CSX Boston and Albany Line

The P&W doesn't have outbound stacks everyday, so the fact that you saw a M437 without them doesn't really mean anything.

Who said it meant anything? That's just you jumping to a wrong conclusion yet again. If anything I'm more interested that it ran at night and not in the morning.

Choosing to make Syracuse an intermodal hub and shooting for long pools to save crews is more than 30 years old.

QB 52.32 wrote: ↑Sat Jun 17, 2023 7:49 am

Of course, interestingly enough, with this traffic at least superficially at the focus of the consternation it's certainly not valuable enough to drive alternative big decisions on its own though, to CSX's credit, a short-haul intermodal market continuing to be served amidst all the anti-PSR rhetoric.

With what appears to be targeted west-out 019 placement among the other traffic that won't be going to Chicago, the 437 W. Springfield setout of the P&W stacks might otherwise save an additional 019 pickup move at West Springfield if the stacks came out of Worcester on 019 in light of the potentials there. Interestingly enough, as I'm sure you've seen, 437 ran last night without P&W's instead.

I'll continue to be interested in what, if anything, CSX does. Pretty sure anything eating crews, first and foremost at this time, and power is on their radar.

Are you saying you were not trying to attach meaning here in this quote?

Also to reiterate, I've been out here 20 years, it was never a goal to have a DeWitt long pool on the B&A until a couple of years ago, under PSR. It wasn't even possible before the bypass tracks, so I highly doubt your 30-year number. It took another 7 years after the bypass to try it. The reality is it doesn't work, but they are playing the usual games to make it look like it does.

So the 019 can make it long, but the cost is 2 or 3 trains needing to be recrewed nearly every day. But management is only looking at the 019, so to them everything is just fine. That train is making it.

You are just repeating company propaganda, and I just can't let it go unchallenged.

What's the deal with the Framingham to Worcester yard transfer job (L002) these days? I believe used to be a turn job that ran very late at night/very early in the morning to take the prior day's M436's cars from Worcester to Framingham, and then bring the prior day's L004/L005/L010 cars over back to Worcester very early in the morning. I noticed that the yard transfer job gets done by different trains nowadays (sometimes Y101 does it and sometime L048 does it), and at varying times in the day.

Yesterday (Juneteenth), Y101 with 5 locos (464, 483, 3107, 43, 56) did L002's westbound duties, and took that day's L005's (Attleboro), L010's (Readville's), and possibly L004's (Agriculture Branch) cars and moved them to Worcester around 7 or 8PM. Those cars then got taken to Selkirk early the next morning on M437 (where they seemed to have simply cut off the two ACSES-equipped locos off the Y101 consist and just ran the same train with 3107, 43, and 56). This is much later than when L002 would do that job. I don't know if this is a one-off due to the holiday, or it's standard practice now.

I guess this cuts an entire day off dwell time which is good - under the previous scheme westbound cars from L004/L005/L010 got brought into Framingham Nevins Yard, sit for the rest of the day and night until being taken to Worcester the following morning by L002, where they then sit around for another day until getting taken to Selkirk that night/the following morning on I115 or M427. With the cars heading to Worcester later in the day, L004/L005/L010's cars get taken to Worcester the same day they arrive at Framingham, and get taken to Selkirk the very next morning.

Is the eastbound Worcester to Framingham job still running at night/early in the morning, or does it also run later? It'd seem most logical to run it just after M436 arrives in the morning if they're trying to cut dwell time and better utilize the limited space in Worcester.

"You are just repeating company propaganda, and I just can't let it go unchallenged."

I do not post much, but I do spend a lot of time reading and absorbing many blogs and forums. I am inclined to think that this "person" may be an AI bot programmed to favor and promote PSR and company propaganda...

taracer wrote: Are you saying you were not trying to attach meaning here in this quote?

Of course I was "attaching meaning", whatever that means, just not reaching the conclusion you incorrectly jumped to.

Also to reiterate, I've been out here 20 years, it was never a goal to have a DeWitt long pool on the B&A until a couple of years ago, under PSR.

To reiterate, almost twice your years of service the decision to make E. Syracuse an intermodal block and train service hub included the strategic capability with a goal to use long pools at some point as appropriate to/from North Jersey and Central MA upon Beacon Park's anticipated closure. It was typical of necessary intermodal productivity improvement planning among the Class 1's at the time to reduce crew costs among a variety of options and because of its characteristics. In the likely move toward 1-man crews intermodal will probably again be a focus of potential for the very same characteristics.

As to the when, why, and how of pursuit in what's been a very dynamic long-term environment and across a wide variety of factors, good chance today's increasing crew challenge issues, including cost, during a time of crew shortages and in a current operating inflationary and intermodal traffic recessionary period provides the reason for "why now."

The reality is it doesn't work, but they are playing the usual games to make it look like it does.

So the 019 can make it long, but the cost is 2 or 3 trains needing to be recrewed nearly every day. But management is only looking at the 019, so to them everything is just fine. That train is making it.

In your own words, the 019 can make it long. To quickly conclude that a very recent change is simply wrong, denying the chance for adjustment, from about as far away from the decision-making as you can get is poor judgement.

You are just repeating company propaganda, and I just can't let it go unchallenged.

I welcome your challenge, but not your wrong conclusions. After reading your many complaints and suggestions, conclusively nothing you've yet offered to date solves anything except from a narrow and short-term T&E perspective. As to charging me with "just repeating company propaganda", as is said, remember that when you point a finger three are pointing back.

