CSX Acquisition of Pan Am Railways

codasd wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 4:48 pm I believe most of it is a rail trail now through Acton, Chelmsford , and Lowell. I think it ran by the old Wang buildings by Rt. 3 and the Lowell Connector. As Newpy mentioned it ended in Lowell at the wye just north of Gorham Street.

Yes, that's right, it's entirely abandoned with a rail trail occupying most the northern end. The wye in Lowell might still be in place.

bostontrainguy wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:14 pm This is the Pan Am clearance map from their website. I guess we can now assume that the tracks going towards Revere can be yellow allowing for Plate F. But for how far does anyone know? Can they access the Revere Branch?

Also for the Fitchburg branch, it shows it is cleared for only about 2/3 of the way unlike the other two main lines. Is that still the case? Is there any reason that only part of this trackage is cleared?

If this map is accurate I guess Plate F cars will have to go via Lowell only. But the map shows double-stacks allowed only to "Crescent" from the west and not Mechanicville for some reason so maybe an update is in order.

I understand Plate F cars can't clear at the Porter Sq station in Cambridge on the Fitchburg Route, about 3 miles out of Boston. It was an issue a few years ago when they had to detour freights that way due to a wash-out on the Stony Brook in Littleton.

Is PanAm running any cars into the Produce Center right now? Via LA-1 / BO-1?

Yes, Pan Am has been servicing the Produce Center in Chelsea via Lawrence Yard since April 2018 when CSXT traded it off for running rights up the Worcester Main to Ayer.

Pan Am served it long before that as a joint customer but in May of 2018 CSXT gave up their rights.

OK, so next question - is this a daily service? That's pretty much how it was when CSX were running boxcars down the Grand Junction every day.

Any ideas if Waterville Shops will stay active under CSX?
Or will Waterville be spun off as a contract rebuild shop?

Nope, not a chance. Waterville and East Deerfield Shops will have all their work moved to Selkirk. Maybe not in Year One, but certainly on the horizon in the next 2-3 years. Get your photos at both servicing facilities while you can.

The only way they stay open is if for some reason CSX decides to sell the facilities off to a firm that does locomotive rebuilding work. But that is unlikely since many rebuilders across the country right now are closing, such as VMV in Paducah, KY etc. The wages for one would also be far below what the crafts at Pan Am get paid now.

No one has the answer to that question this early in the game. Buy my hunch is the shops as far as CSX is concerned are redundant to Selkirk's heavy repair facilities.

PBMcGinnis wrote: ↑Tue Dec 15, 2020 8:58 am Waterville and East Deerfield Shops will have all their work moved to Selkirk. Maybe not in Year One, but certainly on the horizon in the next 2-3 years.

I wouldn't call the game so fast on Deerfield because that depends heavily on what happens with the joint partnership. The engine shops at Binghamton (for NS) are only light repair and further than Selkirk for them. So the plug may not be able to be pulled so easily.

The possibility of a split sell off looms large to keep the STB from screaming monopoly at CSX, Selling the B&M mainline to NS/PAS From Rotterdam Jct to Ayer

So I assume if CSX manages to buy Pan Am Railways, it becomes apart of the Albany Division? I wonder what CSX will rename the districts too? Any ideas?

The New England Subdivision comes to mind. Or the Merrimack Sudivision [after the Merrimack River between Lowell and Haverhill.

Guilford Sub

Sub PAR