Pan Am MDOT Grant

[bostontrainguy]

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has awarded more than $2.7 million in grants to nine projects as part of its Industrial Rail Access Program to improve rail and freight access.

Pan Am Southern ($111,900) to increase efficiency in the handling of finished and recycled paper between mills in Maine and the Port of Boston. This will improve handling of 1,500 railcars annually.

Port of Boston? Like where?

[Hux]

And what does $112k buy ya? Any rail buried in a parking lot adjacent to water in Chelsea or Everett?

[johnpbarlow]

And how is Pan Am Southern involved with servicing Maine paper mills given PAS doesn't go any further east than CPF-312 at Littleton, MA? Is this money to be applied to Pan Am's transload warehouse at Ayer?

Also note that this MassDOT IRAP grant benefits other Pan Am customers:

Broco Oil Inc. ($500,000)

The project will help Broco Oil bring bio-diesel fuel oil into the state by creating a new siding and transload capacity in Haverhill. The result is expected to be 367 more railcars and 2,850 fewer truck trips annually. Broco is providing 40% of the project cost.

WT Terminal LLC ($500,000)

The project will allow a liquid asphalt facility in Deerfield to continue to grow by creating a new spur and increasing terminal capacity by 25%. WT expects an additional 300 railcars annually with the new spur, thereby reducing truck traffic. WT is providing 58% of the project cost.

JSB Industries ($270,000)

The project in Lawrence will build a rail spur at the Muffin Plant. The facility will handle an estimated 150 additional rail cars annually, reducing truck traffic and supporting the employment of an additional 10 people.

https://blog.mass.gov/transportation/ma ... ap-grants/

[troffey]

Equally relevant, PAS doesn't go anywhere near the Port of Boston...I don't think PAR has access to the Port anymore either, do they?

[bostontrainguy]

Yes in Everett where EImskip had a pier before they moved to Portland.

[troffey]

Are there any active customers? Also, it still doesn't make sense why PAS is the award recipient for traffic from Maine to Boston...

[bostontrainguy]

I don't think the pier is really used all that much anymore although it was actually recently constructed. I have no idea who paid for it but that would be interesting to find out. On Google Earth you can now see some small barges tied up to it but nothing big.

The rail line that runs by it is still active with a large scrap metal and cement operation nearby. It is the same line as the Chelsea Produce market that PAR serves now that CSX has pulled out of the area and doesn't run east of Framingham anymore on the old B&A.

I have always asked myself if anyone tried to keep Eimskip in Boston and if anyone even knew they were moving to Maine. In any case I believe that pier is the only active rail-served port facility that PAR can access in Boston at this time.

[690]

I've heard rumors about Mystic Wharf and some reconstruction of FX to allow that.

[troffey]

Thank you, Mr. Trainguy.

I thought the Mystic Wharf branch was some combination of OOS/abandoned/impassable?

[bostontrainguy]

It's not connected at this time. They probably should install an "OWLS" diamond and run a train down there once in a while to keep it active or else the NIMBYS will probably fight reactivation. They are building new housing right along the right-of-way very close to the tracks.

[gokeefe]

Well this is certainly an interesting development ...

[gokeefe]

Trying to understand why it makes so much sense to bypass Portland for this traffic ...

[KSmitty]

If you're talking about the Port of Portland, it doesn't fit into the plan at all. Eimskip is the only line to call on the port. Thats well and good if you want to send things to northern Europe. But if you're a Chinese based company, looking to send pulp home to mills in mainland China, putting your stuff on a slow boat to Europe really doesn't make much sense.

[690]

Also apparently there's a ship that goes from Boston to China in seven days. So... yeah.

[eustis22]

do you mean a ship sails every seven days? cause I don't think anything can make china from boston in only seven days