CSX Acquisition of Pan Am Railways

The LPG terminal on Commercial Street sold their property to the state, so the state could develop the IMT. They weren't driven away by PAR. Had the IMT development not happened, the LPG terminal would likely still be there.

They ultimately relocated to someplace else that has rail service. Not sure where.

MEC407 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2020 7:54 am The LPG terminal on Commercial Street sold their property to the state, so the state could develop the IMT. They weren't driven away by PAR. Had the IMT development not happened, the LPG terminal would likely still be there.

They ultimately relocated to someplace else that has rail service. Not sure where.

If I'm not mistaken they're transloading at the southern end of Rigby near the Turners Island spur.

Again going back to the IMT, the proposed Cold Storage facility still plans to break ground before years end. The plan as is doesn't include a direct rail spur for refers, but development team plans to utilize the adjacent IM pad "based on the needs of our customers" so...maybe some growth potential there.

I'm not sure if that's the same LPG company. I do know about the transload you're referring to but I was told that's a different company. I'll double check today.

Are those two places still getting cars that is connected directly to Rigby, geographical east side. Closer to the old turntable. Or did they lose them?

Gilbert B Norman wrote:Now with Halifax having capacity to handle a vessel that size, is that telling the other Ports in the region - Portland, Searsport, Saint John - to "stay out of the big kids swimming pool" or to "get ready to jump in"?

Worth noting Mr. Norman that opportunity for some is adversity for others. Big ships taking up large quantities of berthing space and port time also mean Halifax may be less accommodating to smaller ships. Might prompt some carriers to seek "friendlier harbors". If overall trade volumes continue to grow (even just incrementally) that ultimately means there has to be more port space. On the East Coast the changes to trade flows and the new Panama Canal sizes also appear to indicate dispropotionate gains for the Atlantic Seaboard.

Portland is fundamentally "not competitive" in many ways however this only remains true to the extent that other better situated ports are still available at rates that make economic sense.



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A photo of a Canadian National marker allegedly captured on the tail of EDPO of 9/14/20 was posted on the Pan Am Railfans FaceBook page on 9/14/20 stimulating commentary but NO animated speculation.

And as an marginally related aside, power for POED derailed on Gardner yard track yesterday as it was making a P&W pick-up. Wonder if the new owner of that stretch of Pan Am (Southern) will need Gardner yard for P&W interchange?

Yes that would remain it would have to in nearly all scenarios outside of a GWI purchase, which isn't going to happen

The marker means nothing it probably came in off CSXT at Rotterdam who got it from CN. Funny what riles people up.

George, what would it take to get Portland competitive? Is it a question of geography or is it something that money could fix if the winds shifted?

My personal take on this is that a lot of potential for Portland's Western waterfront was squandered on the new Sprague boat yard. A Westward expansion of the IMT or even an improved breakbulk terminal would have allowed much larger ships and opened up a lot more opportunities than currently possible at the existing berths.

The Fore River and Casco Bay Bridge can actually accommodate panamax sized vessels fairly easily, it's been done quite a few times. The problems the Port of Portland faces are all on the landward side. Most of the terminal facilities are just too small and geographically constrained to be competitive in the modern shipping environment.

They ran the clown train east of Waterville yesterday, not sure how far.

Facebook says they went to Old Town

Cosakita18 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 15, 2020 10:51 am My personal take on this is that a lot of potential for Portland's Western waterfront was squandered on the new Sprague boat yard. A Westward expansion of the IMT or even an improved breakbulk terminal would have allowed much larger ships and opened up a lot more opportunities than currently possible at the existing berths.

Isn't the cold storage building going to take away even more space?

The cold storage building has been in planning for quite a long time. It did get shelved for a while

Cosakita18 wrote:The Fore River and Casco Bay Bridge can actually accommodate panamax sized vessels fairly easily, it's been done quite a few times. The problems the Port of Portland faces are all on the landward side. Most of the terminal facilities are just too small and geographically constrained to be competitive in the modern shipping environment.

Strongly concur. IMT is a classic example of this. They are trying to squeeze every square foot possible out of a very small slice of land and it's basically impossible to get any bigger. It leads to a lot of absurdity and hand wringing moves with height and parking.

Don't get me wrong it's a natural part of good development. But right now it feels like they're trying to force something that doesn't want to happen. Probably the best solution would be to start moving the tank farms and converting South Portland into a real container terminal.

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So Patterson and company were on the OCS seeing what needs to be fixed before sending tour trains with prospective buyers on them. Putting lipstick on the pig so to speak.