"Up North" Gawking (District 1 sightings)

[A215]

They come in from both the D&H (Saratoga) and from one of the interchanges in Maine when I worked there. They were quite common though Old Town and Lincoln got the majority. Oddly this placard class does not require burying, you can put them on the headpin.

Sodium Chlorate. All of the mills use it, it was mostly interchanged at Danville with the SLR but more recently moved to CMQ due to some sort of bridge work on the SLR. A class 9 hazmat. All class 9's can ride headpin, things like "hot" (temperature).

[690]

Sodium Chlorate is actually Class 5.1 (an oxidizer).

[NHV 669]

Thanks, been wondering what these were.... used to be a couple of them full/empty on SLR trains, every time I caught them.

[NHV 669]

Spotted a 12 axle DODX flatcar going east on Friday. Anyone know where it went? Maybe reblocked in Portland for PNSY?

Indeed, as it crossed the new bridge at 12:20 today, as reported in the Portsmouth thread.

[gokeefe]

65 car PORU. Virtually all of it pulp and paper traffic.

[bubbytrains]

I bet that NADX box is a load of talc.

[newpylong]

Not sure why all of their videos on the branch are taken at the slowest point! It's like watching paint dry.

[690]

The kid that takes the videos lives right there, that’s why the videos are always right around that same area.

[backroadrails]

I just watched a video on Pleasant River Lumber on YouTube, and in it they talked about and showed a few clips of the stud mill in Enfield which they said they recently purchased. Could this be a possible shipper in the near future? I know the crane at Old Town went down that way this week, and that the siding has been reportedly cleared of brush.

[roberttosh]

Is that location directly rail served?

[690]

It used to be, I haven't been up there in a while, but iirc the switch was removed, while the rest of the siding remained intact.

[KSmitty]

Switch is gone, as is the spur.

West end of Enfield Siding has also been removed, and the siding is OOS from roughly 1500' west of the east switch to the west end. Big washout, or so it looks from Hemmet Rd. anyway.

If they wanted service, which they aren't going to get right now because NM-1 would have to travel the 25 miles each way to switch them out and have no way of running around...it would have to serviced by westbound trains making essentially a switch back move, or a new road bed for a new alignment spur could be graded of the main elsewhere, but either option seems unlikely.

I believe the old "Howland Branch" is still intact to the Prentiss and Carlisle facility on the other side of Hemmet Rd from Pleasant River, except the switch.

[690]

Stud Mill is actually in Costigan, but like I said, switch is gone, but tracks are still there. iirc last time there was a move in there was in the early 2000s when they were unloading pipes or poles there. Westbounds could set them in, eastbounds would have to fly them in.

[gokeefe]

Interesting that Pleasant River Lumber indicates that they chose this site specifically due to rail access.

[backroadrails]

I took at ride by OT today and the place looks like a ghost town. By the looks the station no longer has power, and I have heard that NBSR is now servicing the chipper at Mattawamkeg, and while making a delivery for the construction going on at the mill, I found out that Pan Am is reportedly not going to serve the mill, and by the sounds a outside contractor will be servicing the mill. I know someone on the Pan Am Railfans group on Facebook was saying something about NBSR either buying or leasing the line. I am not sure if it is true, but it is looking like it. If anyone has better information it would be appreciated.