CSX Track Upgrades & Infrastructure of Pan Am

Is there enough room there for a meaningful siding? Would need about 10k feet. The CC has a crossing, which complicates things

Good point. There are 2 private crossings along there, the eastern one has an adjacent low-roof tunnel for golf carts to go through, the western one is directly from their maintenance facility. If the siding went from the latter all the way to Shrewsbury St it would only be about 1 mile long (this would only block the crossing that is next to the tunnel). The total length from Burncoat to Shrewsbury st would be about 7000 ft.

So now that Worcester-Ayer trip times should be halved to 1.5 hrs give or take, are there any operational changes pending? Eg, single Selkirk-Ayer CSX crew?

Sorry, NHV 669, for the sloppy fingers on naming the districts in my previous post. The spokesman was not a "common track worker" as you may have thought. The CSX agent, just transferred from VA, was assigned to coordinate and oversee the upcoming projects on the newly acquired CSX rails from Pan AM. This morning he was timing and logging the light engine traveling from MP25 to Burncoat. The CSX agent explained the new sensing equipment installed further up the track to accommodate the new train speed before approaching RR crossings at the new allowed speed. The agent was logging the tones pre and post, transmitted from the light engine CSX5956, as it passed through every RR crossing, assuring all the equipment was working properly as the engine passed at exactly 25mph. As you probably know, the new rails are a much heavier rated rail capable of supporting more weight and faster speeds. According to his calculations, the upgrades will make it possible for trains running between Burncoat and MP25 will be able to cut travel time by at least 50% +.

And to clarify this a little further, it's 25 from Clinton to Burncoat, not the entire line yet. Sorry if that was mentioned. Either way, it's rather impressive seeing a large freight bombing by the reservoir at speed.

johnpbarlow wrote: ↑Sun Jan 01, 2023 11:13 am So now that Worcester-Ayer trip times should be halved to 1.5 hrs give or take, are there any operational changes pending? Eg, single Selkirk-Ayer CSX crew?

Not yet. Selkirk crews aren't qualified on the WML east of Burncoat yet, and ex-ST crews are definitely not qualified beyond west New Bond.

I guess there is quite a bit more than just laying track down. How do crews get qualified to the level of 25 mph? Do the qualifications run in 5 or 10 mph increments or how does it change? What's does the process entail?

You qualify on territory, not speed.

If it's by territory, if CSX bought out Pan AM, wouldn't that become CSX's territory? I'm sure it probably isn't that easy, but it would make perfect sense. It's strange a crew can go as far as New Bond, but can't continue to AYER????

It literally is that easy.... it all depends what a crew can generally cover in 12 hours in their qualified territory based on things like track speed. If you can raise the MAS on a specific stretch and not have dozens of speedos, you're certainly extending the amount of mileage an average crew can cover between their home terminal, and wherever they're taking rest.

Crews probably aren't going farther than New Bond due to hitting their hours limits, what exactly is strange about that?

It's literally not that easy. The engineer needs to be trained on the new territory he will be operating over. An engineer on the board from New York or MA cannot just go to another territory and start operating a train. They will need to be trained by someone qualified on the new territory they will be operating over.

Adding an extra 25 miles to someone's qualified territory isn't rocket science.... which shouldn't be terribly difficult for the folks that know what they're doing out there on the ground.

Isn't that the point of the track work in the first place? Being able to cover more miles with fewer crews?

NHV 669 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:13 pm It literally is that easy.... it all depends what a crew can generally cover in 12 hours in their qualified territory based on things like track speed. If you can raise the MAS on a specific stretch and not have dozens of speedos, you're certainly extending the amount of mileage an average crew can cover between their home terminal, and wherever they're taking rest.

Crews probably aren't going farther than New Bond due to hitting their hours limits, what exactly is strange about that?

This is a bit off topic but there's more to it than that. At the moment it's usually a CSX yard crew bringing M426 from CP45 on the B&A in Worcester and leaving the train at Burncoat for a qualified ex-ST crew. It's not an HoS issue. Others are in better position to comment on the qualification process, but it's not as easy as 'jump on and go'. You have to know all the TT rules and all physical characteristics. Not all the ex-ST employees are qualified system wide - a Rigby based crew might have an engineer qualified to Deerfield but a conductor only good to Gardner, for example.

You are all missing the larger issue and that is rulset(s). CSX uses in house rules and the ST and and MBTA use NORAC. You can qualify employees on territory all you want but until they travel for a week and are taught and become qualified on the other ruleset it doesn't matter. It is also easier said than done to pull someone out out of service to do so when labor is still scarce.

Also what are they gaining by doing a crew change at Harvard vs New Bond/Burncoat? It's still a crew change that has to occur regardless of location. Efforts are better spent reducing the unforced errors ie speed restrictions.

Duh...I completely forgot CSX doesn't use NORAC. Yes that is a larger issue. Thanks!