I have heard rumors that the Rumford and Riley mills are gping to be serviced by someone else. The mills own the tracks, so instead of paying Pan Am to switch, they are going to pay someone else. Could be NBSR.. And maybe they will switch Old Town too.. Pan Am will still tun the RUPO and PORU trains..
From what I understand, the mills are looking for bids. Pan Am will be putting in bids, but it's very possible they won't win...Nothing changing till July 1 at the earliest.
Wonder if they regret selling the yard in Rumford? If they hadn't done that they'd have a monopoly on the switching contract.
Old Town is going to be switched "in house" by ND with a trackmobile. Volumes at startup will not necessitate a dedicated switch crew. Supposedly looking at putting track 1 1/2 back in service through the complex to the yard so they could make the move isolated from the main with the trackmobile. If they do all they are talking about to the mill a switch crew could very well be needed, and who gets the contract will likely be dependent on whether Pan Am sells the yard to ND or if they retain ownership. If they sell it, I'd imagine it would go to bid, but if Pan Am still owns it it would be pretty hard to have a contractor switch the facility.