Changes probably in store for Sayre.

Interesting things possibly in the works for Sayre!
see here:

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 28&t=55770

Normally I wouldnt spread rumours..
but this one has been rumbling among NS employees for awhile..
so I think its clearly something more than mere railfan speculation..

something is clearly in the works for Sayre..
thats certain..
the only "rumour" portion is what exactly is in the works..

Scot

This was just posted on the PA forum:

johnpbarlow wrote:Here's the URL to the STB filing for Lehigh Railway, a non-carrier entity headquartered at the same location as the Owego and Harford Railway in Owego, NY, to lease and operate NS' ex-LV main between Athens and Mehoopany, PA. LRWY will have rights into Sayre for interchange with NS. It also looks like LRWY could interchange with RBMN at Mehoopany.

http://www.stb.dot.gov/filings/all.nsf/ ... 223871.PDF

Here's a 2nd part of the filing with more details:

http://www.stb.dot.gov/filings/all.nsf/ ... 223872.PDF

Looks like a 10 year lease term with no option to buy. Track to be maintained for Class III 25mph operation with < 10% slow ordered. Line currently is handling 2,080 carloads per year on average. There is confusing language re: NS & D&H and the Southern Tier haulage agreement and its potential impact on the lease. I think there's even a suggestion that LRWY gets $300 lease credits for handling overhead NS traffic that doesn't terminate between Athens and Mehoopany or on the The Monroeton Shippers' Lifeline.

I was interested to see "between Athens and Mehoopany, PA."..
"athens"..not sayre..
which confirms my suspicion that NS will basically keep the entire Sayre yard, and the interchange between this new railroad and NS will be right around the Sayre passenger station, or just to the south (RR east) of it...probably the small yard just to the south of the Packer ave bridge..

Scot

A couple of questions. Does anyone know the NS shippers/receivers between Sayre and Mehoopany and their carload count? With respect to P&G in Mehoopany, what railroad has the biggest share of that business? When the LV was operating, I heard that they maintained a switcher at the P&G plant full time to handle the traffic.