Trains on CSX St. Lawrence Sub (CR's Montreal Secondary)

[BR&P]

Looks like BR&P has another job opening.

BR&P is quite happy mowing the lawn and working on Corvettes.

[Bigt]

Any new rumors regarding the Syracuse to Massena line?

[lvrr325]

No. As busy as ever. Citirail unit went up last week.

[tree68]

Given the way that CSX is reinstating dropped trains and reopening hump yards (Radnor), one might wonder how long some of the lines currently for sale might stay on the market.

I'm sure the vulture investors are wringing their hands with glee at the prospect of further income, but cooler minds might prevail.

[Leo_Ames]

Several line sales have been announced. Anyone heard any rumors about this line? Might not take much longer to hear what its immediate fate will be.

[lvrr325]

A northbound just started up with two NS units leading. That should make for some fun in the rumor mill.

[lvrr325]

I never did see the NS units come back but Sunday morning a BNSF came in.

[hojack]

I don't follow the traffic that much in the St. Lawrence. But, this morning, Saturday, July 21, I was in Adams and saw a bunch of flat cars headed South over the road and just figured they were on the rear of whatever the southbound run thru is numbered this week. Well, I headed down to Mannsville and lo and behold, along came two Kansas City Southern Units leading an empty train down from Ft Drum with a mix of DODX and TTX flats with four and six wheel trucks. The flats with six wheels had a max load cap of 301,0000 pounds. The KCS units were very new, spotless, and looked beautiful in the morning sun headed south thru the cornfields south of Lacona. Of course, I didn't have a camera, but those units were spotless and shining in the sun southbound.

[lvrr325]

Train went up Friday evening, loaded, there are videos of it on Facebook passing through Rochester.

[hojack]

My conductor said he watched it go North thru Parish after dark Friday night, which means they didn't tie the train down at Ft.. Drum before midnight. They went south thru Adams at 0900 Saturday morning, so I expect they left Drum around 0700. They must have dropped the northbound and picked up the southbound empties, ( I counted around 78 of them, all 80 ft or longer cars). I can't imagine unloading be accomplished that fast in darkness. Which means maybe more military moves soon. I heard that the northbound came out of Ft. Polk
Louisiana which I believe is on the KCS near Alexandria. So the KCS units had quite a tour I guess.

[tree68]

The marshalling area at Drum is well-lit, and there are four tracks to the ramp and a fifth for bi-level and tri-level cars.

Sometimes they try to see how quickly they can load/unload a train.

But I agree, that's pretty quick. Odds are if they did drop them at Drum, they simply picked up empties from the west yard.

[lvrr325]

Could be CSX trying to save a buck with new procedures, seems like it always used to be they'd call a crew to run the empties out first, then bring in the loaded train.

Most of the MIL trains that have gone north the last few years have had KCS power.

[tree68]

Somebody's got to move the empty cars from the marshalling yard to the west yard if that's what they're doing to make room for the loaded cars. I think the switcher that was used by the co-gen may still be there, but I don't know if it ever comes out of it's house (the coal unloading shed).

Otherwise, B778 has to go in to do the switching.

And it takes time to double out any train, especially if they're pulling three or four tracks.

[hojack]

I assume they run the power up to Philadelphia and turn them on the wye. There isn't a wye on Drum is there? I don't think I would turn 6 axle power at Massey, I don't even know if the wye there is still in existence or in service. The KCS units were turned, they were both short hood leading, so they didn't just switch leading units.

[tree68]

There is a wye at Fort Drum.

It forms the connection between the marshalling yard, the west yard, and the connection to CSX at Roots.

It will handle six axle power.