CSX Acquisition of Pan Am Railways

Didn't Pan Am win this funding?

https://railsandports.com/2020/08/par-m ... 2-million/

Maybe heading there?

It could be for the Worcester main, Stonybrook or anywhere on the former MEC North of Royal Jct.

jamoldover wrote: ↑Sat Jul 23, 2022 2:44 pm Per the CSX Employee Operating Manual (2017 edition), here are the train handling rules that apply:
4554 - Handling Welded Rail Equipment
4554.1 When handling a train containing welded rail equipment, make certain that there is a means of preventing any rail movement beyond the end of the equipment by:

• a. Bulkhead doors, which must be closed and locked before movement, or
  b. Designated buffer cars, or
  c. Loaded hopper cars.

4554.2 When the number of loaded welded rail equipment cars, including the cars preventing rail movement, exceeds twelve (12), make certain that no other equipment is moved in the train except for cars relating to the rail, such as: loading and unloading cars and buffer cars.
4554.3 Do not move more than twelve (12) loaded welded rail equipment cars in a freight train. When loaded welded rail equipment is moved in regular freight service, make certain that the rail equipment is next to the locomotive consist.
4554.4 When empty welded rail equipment is moved in regular freight service, make certain that the empty welded rail equipment is handled on the rear of the train.
4554.5 Do not handle more than two rail trains in the same train. When one train is loaded and one is empty, make certain that the empty train is on the rear

Note the date, 2017. This rule, along with many others, has long since been updated to the new PSR "standards".

I'm fairly sure PSR wouldn't change how equipment should be handled for safety reasons, but I could be wrong...

Your wrong, I'm sorry but you don't know what you think you know.

I'm not going to post any rules here, but I will give an example. Pre PSR on CSX, if the train went into emergency it would have to be walked in almost all cases, at least until your last hazmat car, but most times the entire train. There was one exception that would allow the train not to be walked.

As soon as PSR came, all those rules were thrown out the window. Now you almost never have to walk, they have put it on the crew to determine if it doesn't feel right when you start to move again.

The rules were changed to make it easier to run 10000+ foot trains. If the trains had to be walked every time there is a "kicker", well the railroad would shut down walking 2mile long trains. Four miles each way.

I've got 20 years as a rail and I can tell you the new rules have nothing to do with safety.

In the case of loaded welded rail trains, did the rule really change? I can see the real concern with placing them within regular service due to the physics of the load. They want to straighten themselves out by nature.

To be fair, some of those rules have been around forever, some for good reason, but some are outdated. How many times have you gone on the ground when you've gone into emergency? In my experience, it is very easy to tell what is a kicker, and what was due to external factors. I walked too many trains to find nothing wrong when a simple roll (as long as the train as not over a bridge) by would have been sufficient.

Then we had stupid special instructions that unit coal and grain trains couldn't exceed 25 MPH, which is silly considering regular manifests were just as heavy.

They increased the speeds on the rail trains through the old restrictions placed on them. Turnouts, tunnels, truss bridges ect. I've never gone on the ground going in emergency but the whole point of inspecting was to make sure, to assume something was wrong until proven otherwise.

Now we assume everything is ok. It's less safe.

Here's a middle of the night screen grab off the Fairport NY live rail cam of the combined W016 and W024 CWR trains heading east. The first CWR train looks to be CWRX reporting mark equipment while the 2nd train clearly uses CSX equipment. The entry in the Fairport train log calls the combined train W024-20 and indicates it came off G&W's Chicago, Fort Wayne, & Eastern RR at Lima, OH and is headed to Worcester to be interchanged to MBTA. When at the Southboro MA T station a week or so ago, I saw that lengths of CWR had been freshly laid alongside both sides of track 2 so maybe this is for a continuation of track renewal on the MBTA's Worcester line?

The other one came from somewhere in KY.

Possibly for South Coast Rail? My contacts on the North Side showing nothing coming, for them or CSX.

The Fairport log originally showed both for Worcester (PAR) for a few days when they were sitting in Buffalo waiting for crews. Then it was changed to MBTA.

The last CWR MBTA train was supposed to dump on the Gloucester Branch, but that got cancelled and they dropped all the rail on the Worcester Main and a few strings up around Andover/Lawrence. SoCo Rail is a possibility, but haven't been hearing anything expected.

So at this point what operational changes has CSX made beyond extending 426/427 to Portland and what looks to be the creation of a Lawrence block? Have they done any re-blocking out of Portland? It seems like the Ayer warehouse Paper/pulp traffic may have been shifted over to POED, perhaps in an effort to expedite 427 across the railroad.

OK trying to explain what I saw in person and via You Tube today------- At approximately 12:00 hours today I saw MEC 7605 EB and MEC 7727 WB with about 30-40 cars of telephone poles, cement hoppers, box cars depart Westford CPF 307 headed toward Chelmsford.
Later on You Tube "Stony Brook Railroad Vids"----https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jZnPodjqdc I see the same power light power reversed at the NC wye to return to Ayer. I don't know where they dropped the cars, but seems like a change in operations.

That’s an extremely unusual amount of pole cars, I’ll see if I can dig into that

The combined W024 and W016 loaded CWR trains (apparently heading to Pan Am land) came east over the Berkshires in the wee hours of Friday 7/29/22 passing Chester at 0107, Westfield at 0141, and Springfield at 0251. Interestingly 5 ES44/ES40 locomotives (CSXT3108, CSXT968, CSXT5491, CSXT3196, CSXT3010) lugged the consist into W Springfield but only 2 engines (not AC44CW dual PTCers) were on the point as the CWR train passed the Springfield station cam.