There are only 3 overhead structures on the entire Armory Branch: Armory St. in Springfield, St. James Ave. in Springfield, I-291 in South Windsor. Then 3 more on the Manchester Secondary: Riverside Park access road in Hartford, I-91 in Hartford, Rev. Moody Overpass in Hartford. 91 and Moody Overpass already clear for DS according to Nat'l Bridge Inventory data. 291 per the NBI is just shy, but close enough to track-undercut. Not sure about Armory St., St. James, or Riverside...but they're all ancient overpasses due for replacement over the next 20 years. Cost for achieving the clearance is bare minimal with a
maximum of 4 structural touches (it could be less if the 3 local-street overpasses are undercuttable like 291). ROI is very good despite the middling carloads from smaller carriers because of the trivial expense for those clearances. In fact, probably the only case in the Northeast where cost of DS clearances has justifiable ROI for midrange=or-lower carloads.
-- More carriers than just CSX-to-shortline(s) can move tall loads to Hartford with a reconnection. PAS has existing 19'6" clearances from East Deerfield to Springfield (or it will when one decrepit wood local street bridge in South Deerfield is replaced), and its own mainline double-stack project ongoing to feed East Deerfield. It has an interchange with NECR in Millers Falls just outside East Deerfield for 19'6" loads. Norfolk Southern is 50% of PAS, and is expected fait accompli to be buying out Pan Am's 50% in no less than 2 and no more than 5 years. Putting a non-CSX Class I carrier in direct reach of Hartford. They have much better potential for generating overheight traffic to Hartford than CSOR-via-CSX or CNZR-via-CSX.
-- The Manchester Secondary and Armory have pre-existing 286K weight ratings, which can now be utilized since the CT River bridge between Hartford and East Hartford has been repaired. The Springfield Line will ultimately get its uprate to 286K between Springfield and Hartford Yard for CSOR's and PAS's benefit when its CT River bridge between Windsor Locks and Enfield is rehabbed (planned but unfunded for design). The cost for achieving 286K rating on a re-connected Armory is limited to only the Massachusetts section and repairs to 1 undergrade structure: Watershops Pond bridge in Springfield. This enhances the ROI of being able to get the DS clearances for cheap since the weight limits come at little to no additional cost.
-- With no passenger considerations the line is viable at Class 1 speeds and a lot of grade crossings. PAS and CSOR would have no more than 1 round trip per day running nonstop, CNZR probably no more than 1 local round-trip per day. Traffic disruption considerations are likely minimal if hours of operation are spread around.
-- Since only 1 track would be needed the entirety of the East Longmeadow rail trail can be relocated in some stretches and left in place some stretches as rail-with-trail with chain-link fence between it and the tracks. As of now there is no proposal to extend the trail into Springfield because of gas company objections around areas of constrained access to the pipeline, contaminated abutting industrial backlots, and stripped bridge deck on the Watershops Pond bridge.
-- The NIMBY's in Enfield cannot block the reconnection or increased traffic since the tracks to the state line are already active and protected by every interstate commerce law that bats away such nuisance challenges. They can use the tried-and-true tactic of going after individual customers CNZR tries to recruit, but it would have no effect on ability for all 3 carriers to run thru traffic across the state line.
-- As mentioned a few posts up, the Hartford Line/Amtrak layover at Armory Jct. preserves the immediate junction to the CSX mainline and potentially reserves the first 1000+ feet of "mainline" spilling onto the east side of the Armory St. overpass if a rear MOW is desired by either tenant. This covers virtually all of the ROW not already occupied by the underground gas pipeline, which stays on a north trajectory (follow the clearing in the woods next to Oak Grove Cemetery) while the line makes its sharp west curve towards the junction.
Yes, the NIMBY's in Springfield are going to be a problem. And that not only could kill it dead, but is quite likely to unless MassDOT gets behind the project with vigor. Nobody said this was anyone's idea of a high-priority freight rail project, and CDOT's official State Rail Plan documentation lists every such caveat. The reason joint MA/CT pursuit of reconnection and reconnection studies exist as a line item in the CT State Rail Plan is because CDOT has determined that the very low cost and high ROI for gaining a clearance route makes it worth pursuing with MassDOT on the odds that they can clear those hurdles. There is nothing critical riding on it if they can't do that, because this is the ultimate low-hanging fruit project they can live without if it's not meant to be. And therefore there's clear limits to how willing anyone is to stick their necks out beyond their means to topple the Springfield opposition if that opposition is just too stiff.
It's not a foamer fantasy, nor are they being unrealistic at how they're approaching it. This gets filed under the category of "no harm, no foul, no money wasted giving it an honest look; life goes on if that look doesn't turn up favorable." Pretty much exactly what you want to see as far as covering all angles for sake of Greater Hartford freight revenue growth without going overboard.