Are crew shortages this Bad?

No chance Vermont buys the route with the tunnel.
I sincerely hope that you are unduly pessimistic about the future of the Fitchburg. I’m optimistic that it has a future once NS emerges on the other side of from its psr transformation

GTIKING wrote: ↑Sun Jan 02, 2022 11:34 am Cry baby VRS needs to take PAS Hoosick West. PAS' days are numbered, not enough traffic for anyone to operate as a through route. Heck it's not even listed on the DODs list as a viable corridor. Too many things going against them, 200 miles of broken down bare bones ROW, connection to nowhere at Ayer, and no modern facilities along the line to handle any sort of major traffic. It should be hacked up between Mass Dot and VRS.

Things that are not rooted in reality are best left on Facebook.

Sigh.

Well lets look at some fast facts.

CSX B&A
Well groomed FAST main ✔
Entire route double stack cleared ✔
Logistic/Intemodal facilities ✔
Contemporary TCS system ✔
Fast travel time ✔
High tonnage Daily ✔

Pan Am Southern

Where's their locomotives??
Neglected physical plant
Slow travel speed
Bad bridges *many drifting*
Unstable Hoosac Tunnel
No contemporary I.M facilities
They don't even own a class yard
* Mass owns EDFLD*
Dependent on another railroad to reach the outside world
4 trains a day sporadic in size. Where's the tonnage??

Don't forget Mellon has the opportunity to bankrupt PAS if this CSX sale stalls too long. It Will be the D&H 2.0 reboot. NS has no opposition, clearly as they want to run their trains over the better B&A. So the railroad gets carved up. Mass Dot is hell bent on passenger service so they'll go out to Greenfield. They already own EDFLD. Sold in the 60s. They CAN'T go further west because it becomes the V&M which Systems DOES NOT fully own. Other stock holders are still alive and well. You can thank B&M for that booboo. So VRS should stop their crocodile tears and pick up Hoosick west for their CP connection. Remember CP wants to shut down the Green Mountain gateway as it's too slow.

This is a thread about crew shortages. Not some hypothetical fairyland where a railroad is going to be divvied up piecemeal.

PAS moves a tremendous amount of tonnage. They cannot even come close to handling the potential that their customers want to move by rail. This is why many of us are floored at NS's lack of interest in nurturing their one time pet project. But make no mistake, someone at some point (whether it's GWI as the operator, them as part owner when CSX sells, or someone else) is going to see the potential and take advantage of it.

It will never again be a major thru route post sale, but it isn't one today. What is is a railroad with a solid customer base and excellent connections to all major eastern Class Is and other regionals.

This is a thread about crew shortages. Not some hypothetical fairyland where a railroad is going to be divvied up piecemeal.

PAS moves a tremendous amount of tonnage. They cannot even come close to handling the potential that their customers want to move by rail. This is why many of us are floored at NS's lack of interest in nurturing their one time pet project. But make no mistake, someone at some point (whether it's GWI as the operator, them as part owner when CSX sells, or someone else) is going to see the potential and take advantage of it.

It will never again be a major thru route post sale, but it isn't one today. What is is a railroad with a solid customer base and excellent connections to all major eastern Class Is and other regionals.

Your right, I realize this is a thread about something different, but this is the most hopeful thing I have heard since this whole acquisition thing started. I have been very worried that the B&M mainline west would not be viable in the long term, which is really what I am most interested in (not for railroads-as-a-business reasons, but because I like seeing trains). I hope that your assessment is correct.