Bay Colony Millis Line

[craven]

Update Sat. 11 April 2015

The Spur is clear of any cars.

The 1701 in her nest, patiently waiting for work.

[craven]

Update Sat. 18 April 2015

Opening Week of the Season.

Two (2) Empties On the Spur by Island Road:

NAHX 93891
DPCX 328

The 1701 in her nest, with a smile .

[GP40MC1118]

Psst....strong possibility of the 1701 leaving the nest Tuesday...

D

[craven]

Update Sat. 25 April 2015

The Spur is clear of any cars.

CSX Hy-Rail inspecting the secondary just north of the switch

The 1701 in her nest, patiently waiting for work.

[craven]

Update Sat. 02 May 2015

The Spur is clear of any cars.

The 1701 in her nest, patiently waiting for work.

[craven]

Update Sat. 09 May 2015

The Spur is clear of any cars.

The 1701 in her nest, patiently waiting work.

[craven]

Update Sat. 16 May 2015

The Spur is clear of any cars.

The 1701 in her nest, patiently waiting work.

[jjoyce1]

My understanding is that this move only takes place (rail direct to Tresca) when Dragon runs out of barge capacity from Rockland to Boston. This includes barge downtime (not necessarily plant downtime).

Coming up on 9 years since the last recorded revenue move on the Dover Secondary....June 2006...will be up that way to walk the ROW this coming weekend!

JAJ

[Watchman318]

My understanding is that this move only takes place (rail direct to Tresca) when Dragon runs out of barge capacity from Rockland to Boston. This includes barge downtime (not necessarily plant downtime).

As I understand it, if the Dragon plant (finish mill, etc.) is down for any reason, they usually have some product stockpiled. I was told that if the barge is "broke," then shipping is usually by truck.

Some day maybe I'll find out if the NAHX cars ever go to Canada, or only down to MA. It could be that the CN/CNIS cars (I think they're still in use) just go to Windsor, QC, and the DPCX (ex-NYC "Flexi-Flo") cars could go to either destination, but I'm not sure on that. I'm pretty sure the DPCX "whalebelly" cars (GATX "Pressure-Slide") are only used for the shuttle to the barge, although I've seen them going to/coming from Brunswick (PAR interchange) in the past. Have those ever shown up in MA?

Seeing NAHX cars on their way down to Brunswick might mean something is headed your way, or I might be able to find out when a shipment is destined for Tresca, and pass along the info.

[jjoyce1]

My understanding is that this move only takes place (rail direct to Tresca) when Dragon runs out of barge capacity from Rockland to Boston. This includes barge downtime (not necessarily plant downtime).

As I understand it, if the Dragon plant (finish mill, etc.) is down for any reason, they usually have some product stockpiled. I was told that if the barge is "broke," then shipping is usually by truck.

Some day maybe I'll find out if the NAHX cars ever go to Canada, or only down to MA. It could be that the CN/CNIS cars (I think they're still in use) just go to Windsor, QC, and the DPCX (ex-NYC "Flexi-Flo") cars could go to either destination, but I'm not sure on that. I'm pretty sure the DPCX "whalebelly" cars (GATX "Pressure-Slide") are only used for the shuttle to the barge, although I've seen them going to/coming from Brunswick (PAR interchange) in the past. Have those ever shown up in MA?

Seeing NAHX cars on their way down to Brunswick might mean something is headed your way, or I might be able to find out when a shipment is destined for Tresca, and pass along the info.

Post some numbers and I will trace.

Yes typically a cement plant goes into kiln turnaround towards the middle to end of winter when shipping & storage silos are full of cement and clinker storage is also full. Finish mill can consume inventoried clinker while kiln is down (whereas clinker inventory would build while FM(s) are down for WTA). It's a balancing and optimization act based upon relative equipment line capacities and available storage, both cement & clinker, at the plant and in the network. From what I've heard in that market, Tresca taking rail at Millis is one of Dragon's best ways to move significant volume away from the barge lane. I am not sure on trucking capacity in that market either, but sometimes trucks are hard to come by too esp. for long hauls during the season.

JAJ

[fogg1703]

Slightly off topic, where does BS&G get their cement? The Coastal Cement site in South Boston or Lafarge in Charlestown maybe?

Slightly back on topic, anyone remember the cement transload at Tremont on the old BCLR in the 80's? Shortlived for sure but I believe it was for Highway Cement Block in Wareham.

I still find it mind boggling to think about the route these cement cars travel from Thomaston ME to Millis MA. Four maybe five states (depending on CSX vs PAS routing to Selkirk) and it is still a better option than trucking direct if barge capacity is strained.

[jjoyce1]

Slightly off topic, where does BS&G get their cement? The Coastal Cement site in South Boston or Lafarge in Charlestown maybe?

Slightly back on topic, anyone remember the cement transload at Tremont on the old BCLR in the 80's? Shortlived for sure but I believe it was for Highway Cement Block in Wareham.

I still find it mind boggling to think about the route these cement cars travel from Thomaston ME to Millis MA. Four maybe five states (depending on CSX vs PAS routing to Selkirk) and it is still a better option than trucking direct if barge capacity is strained.

BS&G -- not sure, but not Lafarge. Coastal = Dragon IIRC?

Let's do a quick back-of-envelope on relative rates. At 213 miles S. Thomaston to Millis, you might be looking at something like $35/metric tonne in trucking (something like $5/mt plus 14 cents per metric tonne mile). Rail...single line haul could be something like $25/mt ($18/mt plus 3 cents per tonne mile). You can see how rail wins above a certain distance threshold, once the "fixed cost" is covered. Even with ST-PAS-CSXT routing, rail is probably cheaper than truck, plus the cars sit in Millis with lading until Tresca wants to pull from them...vs. dispatching loads out of S. Thomaston, hours away, will you have silo space when the trucks finally arrive? Or conversely, will you have run out by then? Those cars are essentially extra local storage to cover the ebbs and flows of demand.

While we're at it, the same linear equation for barge? Maybe something like $10 bucks plus 1 cent per tonne mile. $12/mt barge leg plus rail to get it to Rockland, maybe $4/mt, so $16/mt all in. Barge into Boston by far the lowest delivered cost.

JAJ

[craven]

Update Sat. 23 May 2015

The Spur is clear of any cars.

The 1701 in her nest, patiently waiting work.

[craven]

Update Sat. 30 May 2015

Four (4) On the Spur by Island Road:

NAHX 94733
NAHX 94731 (Empty)
NAHX 93605 (Empty)
NAHX 94722 (Empty)


The 1701 in her nest beaming with pride.

[jjoyce1]

Update Sat. 30 May 2015

Four (4) On the Spur by Island Road:

NAHX 94733
NAHX 94731 (Empty)
NAHX 93605 (Empty)
NAHX 94722 (Empty)


The 1701 in her nest beaming with pride.

Thanks, they must still be loads in the system still, since CSXT is not letting me see anything about them..."not party to waybill". Once they're empty-released we should see the South Thomaston destination show up and we can watch them make their way back home.

JAJ