Naugatuck Intermodal Yard - Pan Am Southern PAS / Poland Spring

[J.D. Lang]

It's anyones guess what CSX's strategy will be in the coming year. On the one hand they may want to keep the access barriers in place for Cedar Hill to protect W. Springfield intermodel, Then on the other hand they may not even care about W. Springfield or New England in general for that matter if they can sell out (cash in some of their assests for the short term stockholder gain). It will interesting to see what comes to pass. I would think that PAS would want to get an intermodal terminal in CT. not just for PS. but intermodal in general. Its all far enough away from Ayer and would reach new markets. Cedar Hill would probably be the best place but if environmental concerns should somehow be overcome then Naugatuck would be a good alterative. Just my $.02 worth.

J. Lang

[johnpbarlow]

Bumping thread with news of a baby step forward in building a PAS-served Port of Naugatuck:

https://www.mycitizensnews.com/news/201 ... t-project/

Excerpt:

...The Port of Naugatuck is a proposed inland port and intermodal transportation hub on the mostly-vacant 86.5 acre parcel of land along Elm Street that is owned by Lanxess, the successor of Chemtura Corp. The port would be used to transport consumer goods for warehousing and distribution. It would also allow international goods to go through customs in the borough.

The proposed site of the port sits along the Pan Am Railways line that stretches from southern Connecticut to Canada....

[gokeefe]

Good sign to see this project continuing to move forward.

[BostonUrbEx]

The proposed site of the port sits along the Pan Am Railways line that stretches from southern Connecticut to Canada....

Is this wording intentional? Is someone trying to push a service to/from Saint John? It is a bit of a stretch to say Pan Am goes to Canada, unless we're going to reach and say they do have those run-through agreements with NBSR, just in case...

[johnpbarlow]

The proposed site of the port sits along the Pan Am Railways line that stretches from southern Connecticut to Canada....

Is this wording intentional? Is someone trying to push a service to/from Saint John? It is a bit of a stretch to say Pan Am goes to Canada, unless we're going to reach and say they do have those run-through agreements with NBSR, just in case...

When one accesses the "About" page of Pan Am's corporate web site, the first sentence one sees is:

"Pan Am Railways is North America's largest regional railroad system. PAR's routes stretch from Saint John, New Brunswick to New York's Capital District."

So I'm guessing the news report adapted Pan Am's self description.
http://www.panamrailways.com/who-we-are/

A bit OT, here's the last sentence on Pan Am's "About" page:

"Today the railroad is more vibrant than ever, succeeding in a region where many rail operators have failed, by making sound investments and a focus on the long term."

While New England is clearly a region where traffic has been in long term decline and unkind to RRs, I'm not sure what rail operators have failed other than St Johnsbury & Lamoille County. Certainly a lot of ex-NH, ex-B&M, ex-MEC lines have been ripped up. But P&W, NECR, SLA, Pioneer Valley, Housatonic, G&U, CMQ, NBS/EM, have survived. And its debatable if Pan Am ownership has made sound investments (only if other people's $ are used) and has a focus on the long term.

[gokeefe]

I think they are referring to the numerous bankruptcies over the years. BM, NH, BAR (CDAC) and others all come to mind.

[newpylong]

Sound investments all right, using everyone else's coin lol. Hard to deny them that.

[Engineer Spike]

What CSX does with Cedar Hill is still a big what if. Time will tell whether all of Hunter’s plans are followed, since times have changed. The economy is in an upswing now, not that the bubble won’t eventually pop. I also wonder whether there will be limits on access to Naugatuck, based on MNCR schedules.

If I recall, the whole deal was started by the town, which might be a way to get the industrial lands back on the tax rolls. My opinion is that PAS/Poland Spring might better off looking at a spot in Waterbury, where Metro North doesn’t come into play. What about the lower yard, where Porta Nova was? How about the old Highland south/west of Bank Street Junction? With the way the city is like Germany after the war, there has to be some available industrial land available. How far up the Naugatuck line is the split with the museum? Doesn’t PAS still have access to the old Watertown Branch, to access Albert Brothers scrapyard?

[J.D. Lang]

What CSX does with Cedar Hill is still a big what if. Time will tell whether all of Hunter’s plans are followed, since times have changed. The economy is in an upswing now, not that the bubble won’t eventually pop. I also wonder whether there will be limits on access to Naugatuck, based on MNCR schedules.

That is a big if. They do have transload facilities down there but really little on line business. They may want to keep it as a paper barrier in order to keep PAS from competing with Springfield's Intermodel. To me that would be the best choice for PAS to get into Southern NE if CSX wanted to unload it. It's far enough from Ayer (which has no more room) to make sense.

My opinion is that PAS/Poland Spring might better off looking at a spot in Waterbury, where Metro North doesn’t come into play. What about the lower yard, where Porta Nova was? How about the old Highland south/west of Bank Street Junction? With the way the city is like Germany after the war, there has to be some available industrial land available. How far up the Naugatuck line is the split with the museum? Doesn’t PAS still have access to the old Watertown Branch, to access Albert Brothers scrapyard?

It would be nice if they used the old lower yard but the city is currently paying big bucks for consultants and designers to completely redo the Freight ST, Bank St. areas by re-purposing some of the old factory buildings and new construction to turn the area into a residential and cultural footprint plus the new mixmaster has to go somewhere. The old Watertown Branch is just a spur into Albert Bros. No room there.

I think the old Uniroyal site would work out from a RR. IM standpoint but the problem there is the residential neighborhood butts right up to the property. Tough NIMBY fight there where as that should not be a problem at Cedar Hill.

J. Lang

[ABP4014]

Was not aware of the city of Waterbury planning on taking these yard facilities. PAS really needs to repair a few tracks in the upper yard to better support current operations.

Other things to consider @ Waterbury is Access to I-84. while ramps are available in the area they are not the easiest to get to requiring travel on city streets to get there.

No real room immediately comes to mind along the NAUGY for such facility either.

[Engineer Spike]

The question was raised about CSX intermodal in W. Springfield. Does Guilford still have land available up where their yard was, or was this included in the sale of the Conn River, to the Commonwealth? If it went in the sale, a lease might be doable, if any land is still available.

[J.D. Lang]

Another possibility would be Plainville CT. I know they tried a small operation with a local trucking company that didn't seem to pan out but it's in a good location with easy access to 72/84 with plenty of space to set up operations. There are a lot of consumers in southern and western CT. that make for a large market and if you can steel wheel it closer to that market you could divert some traffic off of congested interstates in the state. Also it's a fast iron highway from ED to Berlin now.

J. Lang

[BM6569]

"The Board of Selectmen has approved a purchase-option agreement on 150 acres of town-owned land off Route 108 to allow Poland Spring to look into the feasibility of establishing its fourth bottling plant here.

Town Manager Linda-Jean Briggs said, the option agreement for the first year is $25,000, which will eventually go toward the purchase price of $400,000."

http://www.sunjournal.com/poland-spring ... ling-site/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[johnpbarlow]

Q: the article refers to "Poland Spring’s loading station, located near the Rumford Point-Hanover town line." Is this a facility for loading Poland Springs tank trucks to transport water to a bottling plant located elsewhere?

[MRY]

Yes, I would believe that to be true, avoids truck traffic at the well site - hence the reason for the 3 mile long pipeline (all $tainle$$ $teel?). I was told by someone in Fryeburg ME that a lot of the water is (tank) trucked directly to NJ where it is used in beverage making. Sounds strange - I don't recall any beverages touting they are made with Poland Spring water.