Railroad Forums 

  • Paper from Maine to Alabama

  • 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

 #1453605  by JB283
 
Not sure if this is the right place for my question but here it is.

Georgia Pacific in Huntsville AL receives Boxcars of inbound rolls of a paper product. They are on the Norfolk Southern Memphis East main between Memphis TN and Chattanooga TN. If they was to receive inbound products from a Maine Mill on Pan Am, say Rumford. Would the Georgia Pacific facility contact NS for an empty NS Boxcar to be sent to Pan Am to be loaded or would they contact Pan Am for an empty PAR Boxcar to be loaded in Rumford and sent to Huntsville?
 #1453673  by newpylong
 
They would talk to the carrier that directly serves them - NS.
 #1453678  by Cowford
 
Neither. The mill in Rumford would coordinate the movement and order the car from PAR.
 #1453680  by newpylong
 
Spoke to an agent on ST. We are both wrong, but you are more correct than I am. If the customer sources the product from Maine they will speak to the originating source (Rumford) and Rumford would order the empty to be loaded.
 #1453692  by JB283
 
Thank you for the info. Although I've never seen a PAR box there, I find it interesting to know how things work. Usually I see GATX or ATN or ATW and sometimes the yellow Railbox cars there.
 #1453868  by Cowford
 
Newpylong, just curious... how is my answer wrong, albeit "less wrong"?

JB283, I would have no idea from where the Huntsville plant sources paper, but a paper load's origin is not always going to be clear-cut based on car marks/ownership. Many boxcars are operated in shared pools, so railroad A may be loading railroad B's cars. Some "railroad" marks are that of leasing companies. Also, some railroads lease equipment (without changing the marks) and there are free-runners out there.
 #1453870  by JB283
 
I understand that cars get leased out to different roads. I'm not sure where exactly they getbtge products either as I was there the other day and there was 1 IANR and 1 GATX Boxcar behind the building.
 #1453932  by newpylong
 
Cowford wrote:Newpylong, just curious... how is my answer wrong, albeit "less wrong"?

JB283, I would have no idea from where the Huntsville plant sources paper, but a paper load's origin is not always going to be clear-cut based on car marks/ownership. Many boxcars are operated in shared pools, so railroad A may be loading railroad B's cars. Some "railroad" marks are that of leasing companies. Also, some railroads lease equipment (without changing the marks) and there are free-runners out there.
How is a mill in Rumford going to know they need to send a car to Alabama without getting notified by said customer?

So you weren't wrong, just a missing first step. My answer was entirely wrong as the terminating carrier won't get notified until they get advanced interchange notification.
 #1453974  by Cowford
 
The customer first placing an order is stating the obvious, no? And it's not necessarily step one, as cars needed at a mill can be ordered in aggregate and prior to an order being placed.

When depending on railroad-supplied equipment, mills provide railroads aggregated car orders on a rolling basis up to a month (or more) in advance based on sales forecasts, production schedules, existing or anticipated orders, etc. The shipper will take into account the particular requirements of anticipated shipments, e.g., loads to XYZ Co. require a low-roof car; otherwise, it's "we need X number of Y type cars." The orders placed are not always exactly accurate (railroads will charge a penalty for cars "ordered and not loaded"), and the fulfillment doesn't always match the order (in quantity or type), but good ongoing communication between railroad and shipper smooths out a lot of issues.
 #1454026  by newpylong
 
I don't feel it was obvious because to me he was seeking in depth explanation of the process from the start, which includes locating the product.

I was just a railroader, my knowledge of the routing just stems from waybills and discussing the work with agents and clerks. Plenty to learn even for me.
 #1454868  by MissTheMEC
 
Around 35 years ago or thereabouts a lot of paper from Rumford travelled in Minnesota, Dakota and Western boxcars that were stencilled "When empty return to Rumford ME" which at first sight seemed rather odd.

This was when Boise Cascade owned both a mill in Rumford and the MD&W. The boxcars were part of that huge fleet of new boxcars referred to by railfans at any rate as Incentive Per Diem cars. I don't know how many were assigned to service the mill in Rumford or where they went but they were a distinctive sight at Rigby. They were green with white doors and a big Boise Cascade logo.
 #1456812  by Bulkheadflat
 
I remember those MDW boxes being here in Maine, and also the ADN (Ashly, Drew & Northern) boxes that used to go to the GP mill in Woodland all the time. ADN was based in Arkansas, but I think maybe owned by GP, so they would probably pool the cars between their various facilities.
On another note, who remembers the old Rock Island boxcars with the big black R on the right side, that were here stenciled BM for a while?