Hampton branch activity tracker

Some cities and towns have anti-graffiti ordinances that require that graffiti be cleaned up or removed within a certain period of time, or else the property owner faces fines. That may not be the case here; just a theory.

The trackies ran the hi-rail pick-up truck to Portsmouth down from Hampton yesterday. No sign of a train though.
Johnny Bolt, check the Foss siding!

Will do! Crap, am I too late though? I just saw your post now. We are doing our yearly volunteer clean-up tomorrow at 8am, so I will check it right before I go over to the cinema to meet everyone. We will be cleaning up the Rte. 1 / 101 interchange and the rail bed over the marsh.

Here's something that hasn't happened in a long time, PH-1 left the power in the Portsmouth yard over the weekend. The 344 with 3 box cars (2 SLC 1 BNSF)is on the main right in front of the railroad office.
A deranged old man told me they went to Hampton on Tuesday. Anybody see a car down there?

Seen nuthin myself bub. Wish I could say I have. I have been walkin the dogs behind the office when I work there, right in front of the airfield in North Hampton. Seen nuttin but an ATV's headlight the past several weeks.

I saw GRS 344 today, it was sitting in the the Portsmouth Yard. It had one empty hopper, two lumber cars and three tankers hooked up to it.

You guys will settle this once and for all:

I recently read, maybe on here that service south to Hampton has stopped.
Is this true?

May sound like a dumb question, but I figured I'd get a quick answer.

Thats what we are trying to determine. The line was kept open with a snow plow all last winter, periodic inspections are being done, track crews have been seen in Hampton, even some graffiti removed from a crossing light control cabinet, but no proof of actual service since last Fall.
I'm thinking the report from the deranged man is just that.

Yup, looks like the game is over for us in Hampton and points south of Portsmouth

I got a heads up of things to come, errrr not come, when I my brother told me Foss stopped using rail to bring in the plastic pellets. He has worked there for over 10 years, and he also found it weird they all of a sudden to trucks exclusively.

Oh well, another Gilfihd rail customer bites the dust!

Unfortunately for us Hamptonites, that was the last customer in town.

So when does the cleaning crew come in to remove the rails? I'm sure Pan Am would get some scrap value.

Considering the price of diesel fuel, I would say to Foss, as well as that fuel oil dealer in N. Hampton, the one with the big tank at track side, "Not so fast, you may want to re-think this".

However for Foss, even though they maybe paying a premium for truck service, they may be getting a better turn around time, and also have it on demand. So trucks may actually be a better choice for them...dunno how the "new" German ownership does on cash.

They have plenty of storage capacity for the pellets at Foss, and there was almost always 4-5 covered hoppers full of em, so I can't the truck turn around being all that great of an advantage. But I don't know shit, so I'm probably wrong lol. Plus I am biased and lean to the rail side HAHAAHA.

As far as Pan Am coming down to take the rails for scrap loot, I wouldnt count on that. If they were looking for some good scrap money, they shouldve hit up seabrook and hampton falls a long time ago. Some sections of the Eastern rails have been moved from the ties south of Hampton, but a lot of em were left in piles. Scrap, just sitting there for decades.

Jonny Bolt wrote:They have plenty of storage capacity for the pellets at Foss, and there was almost always 4-5 covered hoppers full of em, so I can't the truck turn around being all that great of an advantage.

Storage is not what I'm talking about. I believe when Foss was purchased by the German company they had said they wanted to go do on demand supply, trucking in only what they need and not storing material on site or in cars. If they stayed with on demand with freight cars, PAR may not have been able to deliver on time where as a truck maybe able to with say a 1 day turn around.

Just remember that Foss is technically still a rail customer, just not a rail-direct customer. Their resin likely comes from a central MA-based transload. PAR may still get (or got, I suppose with PAS) the line-haul... and make (made) the same contribution (profit) per car, so I'm sure they weren't shedding any tears.

Foss won't have to maintain that siding, deal with the railroad, track inbound loads, etc. Just pick up the phone and have a load delivered the next day. So they're happy. And considering that they won't have to pay for the inventory carrying costs involved in a rail direct shipment (considerable when you consider a load of pellets is worth ~$150,000), any premium they pay for truck delivery is probably insignificant in the scheme of things.