Railroad Forums 

  • Portsmouth Branch Activity

  • 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

 #1512445  by Jonathan603
 
DO-1 delivered 12 gondolas filled with ties plus one empty to the yard today. Does anyone know if they are replacing ties on the Newington branch or maybe past Patterson Lane?
 #1512623  by artman
 
PanAm did a lot of work on the branch to keep it at Class I standards when Sea-3 was proposing their expansion. The plan was always to bring it up to Class II once the expansion was complete and trains were moving. It is probably part of that
 #1512721  by 690
 
Not unless someone else pays for it! At any rate, the ties are supposed to be for the entire branch, something like 10000 of them. They've also got the used tie gons/hoppers lined up to go down there for what comes out of the ground.
 #1512727  by 690
 
Those are for the siding, new welded rail was dropped this spring.
 #1512756  by artman
 
newpylong wrote: Mon Jul 01, 2019 7:06 pm Ignoring what was said to appease the nimbys, that branch will never be Class II.
Possibly, but I think they will do it

Portsmouth Herald on the matter:

Jul 15, 2014 -
Scarano said the railroad company has already installed 5,000 new rails on the line that runs from Newington through the city of Portsmouth as part of a commitment they made to the town of Newington.

If the decision is not overturned, Pan Am would upgrade its tracks from Class 1 to Class 2 status, allowing them to move the cars at speeds up to 25 miles per hour. When that happens, Pan Am would add 5,000 more new ties.
From Portsmouth City Council Minutes:

Jul 14, 2014 -
Assistant Mayor Splaine asked about the speed limit requirements and how many additional propane cars will be allowed if the track is upgraded to Class II. Ms. Scarano stated Class I is 10 mph and Class II is up to 25 mph. She stated that currently there are 6 cars and it can go
up to 16 with the upgrade.

Councilor Shaheen asked when the quote of 2-3,000 cars a year which class is that referring to. Ms. Scarano clarified that they do not need the upgrade to Class II to expand and can go up to 3-4 times a day with 75 cars but the upgrade is needed for the cooling facility holdingtank. She stated if the expansion is approved they will upgrade to Class II per their commitment with the Town of Newington.
NHPR:

Nov 4, 2015 -
According to Pan Am spokesperson Cynthia Scarano, the railroad has invested close to $1 million to upgrade the railroad tracks above the class required for the project. That upgrade will continue, she says, if the project gets the green light.
 #1512885  by arthur d.
 
Crossings in the city were supposed to be rebuilt last year. Maybe that's PAR-speak for this year.
 #1512887  by artman
 
Two were rebuilt last year. Green Street and Barberry Lane. WBBX Lane was closed off. Market Street will be done next year when Portsmouth finished the upgrades along that road
Last edited by MEC407 on Thu Jul 04, 2019 10:14 am, edited 1 time in total. Reason: unnecessary quoting
 #1512905  by Jonathan603
 
Market Street crossing had some issues on June 25th reported in the Portsmouth police log:

“4:18 p.m.: Notified railroad company that someone said lights and gates did not activate when a train passed over Market Street.”

I know why they didn’t see any gates activate... :-)
  • 1
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 110