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  • Rumford Branch, RUPO / PORU

  • Guilford Rail System changed its name to Pan Am Railways in 2006. Discussion relating to the current operations of the Boston & Maine, the Maine Central, and the Springfield Terminal railroads (as well as the Delaware & Hudson while it was under Guilford control until 1988). Official site can be found here: PANAMRAILWAYS.COM.
Guilford Rail System changed its name to Pan Am Railways in 2006. Discussion relating to the current operations of the Boston & Maine, the Maine Central, and the Springfield Terminal railroads (as well as the Delaware & Hudson while it was under Guilford control until 1988). Official site can be found here: PANAMRAILWAYS.COM.

Moderator: MEC407

 #1365186  by gokeefe
 
F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:
gokeefe wrote:I think Verso is going to sell that mill to another paper company. This one is much bigger, and more modern than Bucksport. They've put a fair amount of money into paper making systems as well. I think it's competitive in a way many other mills were not.
Why, other than wishful thinking, would you trust in that belief?
Because I think that on a cash basis they can get more for Jay than they could Bucksport. I know people who work at Jay and they have been very consistent in saying that money has been put into the mill on a regular basis.
 #1365196  by newpylong
 
They could have gotten more for Bucksport if they actually open bid it - but they didn't want to for fear of competition.
 #1365199  by F-line to Dudley via Park
 
gokeefe wrote:Because I think that on a cash basis they can get more for Jay than they could Bucksport. I know people who work at Jay and they have been very consistent in saying that money has been put into the mill on a regular basis.
How do people who work at Jay know what hedge fund brokers in New York who've been in charge for 1 year plan to do with the mill? Did the people who worked at Bucksport consistently say about the exact same outfit: "Oh, no...the plant won't be sold operable. It'll be scrapped for all its material value at below-market cost to salt the earth from anyone else ever setting up shop. Everything invested in physical plant up to now will be totally for naught, and we're completely and absolutely screwed." I don't recall them having a good read on those motives. Bucksport ended up a complete blindside.


For the umpteenth time, this has nothing whatsoever to do with the view on-the-ground in Maine. Nothing. It has everything to do with the motives of who owns the shares and who makes the decisions from far, far away. Verso's decisions are being made by hedge fund managers at leveraged buyout firms, not paper industry managers. Square the view from within Maine to that of the managers of the Wall St. LBO's calling the shots--and what their endgame is for Verso's pending bankruptcy--or that speculation isn't backed by anything other than one's own personal wishful thinking.
 #1365205  by BM6569
 
From some of the workers I've talked to, they are expecting more layoffs after the 300 in cuts coming.
 #1365216  by KSmitty
 
That mill is doomed, unless someone seriously wants the mill, and has the CASH on hand to make it happen. To avoid anti-trust, they do have to put it to bid of sorts, but they can have a very short window, like with Bucksport. No doubt they will have a scrapper lined up, and put it on the market for a week or 2 hoping no one serious offers.
 #1365227  by F-line to Dudley via Park
 
If Verso pulls another intentional grounding, can the Rumford Branch survive with just wobbly Rumford mill a 44-mile trip out, that sheet metal business that relocated from Madison, and ??? (isn't there some other gnat-sized customer in Leeds, or am I double-counting the Madison refugee?)? They'd have to raise shipping rates on Rumford mill to cover costs of maintaining such a long and poor-condition branchline and running a long, time-consuming job for one unstable customer...wouldn't they?
 #1365230  by newpylong
 
Yes they would have to raise rates, but unless we are privy to those rates and what it costs to maintain the line it's anyone's guess.

My guess is they lose even more mill business and the line finally goes away.
 #1365251  by KSmitty
 
DeCosters (well its no longer DeCosters, but to anyone who was born and raised in south central Maine it always will be...) up around mile 10 on the branch. Pretty good customer, brings in chicken feed. Not uncommon to see around 20 cars up there with 0-10 coming in on any given day. I'd consider it larger than "knat sized" but its not a branch sustaining customer.

For the railroad, its very unfortunate that of the 2 mills on the branch that were to potentially be part of the big new Verso-New Page that it was the Rumford mill chosen. Would have been much more advantageous to the railroad if Rumford had stayed in the Verso fold and Jay had been sold to Catalyst. That way when Verso kills the next mill it would simply truncate the branch and the remaining mill wouldn't be murdered by increasing rates.
 #1393308  by NHV 669
 
Got bored yesterday, so after chasing SLR up north of Island Pond, I made the trip a few hours east over to the Rumford area. Interesting little town, similar to Berlin with the surroundings and the Mill. Cut up through Veterans St., plenty of cars in the yard, with 306 parked on switching duties. Followed the line down through Jay/Livermore Falls, and just as I was passing the old mill there, caught the end of RUPO rumbling down the branch. Headed down to River Rd., and set up, capturing the following at 2:56:


https://youtu.be/IJmnqEqPsIk

You can't see it in the video, but the track is bouncing up and down as the train rolls through, not to mention quite a fair amount of loose/poorly fastened spikes. Continued down through towards Leeds, and stopped at Bog Rd./Curtis Corners to capture the following at 3:51:

https://youtu.be/JY6ql49I9gY

The joints on these rails were equally bad, and there was quite a bit of rocking as well. There were a couple boxes that I thought might actually roll down the bank, but having read this forum for almost 2 1/2 years, I can rest assured that all is normal for PAR and there's nothing to worry about.
 #1438246  by MEC407
 
From the Portland Press Herald:
Portland Press Herald wrote:Verso Corp. announced Wednesday that it would “permanently shut down the No. 3 paper machine and associated equipment” at its Androscoggin mill in Jay, resulting in the elimination of 120 jobs there.

The company had previously said in November it would temporarily idle the key papermaking machine because of declining customer demand and “more coated paper capacity than could be filled.”
. . .
The company’s announcement in November sent shock waves through the town of about 5,000 people, highlighting yet another struggling Maine mill on the edge with hundreds of jobs on the line. The mill had already been reeling from 300 layoffs a year before.

Verso’s struggles are among a string of closures and layoffs that has plagued Maine’s paper industry in recent years. Five mills have closed in the last two years — including the Madison Paper mill in May 2016, putting more than 200 people out of work — and more than 2,300 workers have lost their jobs since 2011 as the industry reels from declining global demand for paper.
Read the rest of the article at: http://www.pressherald.com/2017/07/19/j ... -120-jobs/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1438530  by Cosakita18
 
As Jay struggles, Rumford eyes expansion

http://bangordailynews.com/2017/07/21/b ... t-62-jobs/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The company said the project would allow it to take advantage of a growing market for the tissue paper, and even has a “major paper merchant” lined up to buy all that the new machine can produce. Catalyst told state investors the tissue paper enterprise will be able to support 62 full-time jobs, worth $79 million in annual payroll and benefits.
 #1449695  by MEC407
 
Video by Derek Carpine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG_Fl5z6deM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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