Conrail Shared Assets - Gone ??

[mb38]

Have heard from a few reliable sources that Norfolk Southern will be buying and taking over
the operation of the Philadelphia section of Conrail Shared Assets and CSX will be doing the same with the North Jersey section in February of 2010. Will the employees be assigned to the "regular" railroad operations or remain with the former Shared Assets Work ???

[JimBoylan]

What will happen to Detroit area operations of ConRail?

[rcbsd45]

Any sale or transfer of properties will have to be filed with the Surface Transportation Board, and until those filing are made, this is nothing more than hearsay and rumors started by either: disgruntled employees; employees who just want to get railfans talking and wound up; or by railfans themselves with nothing better to do than to spread unsubstantiated rumors. Until the STB is formally notified, these are simply rumors. If that ARE based in FACTS, the I suggest someone bring them forth. Otherwise its simple gossiping.

[RDGTRANSMUSEUM]

call the conrail office about the rumors. they might know something,otherwise it will be posted by the STB.

[JimBoylan]

WARNING: This is only a report of a rumor, and may have been spread for who knows what reason. It may not originate from reliable sources, but it does pre-date the original post in this topic.
A few of the employees at ConRail's Morrisville, Pa. Yard have been since the beginning of Dec. telling the Tyburn RR's President the rumor that NS wants ConRail's Morrisville operations transferred, and possibly sold to SMS Rail Lines. The details differ with the various rumormongers.

[JimBoylan]

WARNING: This is only a report of a rumor, and may have been spread for who knows what reason.
A late December version of the rumor fed to the TYBR president from some people at Morrisville just says that ConRail will not be running Morrisville yard starting sometime in April, probably in 2010.

[SJRR]

Are we talking just Morrisville yard or all of CSAO in the Philadelphia region? I find it a bit hard to believe that Conrail (which is based out of Philadelphia/SJ) would only run operations in Detriot.

[JimBoylan]

The original post rumored about all of ConRail, without specifically mentioning the Detroit area, being split up. I asked that the topic be reopened so I could post an earlier version told to my boss that only mentioned Morrisville yard. Remember, these are just rumors, worth only the air that they are spoken on. The only fact I have is that the rumor has more than one confusing "head".

[Detroit]

What will happen to Detroit area operations of ConRail?

There is not really that much left of Conrail Shared Assets in Detroit. BTW, my residence is on the only residential (dead-end) street abutting Livernois Yard, formerly the once-huge NYC yard--the heart of Conrail SA-Detroit. But I rarely notice any sounds of its railroading other than occasional containers being parked (dropped).

The DIFT (Detroit Intermodal Freight Terminal) plans from the mid 1990s had four options. Only the fourth (the do-nothing) option is in effect: the railroads are free to do anything they want to on their own original properties or any properties they might acquire without governmental action. The Michigan Supreme Court decision several years ago killed any condemnation of property, as private firms have no eminent-domain rights or privileges in Michigan.

So, CSX built its own intermodal at Livernois Yard by the Dix, Waterman, and Vernor intersection, and its truck freight traffic is nowhere what was originally planned or anticipated a decade and a half ago--not even close, even before the economy tanked. IOW, the Conrail Shared in Detroit has very little traffic of its own. Norfolk Southern, if it ever wanted to, could build its own intermodal facilities in the totally empty Livernois Yard area between Central and Lonyo. Instead, the Norfolk Southern is reported to be looking to dump much or all of its Michigan operations.

After their purchase of Detroit Shared Assets, several Conrail freight yards were gradually shuttered, starting very early after acquisition. CSX operates the only manned interlocking tower in these parts at Delray. That former overworked bottle neck now resembles a Maytag repair shop much of the time.

IOW, Detroit more and more is becoming a ghost town whose railroad traffic is getting light or is through traffic, primarily of the four major railroads here.