Hunter Harrison at CSX

[Gilbert B Norman]

Hold your hat for this one; look who comes in at 200 on this Top 250 Pop Chart:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-most-e ... 1512482887" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

To save you the time for searching (print edition comes in handy for that, but then who else but me reads papers that way around here?), Yäger is the only "pure" railroad on the list as who knows how much BNSF contributes to Warren's 101st rank?

[ccutler]

Such lists are usually obsequious and self-congratulatory in nature.

[MattW]

Alphabet Route, Mr. Ex-Con? Now there's a "blast from the past".

Sometime during the '50's TRAINS had an article about the route and how all the railroads coordinated to make it work.

Mr. MattW, the Georgia Railroad was absorbed into the CSX system. I'm not sure to what extent Yäger, or for that matter his predecessors, have downgraded the "Silver Comet" Hamlet-Atlanta (Atl-Bham is a bicycle trail within GA). He may still need GA for an efficient handling of East Coast Atlanta traffic interchanged with NS at Augusta.

Mr. MMI, from looking at the CSX map, Fitzgerald is on a route connecting WayX and Atlanta. That means if Northeast-Atlanta traffic is anything to Yäger, it must be routed south to WayX then North to Atlanta.

Doesn't sound like "Precision Railroading" to me.

So right now the Georgia road only carries two through trains, Q125/126, Memphis-Nashville-Atlanta-Savannah Intermodals. There are mixed freight turns from Atlanta to Lithonia and Augusta to Lithonia. There are also the occasional military, rock, and coal trains.

As for the Hamlet-Atlanta line (Abbeville line), it still seems to be going strong. It's single track with passing sidings, but CTC all the way into South Carolina as far as I know. So unless they do downgrade the Abbeville line, it's perfectly capable of handling NE-Atlanta traffic. Unfortunately for the Georgia road, the only new destination it would be potentially advantageous for is Charleston.

[mmi16]

Mr. MMI, from looking at the CSX map, Fitzgerald is on a route connecting WayX and Atlanta. That means if Northeast-Atlanta traffic is anything to Yäger, it must be routed south to WayX then North to Atlanta.

Doesn't sound like "Precision Railroading" to me.

NE traffic to Atlanta operate from Hamlet to Atlanta over the Abbeville and Monroe Subs. The Georgia Sub was the overflow route from Atlanta to Jacksonville via Augusta and Savannah.

The normal route between Nashville and Atlanta is via Chattanooga; the overflow route is via Birmingham and Lagrange. Pre EHH routings of specific trains at specific times depended on the operational condition of the sub divisions involved in the routes. Effective network management uses all the routings that the network has available - consistent with Clearance Restrictions, Tonnage ratings and crew availability. Focusing only on the primary routes can easily lead to gridlocked congestion.

[Gilbert B Norman]

Mr. MMI, your insight as to how CSX handles it's traffic in the Southeast region is very informative to me. Of course, Yäger may have better ideas.

I noted earlier in this discussion how even before Snowman, it seemed as if the entire SAL was something to be chopped up. It would appear that Abbeville and Monroe Subs that comprise the SAL "Silver Comet" route is going to be all that is left of the SAL away from Florida.

Bet you are glad to be retired.

[Dick H]

From FloridaPolitics.com
Arrangement’ between CSX, 4th circuit lawyers on blocked railroad crossings

http://floridapolitics.com/archives/251 ... ng-tickets" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[gokeefe]

From FloridaPolitics.com
Arrangement’ between CSX, 4th circuit lawyers on blocked railroad crossings

http://floridapolitics.com/archives/251 ... ng-tickets" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I could see this becoming fodder at the Surface Transportation Board. If you are going to claim federal pre-emption then I suppose one should be prepared to deal with a federal regulator. One could pretty easily argue that CSX is impeding interstate commerce if any of the crossings they are blocking are major highways.

[KevinD]

CSX Announces Medical Leave of CEO E. Hunter Harrison

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/csx-anno ... 09794.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Gilbert B Norman]

Anyone care to sign up to hear the conference call set to begin in a half hour from now?

Anyone about to go and "short" their long positions with options (gee, wonder why this call occurs before the markets open)?

disclaimer: author no longer holds any position CSX; author further does not hold any licensure to act as an investment advisor.

[s4ny]

CSX shares down 10% in pre-market. Is HH really that good?

Is any US railroad worth 20X the 2018 earnings estimate?

[Gilbert B Norman]

For those who can stand "the heat in the kitchen", you would have picked up "a few $$$" this morning being "naked short".

Not I.

[mmi16]

I feature EHH & Mantle Ridge have done Larceny by Trick. Only the 7% of the stockholders that voted against EHH's $84M 'signing bonus' were smart enough to see through hiring a invalid.

[Gilbert B Norman]

This Journal column suggests it's time to call your broker:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/csxs-first- ... 1513366319" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fair Use:

Even if Hunter Harrison wasn’t struggling with health problems, the value that investors put on his ability to turn around CSX was overly optimistic. Now, it looks irrational.

Despite his reassurances earlier this year, the 73-year-old’s medical issues seem to have caught up with him, forcing a leave of absence from the railroad. Investors have been willing to suspend disbelief and attach some truly gaudy numbers to Mr. Harrison.

That is looking iffy following Friday’s announcement, and CSX shares promptly lost $4 billion in market value as of early afternoon. Since May 17, when The Wall Street Journal reported on concerns over Mr. Harrison’s health, the share prices of three close North American competitors have outperformed CSX by 12 percentage points.

The market may be doing just that. While Mr. Harrison’s “Precision Scheduled Railroading” yielded significant improvements at three smaller railroads where he previously worked, the surge in CSX’s value was unrealistic for two reasons. One is that it wasn’t all that inefficient based on its operating ratio versus peers. The other is that the nature of its sprawling 21,000-mile network made Mr. Harrison’s changes less effective and more disruptive.

Big delays led the Surface Transportation Board to contact the company this summer over what it called widespread degradation of service. A listening session held by the transportation board in October to address customer gripes was even more cause for alarm. Mr. Harrison looked haggard based on photos from the event and was hooked up to an oxygen tank, and he gave some rambling responses.

Shareholders can be forgiven for letting off some steam.

[CPSmith]

WSJ has just reported HH passed away today, two days after taking a medical leave of absence. He was 73.

[Wayside]

PS: I posted this before the news of his death above this. My condolences to the family.