BostonUrbEx wrote:That doesn't make sense. Combined EDRJ/11R and RJED/14R would mean making some massive, massive trains most of the time. Mohawk Yard in its present form is entirely CP jurisdiction as well, are they down with this? MO-1 would need to take the CSX cars north, run around them at Crescent if/when CP lets them and assuming the siding is clear. Depending on how the timing works out, I can see them losing the air test on cars to/from Rotterdam.
Is this an attempt to avoid needing EDRJ/RJED road power?
I wish I had more data but I can tell you that from listening in on the NS Binghamton radio to several 14R departures out of Binghamton, the trains typically run with about 50 cars or less (FWIW, the 31T trains departing from Binghamton headed to CP & CN are typically running slightly larger in the 60 to 80 car range.) I realize 14R picks up a CP block at Mohawk but I don't know how big the block is. WRT "massive trains", NS often seems to run very large 36T and 37T trains between Buffalo, Binghamton, and Allentown with up to 150 or more cars which I'm guessing is NS' goal for most of its manifest freights going forward.
As a side note, a 2600 ton 14R departed Binghamton today with two CPs (AC4400CW 9603 leading) sandwiching one of Pan Am's newer units, MEC 3404. Train made it couple of miles from Binghamton yard to the base of Belden hill when the engineer experienced a failure of his engines to load. To make a long story short, the resolution was to remove the MU jumper cable between the MEC unit and lead unit to allow the AC4400, which is rated for > 4,000 tons on the line, to load and haul the train single handedly. NS crews aren't real happy about the reliability of PAR locomotives these days but I digress.
