Historical and Current info in NE rail freight

I'm looking for generalized information on the use of rail freight in NE(everything north of the NYC metro area). I'm interested in general trends over time, not specific business information. Examples may be the number of customers per state/city/region, the number of loads/cars/trains per line/region/etc, or larger scale metrics like the number of loads/cars per day through a particular yard like Mechanicville, Ayer, etc. I'd like to put together a report on freight movements in NE by sea, truck, rail and air, and correlate that with data on local manufacturing activity, consumer purchases, economic growth and other macro indicators. Where can I start looking for information on rail freight in NE?

What you are attempting is akin to trying to boil the ocean, but a good source for some of the railroad information you're looking for can be found in old annual reports.

Are you only looking for info about Pan Am Railways freight, or are you looking for info pertaining to any/all New England railroads? (I assume that by "NE" you mean New England... or did you mean northeast?)

Right now I'm looking for a starting point. I'd like to see the trends in rail freight movement over the years, and later to find any correlations with other factors.

I am interested in all New England freight, so perhaps this isn't the best forum. I guess historical info would span Conrail, CSX, B&M, Pan Am/Guilford, etc. There are existing sources for larger scale data from the FRA, USDOT, state rail studies, etc. I'm interested in New England because it had one of the highest historical densities of rail freight relative to industry and population. These days it is basically a medium size transload operation that in many cases struggles to stay competitive with other forms of freight. So NE went from being a special place for rail freight, where most industries had their own siding, to a "we don't care if it comes by truck, boat or rail, whichever is cheaper please". This is a little different story than the west/midwest where most industries grew around easy interstate shipping.

I'm looking to analyze the transition of rail freight from a key resource during industrial times, to a consumer goods delivery source(a bit of an oversimplification). The key question is to determine if rail freight is still an economic engine, or simply another form of transportation that can be easily substituted. To do this, I need to figure out how rail freight is used differently from other forms of transport such as trucking and container shipping. I was hoping historical trends of freight volume would offer a clue if they could be correlated to the growth and decline of various forms of economic activity.

You've come to the right place. Find some free time, probably at least a couple of weekends, and go back to the very beginning of the Guilford/Panam thread and read all of it. When you are done then you will know enough to ask some good questions. Not trying to be a jerk, most of what you need to know is already written down here.

Try the web page for the Assocation of American Railroads for general information on railroad loadings by state.

http://www.aar.org

Go to the section entitiled Statistics and Publications. The most recent year for performance data is 2009, but it will give you a point from which to start.

johnden223 wrote:The key question is to determine if rail freight is still an economic engine, or simply another form of transportation that can be easily substituted.

I think the simple answer is yes, New England's railroads continue to be an economic engine and serve an important role in the region's transportation needs. It is, however, a role that has evolved as it has in all parts of North America given changes in the industry's competitive advantages vs. other modes, shifts in production and within the greater economy, population trends, technological advances, and public policy. Though the role is changed from pre-WWII, it's still an important role that can not be easily substituted, either tactically, strategically or economically (back of the envelope I'd estimate replacement of rail would demand approximately 1.5 million additional annual truck-trips moving on New England's highways).

It would be interesting to look at the New England rail system's traffic back in the 1920's, for example, vs. contemporary traffic by volume and commodity, that's for sure. I'd venture a guess that while as a share of total freight transportation rail's role has declined, as it has everywhere, the absolute volume might be in the neighborhood of the peak of rail's heyday, though moving much more efficiently with higher-capacity equipment, much fewer track- and route- miles, higher-volume trains, fewer facilities, and a lot less labor.

Hi where can I get a schedule of freight movements through N. Andover Lawrence and Andover? Thanks

Cowford wrote:What you are attempting is akin to trying to boil the ocean, but a good source for some of the railroad information you're looking for can be found in old annual reports.

Well said... That being said, good luck with the project!