CSX M437 originating at Worcester 6/22/23 passed the Westfield cam at 0341 Friday 6/23/23 with 20+ wells of steamship company containers, followed by 20 wells of blue trash containers and general freight.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

I don't believe any of the 4 days so far this week for 437 and 019 with 019 operating have been exactly the same, whether for trial or by error.

Likely even to Mr. Type 7 3704's questions, today's B&A operations can be characterized as being much more dynamic. While not "dad's" railroad, more sophisticated and all for the best in the cold light of day. Certainly makes things more interesting.

type 7 3704 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 20, 2023 10:31 pm What's the deal with the Framingham to Worcester yard transfer job (L002) these days? I believe used to be a turn job that ran very late at night/very early in the morning to take the prior day's M436's cars from Worcester to Framingham, and then bring the prior day's L004/L005/L010 cars over back to Worcester very early in the morning. I noticed that the yard transfer job gets done by different trains nowadays (sometimes Y101 does it and sometime L048 does it), and at varying times in the day.

Yesterday (Juneteenth), Y101 with 5 locos (464, 483, 3107, 43, 56) did L002's westbound duties, and took that day's L005's (Attleboro), L010's (Readville's), and possibly L004's (Agriculture Branch) cars and moved them to Worcester around 7 or 8PM. Those cars then got taken to Selkirk early the next morning on M437 (where they seemed to have simply cut off the two ACSES-equipped locos off the Y101 consist and just ran the same train with 3107, 43, and 56). This is much later than when L002 would do that job. I don't know if this is a one-off due to the holiday, or it's standard practice now.

I guess this cuts an entire day off dwell time which is good - under the previous scheme westbound cars from L004/L005/L010 got brought into Framingham Nevins Yard, sit for the rest of the day and night until being taken to Worcester the following morning by L002, where they then sit around for another day until getting taken to Selkirk that night/the following morning on I115 or M427. With the cars heading to Worcester later in the day, L004/L005/L010's cars get taken to Worcester the same day they arrive at Framingham, and get taken to Selkirk the very next morning.

Is the eastbound Worcester to Framingham job still running at night/early in the morning, or does it also run later? It'd seem most logical to run it just after M436 arrives in the morning if they're trying to cut dwell time and better utilize the limited space in Worcester.

There is no plan under PSR, other than to do the most amount of work with the least number of resources. That means less crews, locomotives, ect. This has been going on for 6 years now.

They change something at least every 4 weeks, usually when the newest nonsense they come up with proves to be a total failure.

Seems like there's an M438 and M439 now handling the P&W traffic between Worcester and Selkirk.

Is the lack of yard space in Worcester the reason there's so many different manifest trains that either terminate or pass through Worcester? (M436/M437, M426/M427, and now M438/439) Otherwise, you'd think with PSR they'd just merge the 3 trains into some 3-mile long monster that goes between Selkirk and Worcester, and then split that train and send them off to Framingham, Maine, and the P&W respectively.

First and foremost it's about train length and tonnage restrictions on the B&A and within that, blocking of traffic and serving intermediate points as well, and among traffic flows, crew, and power requirements

With the addition of M438/439 symbols, looks like a net new train pair to/from Worcester to and for some extent, reflecting more westbound traffic and perhaps also related to the recent I019 changes.

Westbound MSW traffic is building, dirty-dirt has taken a jump, renewed breakwater granite with the prospect for some heavy volume has just begun, and increased Maine/Maritimes forest products traffic has started.

Eastbound traffic to the P&W has been trending upward for the past year and more recently has included increased scrap for export as well as seasonal bumps.

It'll be interesting to see how the changes continue to unfold. FWIW, I believe the job east out of Worcester ran some time after 6 this morning.

As to planning, the plan is to be as dynamic as the long demands of traffic, including, across time horizons, individualized door-to-door car trip plans. These plans merge the best of 2 old world models, scheduled vs. tonnage.

Because of the benefits, the B&A is in its best physical condition yet, the equipment as good as its ever been, and, with the threat of CSX exiting New England over, more traffic and renewed prospects for growth.

Expect things to continue to be dynamic on the B&A not only for today's operational management or response to CSX's purchase of Pan Am/Pan Am Southern, but also resulting from the strategic investments being made in passenger rail and the ex-PAR property over time.

QB 52.32 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 12:37 pm ,..... and increased Maine/Maritimes forest products traffic has started.

Question, Mr. QB et al?

To what extent has Chessie done enough to the Maine Central since she acquired it to handle additional "Products of Forests" traffic, let alone anything else?

I know from videos posted here, that she is "pouring Fancy Feast" into the key interchange at Keag, but how about the 167 or so (highway) miles until she gets to Lewiston where the passenger train agency, NNEPRA, has laid down an FRA Class 3 or better ROW (and likely imposed limits on tonnage and frequency).

As I understand it, this is early low-hanging fruit, Mr. Norman, as characterized by Messrs. Tosh and McGinnis, for CSX delivery moving additionally along with existing traffic, not specifically dependent upon completion of the infrastructure upgrades.

Latest had M437 continuing to carry the P&W's out of Worcester, including the stacks on the headpin, but into W. Springfield around midnight this morning ahead of I117 and I020, while new symbol M439 continues carrying the Framinghams/Westboroughs and with some mixing and matching as well to date.

I019 came out of W. Springfield with the P&W stacks on the headpin with the non-Chicagos on the headend and the Chicagos on the tail, reversing what has been the blocking pattern.

16 centerbeam carloads of lumber out of Maine/Maritimes on M427 this morning. M438 carrying the Palmers and Worcester-PW traffic, poured in another cut of gondolas on top of a few dozen set out by M436 over the past couple of weeks, presumably for the breakwater granite originating in VT.