Mass Coastal Railroad (MC) Discussion

Does MC have positive cashflow?

Both SLRG and Mass Coastal were in the black cash wise and are/were part of IP
So the Trustees will block any breakaway of Mass Coastal to grab their cash to pay themselves.

Or there will be pressure to sell them off. Kinda depends on if there is a plan to emerge from bankruptcy & how desperate the parent is for cash. If they stop doing oil changes on their engines that's a bad sign, lol.

The goal of the trustee is to sell off the "assets" pay off the lenders and kill the business,ie grab the cash and run! scorched earth policy.

depends a lot on whether it is a court appointed trustee, debtor-in-posession, or whatnot. Trustee might want to milk the trustee fees, or milk the real estate, or want to straight-rail it to a lowball purchase by a preferred buyer. Is there a plan to emerge from bankruptcy?

Saw Mass Coastal hauling 4 cars of C&D off Cape from Otis this morning through Pocasset, so business as usual. Will be a lot of upcoming track work on the Falmouth Secondary this year with 12,225 tie installations planned out of the line total of 22,100.I believe the last time there was a major replacement of ties was in 1978 - 1981 timeframe by Loram Corporation of Minnesota. Complete RR crossing replacements are also scheduled to take place on the Monument Neck road & Red Brook Harbor road locations as well. The signals and controls were already upgraded last Fall at those locations along with the Barlows Landing road crossing in Pocasset as well.

Surprised it took the Bike path group in Bourne this long to wake up and realize that the Falmouth Secondary line has been in upgrade status since 2018. Even though the State has allowed the construction of a Rail with trail concept to proceed so far with a 2024 start date from MP 00 to MP 0.82, this group still continues to try and shut down the RR.

https://www.capenews.net/sandwich/opini ... a2d6c.html

Checked out the former Coal Man siding at Cape Main MP59.9 in Sagamore MA today and not much left of it except a short siding to a pile of spare ties. This site used to be Sagamore Lumber & The Coal Man which were destroyed by fire in 1993. Also there was a additional siding which has been mostly removed for the delivery of propane to several tanks that still exist and appear to still be in use by someone as there is no company signage. Does anyone know if this propane site is still operational and if so why did they stop getting deliveries by rail ?

Falmouth Secondary to Otis wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 2:39 pm Also there was a additional siding which has been mostly removed for the delivery of propane to several tanks that still exist and appear to still be in use by someone as there is no company signage. Does anyone know if this propane site is still operational and if so why did they stop getting deliveries by rail ?

The only info I can find about the propane place is from Bourne Tax records for 10 Freight House rd, "former site of Sagamore Lumber & The Coal
Man;destroyed by fire1993;tax title;deeded
access;possible brownfield"

And the Town owns that property.

I looked at those property tax records also and read the same thing, but the Town of Bourne doesn't own or operate a propane facility unless it's a big secret. I have never heard of the Town leasing the property out to any business for that purpose as well. I haven't been able to find any business listing about it either, which is odd because it looks operational with the property clean / not overgrown / propane cylinders in good condition on a loading dock at a adjacent building inside the fencing as well. Also listed on Town records as a possible Brownfield which according to the EPA is " Any land in the USA that is abandoned, idled, or under used because redevelopment and / or expansion is complicated by environmental contamination that is either real or perceived ". I would think that if the site was not being used all the tanks would have to be removed, so will keep looking for a answer.

Checked out another mystery today in Sandwich at Cape Main MP 62.0 with a siding off the double track. By looking at historical photos the siding may possibly be the one that serviced the roundhouse ( collapsed in the storm of 1896 ) another former business or RR use at that time. When looking at siding discovered a fenced in abandoned Railroad passenger car partially overgrown with a gated property behind it. Any ideas about what RR this car belonged to / where it came from / how did it end up on the siding ? It appears that it has been there for a long time and is being used for some kind of storage by someone, as there is a old wooden staircase on one end of it.

My guess is that it was parked there back in the CCC days? Maybe a former LIRR coach that they deemed wasn't suitable for restoration?

found this posted back in 2014:
Re:
Official Cape Cod Central Discussion
Post by GP40MC1118 » Fri Feb 21, 2014 12:21 am

Sandwich, Ma.
Private Owner (located on former Propane Gas siding north of Willow St crossing)
x-CB&Q Sleeper “Cheyenne River”.

D

Interesting. Is that actually a slumbercoach? Rare bird!

Here you go:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chey ... ch,_MA.jpg

malbojah wrote: ↑Wed Apr 15, 2020 3:23 pm

Falmouth Secondary to Otis wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 2:39 pm Also there was a additional siding which has been mostly removed for the delivery of propane to several tanks that still exist and appear to still be in use by someone as there is no company signage. Does anyone know if this propane site is still operational and if so why did they stop getting deliveries by rail ?

The only info I can find about the propane place is from Bourne Tax records for 10 Freight House rd, "former site of Sagamore Lumber & The Coal
Man;destroyed by fire1993;tax title;deeded
access;possible brownfield"

And the Town owns that property.

After accessing the Towns parcel maps the propane site is actually listed as #8 Freighthouse Rd being a 2nd parcel under 993 Sandwich road as a residential / commercial property, so it is privately owned. Can't find any business name connected to it though. The 4.72 acres of land with the present short stub & former propane siding is owned by the State from the Propane site fencing to the tracks and at an angle following the former Propane siding up to the coalman switch. The Town of Bourne owns the remaining landlocked 2.34 acre parcel referred to as #10 Freighthouse Rd on the other side of the propane site. My best guess is that at one time the State and Town parcels were the Sagamore lumber / The Coal man property and were divided up to the way they are today.