Mechanicville Yard Aerial Report

If you want to see some money being spent, look at the progress on the Mechanicville Yard Project

My last overhead visit was on May 28, 2011

http://samayotte.com/PAR_Mechanicville_2.html

Here it is again yesterday (November 6, 2011)

http://samayotte.com/PAR_Mechanicville_3.html

Awesome stuff. thx

Productive summer, it appears! That's very impressive looking.

Will eastbound movements be able to move from the CP Freight main (most southerly track) to the B&M? I don't have the PDF with the track config anymore.

Flew over Mechanicville today. It's open for business.

A unit grain train pulled by 3 BNSF and 2 PAR units added some excitement.

Here's a briefing:

http://samayotte.com/PAR_Mechanicville_4.html

Is there an engine facility planned for the yard?

Tim Mullins wrote:Is there an engine facility planned for the yard?

Nope.

I take it AYMO will become AYME.

Also, is the yard "done" is there more planned?

Not done yet. Only 1 or 2 intermodal tracks in service, no auto tracks and no freight tracks.

wouldn't undercutting the tunnel be cheaper ? $40mil plus never-ending costs of container picking seems a bad trade-off.
also, csxt chicago to worcester service is faster. i believe railroad intermodal is marginal in profits and transit. the 'patriot corrior' concept is economically flawed. a real example? waste from devens to forstoris ohio via pas was unworkable. via csxt hill yard, ok. railroad lovers should understand that railroads have limited transportation roles. 90 % of profits from coal, great. stop trying to expand markets regardless of costs. ken patrick

KEN PATRICK wrote:wouldn't undercutting the tunnel be cheaper ? $40mil plus never-ending costs of container picking seems a bad trade-off.
also, csxt chicago to worcester service is faster. i believe railroad intermodal is marginal in profits and transit. the 'patriot corrior' concept is economically flawed. a real example? waste from devens to forstoris ohio via pas was unworkable. via csxt hill yard, ok. railroad lovers should understand that railroads have limited transportation roles. 90 % of profits from coal, great. stop trying to expand markets regardless of costs. ken patrick

You really don't know much about railroads or for that matter businesses in general.

newpylong wrote:Not done yet. Only 1 or 2 intermodal tracks in service, no auto tracks and no freight tracks.

Still damn impressive how fast it's coming together after a disconcerting couple years of nothing at all. Seems like it started blooming almost overnight during course of 2011.

This bump in progress is the NS huevos asserting itself, no doubt. Hope once this home base is fully operational that they start flexing that same muscle to get things done eastward on the main.

KEN PATRICK wrote:wouldn't undercutting the tunnel be cheaper ?

I believe that will happen eventually. Also: the goal is to switch to a local yard instead of using Mohawk; a D&H/CP yard.

i believe railroad intermodal is marginal in profits and transit.

If that were true, then there would not be Z trains running all over every Class I, as well as several Class IIs; like PAR.

waste from devens to forstoris ohio via pas was unworkable. via csxt hill yard, ok. railroad lovers should understand that railroads have limited transportation roles.

You just contradicted yourself. Brilliant...

90 % of profits from coal, great. stop trying to expand markets regardless of costs.

That's how a healthy and profitable business tries to become healthier and even more profitable. Example? General Electric: makers of everything from toasters to the GE90. Only when one of these endeavors fails do you abandon it.

KEN PATRICK wrote:wouldn't undercutting the tunnel be cheaper ? $40mil plus never-ending costs of container picking seems a bad trade-off.
also, csxt chicago to worcester service is faster. i believe railroad intermodal is marginal in profits and transit. the 'patriot corrior' concept is economically flawed. a real example? waste from devens to forstoris ohio via pas was unworkable. via csxt hill yard, ok. railroad lovers should understand that railroads have limited transportation roles. 90 % of profits from coal, great. stop trying to expand markets regardless of costs. ken patrick

I can tell you're either not an engineer or have never seen the Hoosac tunnel (or both). The east approach to the tunnel is over a very high trestle. It would require a tremendous amount of engineering (and bridge replacement) to lower the track bed. There is also a public road there. Deeper track bed means more drainage problems as well. Water already builds up inside quite a bit.The NS did what they could in '97, if it was financially feasable to go 4 more inches I am sure they would have. It might happen but as of right now it's cheaper for them to single stack.

If it is an economically flawed concept why have the two intermodal trains gone from 4500 to 8000 feet in 2 years? Why are they getting customers back that happened shipped rail in years? Why are shortlines interchanging with them that haven't done so in decades? Why have they gone from 0 to 25 autoracks a day? The amount of money Norfolk Southern has spent on PAS is a drop in the bucket for them. Start small and grow...

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:

newpylong wrote:Not done yet. Only 1 or 2 intermodal tracks in service, no auto tracks and no freight tracks.

Still damn impressive how fast it's coming together after a disconcerting couple years of nothing at all. Seems like it started blooming almost overnight during course of 2011.

This bump in progress is the NS huevos asserting itself, no doubt. Hope once this home base is fully operational that they start flexing that same muscle to get things done eastward on the main.

Agreed. The new cranes are impressive - Norfolk Southern in big letters on the side. Massive light towers. This yard was done right, you can tell.