CSX Selling Trackage

It seems to me that CSX will sold the St. Lawrence and Montreal subdivisions from
Syracuse, NY, USA to Beauharnois, QC, Canada including Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Huntingdon in the province
of Quebec.

And finally CSX will sold their Massena yard too in the New York state.

So short lines railroad companies like Genesee & Wyoming will be interested to buy the CSX
rail link between Montreal, QC to Syracuse, NY.

The trackage that is being sold is trackage that has been leased to the 'new owners' for over a decade.

Appearantly monthly or yearly payments for the leases weren't enough CASH for Mantle Ridge to loot from the treasury. Sell the property and get big bucks to be channeled to Mantle Ridge.

This nothing about CSX and everything about Mantle Ridge trying to sell off anything of value that CSX owns.

Mr. Sylvain, first allow me to note that Beauharnois is a gateway for traffic originating/consigned/interchanged to/at Montreal.

When Conrail "neutralized" a Binghamton interchange with the ERIE, that was death to the D&H, as well as to any chance the ERIE could have stayed independent of Conrail by offering a competitive routing - something of considerable importance to the Surf Board as the "Big Four" were formulated.

So my Q; is that interchange post-Conrail not worth anything to CSX?

From what I have read, CSX has tried to sell the line at least twice. The traffic would still go back on CSX in Syracuse, but they would not have to operate and maintain a line which is not in there "core" system.

Latest news from the sell-off: Selling lines in AL and GA

https://www.railwayage.com/freight/csx- ... ala-lines/

One of the reasons CSX wants out of the Massena line is the Canadian GCOR rules after crossing into Canada,this dates back to the NYC era.
Along with all the Paperwork needed to clear customs on both sides of the border and the need to have in the french language to boot!

The yard in Quebec may double as an inland port of entry/Suffrage warehouse for Canadian customs.

What is the difference between the rulebook CSX uses and the Canadian GCOR rules?

Believe the CSX Book of Rules is a variant of NORAC Book of Rules that CSX modified for it's railroad,Canadian GCOR is somewhat different,
done in 2 langauges(British English and Canadian French for Quebec)all measures are in Metric System terms.
Standard forms are slighty different as well.
Crew had to be qualified on both Rule books to to run to the yard in Quebec.

Transport Canada - Canadian Rail Operating Rules
https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/railsafety/rules-tco167.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

From https://www.progressiverailroading.com/ ... nes--54843" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The company is soliciting bids for the following non-contiguous properties:

• the Massena Line extending north from Syracuse, New York, to Canada;
• Baldwinsville Subdivision: a branch line west of Syracuse;
• West Albany and Rensselaer: a collection of properties near Albany, New York;
• Cumberland Valley: feeder lines extending east of Corbin, Kentucky;
• Eastern North Carolina: branch lines terminating in Grangers and Plymouth; and
• Marietta Subdivision: a branch line extending north out of Parkersburg, West Virginia.

Remember there are Sellers prices and Buyers prices. I doubt CSX is soliciting buyers prices for what they are trying to sell.

CSX has completed their first sale of trackage. The Decatur Subdivision, Danville Secondary, and the Paris Industrial Track are now in the hands of Decatur & Eastern Ilinois Railroad, a WATCO subsidiary.

https://www.watcocompanies.com/services ... _illinois/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is most likely a good thing for CSX, as they no longer have to operate those lines while receiving a majority of interchange traffic from the new railroad. Only wonder what lines will come next.

Thank you for that, and welcome to the forum! I've cross posted your post in a new topic in the WATCO forum: viewtopic.php?f=206&t=168338" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

From the FB group Friends of Sunset Limited

THIS IS MAJOR NEWS!!!

Florida Gulf and Atlantic Railroad, a new subsidiary of International Rail Partners, is taking over the CSX Florida Panhandle Line between Baldwin FL and Pensacola FL. This is almost the entire route through the Panhandle of the proposed Amtrak Gulf Coast Service in Florida.
‎
"The following notice was posted November 6, 2018:
Pursuant to regulations of the Surface Transportation Board, 49 C.F.R. § 1150.32(e), Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad LLC (“FGAR”) hereby notifies employees of CSX Transportation, Inc. (“CSXT”) that FGAR intends to acquire from CSXT and operate the following rail lines: (1) the Tallahassee Subdivision between Baldwin, FL at or near CSXT milepost SP 653.3 and Chattahoochee, FL, at or near CSXT milepost SP 842.5, (2) the P&A Subdivision between Chattahoochee, FL, at or near CSXT milepost 00K810.7 and Pensacola, FL, at or near CSXT milepost 00K651.0, and (3) portions of the Bainbridge Subdivision between Tallahassee, FL, at or near CSXT milepost SLC 52.0 and Attapulgus, GA, at or near CSXT milepost SLC 79.0 (the “Lines”). The total length of the Lines is approximately 373 Miles."

What this portends for us is unclear, except to say that CSX has been and is, very difficult to deal with. maybe another railroad will have a better attitude. Five Gulf Coast counties are sitting on a pile of loot from the BP disaster settlement and if parties are in agreement, perhaps the line could be upgraded with new signaling, station work, etc.

Couple this with the work to take place between Mobile and New Orleans and we could be on to something!

Route has a big hole in it - Between Flomaton and Pensacola. The lines between Bainbridge and Attapulgus have never had a passenger train since Amtrak was founded and probably a number of years before that, it is also 25 MPH track at present.