Pan Am Coal Trains

CN9634 wrote:With the success of CBR, railroads have been flirting with the notion of unit LNG trains... the biggest hold up is that an LNG tank car is not available for mass production (only prototypes exist)

Interesting idea. Have to see how that develops.

The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant at Vernon VT is scheduled to close by December 31st.
Some of the lost power has been projected to come from natural gas fired plants, but there are
indications there could be a shortage of natural gas in New England this winter. So, Bow might
have to step up to the plate with more power for the New England grid.

Has the power plant in Portsmouth ever received coal by rail? I think it's called Schiller? I had read they were getting coal by ship from Russia last winter because it was cheaper. Would they look at getting it by rail if domestic coal was suitable and a better deal for them?

I don't see how changing the title will get my question answered. I was not aware that a post could be stolen.

I see at least four answers to your question, and nothing was "stolen" from you.

Clay wrote:Does anyone know what's up with the Bow Coal Trains? I haven't seen one in quite awhile.
I was seeing one a week.

from the Guilford Rail Sightings group:

"936-30 (NHB/42) bow coal loads ordered 1030 hrs at Binghamton. PAS. Crew for 2000 hrs to take it easy from Mechanicville with Engines
NS 9056-2748-8344 and 86 cars."

The "42nd" trainload of the year. Since this is approximately the 42 week of the year, I'd that that is about one/wk if my math is correct.

On 10-31-2014 and as proof that it is undead and in keeping with the undead theme of Hallowe'en, an LCT w/ NSs 9056, 2748, and 8344 plus 86 rolled through CPF-345 and onto the single at 0746.

10/31/14 ,,,, 9:30 ish mebbe,,LCT was stopped at the Willows for a short period of time,,,

Apparently Kevin Burkholder is saying Bow is closing on the GRS Yahoo group.

Couldn't be further from the truth.

KB must think it is April Fools Day. With Vermont Yankee shutting down (today),
the price of natural gas skyrocketing (possibly some supply problems), Bow should
really be "cooking" for the winter. A few years ago, some $400 million was spent at
Bow to bring it in line with emission regulations. Should be plenty of coal trains
shining the rails to Bow for many months. Bow is one of the main reasons that
PSNH will be keeping their rate increase considerably lower than other NH
suppliers for this winter.

The sun will shine for now on this plsce but the national trend is downward. Given how New England reacts to national trends (usually ten years behind) we probably have ten years or left on this puppy.

Happy 2015.

PSNH Bow generates the lowest cost electricity in a state where there is over demand and under supply. If the Northern Pass doesnt happen it will continue to get worse.

In neighboring states where plants have closed there has been over supply and the electricity the plants produced was too expensive to sustain operation.

Bow is not going anywhere for a long time.

Well, New Hampshire is totally backward in all things infrastructure so they're going to be coal- and nuke-dependent longer than all 5 of their New England neighboring states. It's to the point where doing nothing is going to leave them absolutely screwed in a couple decades when Bow needs its next major rehab/upgrade and Seabrook's license is up and needs billions in retrofits to keep going. The trend in the rest of the region is going to stay the same...what's left of the coal power generation shriveling to too little for any rail carrier to possibly make a profit. They've all been converting to natural gas-fired at a breakneck pace and going big on wind power over the next 20 years. Massachusetts has zero coal power generation left with Mt. Tom's closure. Vermont and Rhode Island have zero coal plants and zero intake from coal-generated electricity. Bridgeport Harbor is the last in CT and more or less insolvent and despite the operator's claims to the contrary it's unlikely to survive much longer. Maine's down to one and plans for a second have been blocked multiple times over. There simply isn't any power plant fuel in the region beyond anachronistic Bow that lends itself to rail transport. And that includes petroleum-fired plants, which are likewise getting the natural gas conversion treatment with the non-converts likely next on the chopping block when some of these big offshore and mountain peak wind projects go online.

There's not even thru traffic potential for anything other than the ongoing crude oil boom to/from Canada. What little coal generation exists in the northeast immediately outside of New England is all far western NY in anthracite territory or the remaining industrial dumps of the southern swath of Greater NYC. And that fuel supply--such that it still exists--is all going to come on CSX and NS from the west and south or CP from Canada instead of on haulage through New England. The profit margins are simply too low for multiple handoffs.

Dunno what else may be happening, but with the general decline in demand for coal, PSNH might be finding itself in a very advantageous pricing position. In earlier years, the cars for Bow service could be and frequently were a hodgepodge, including leasers, some of whom had SLSF branding ghosting through the paint-overs. More recently, the 88 have been all NS or NS plus a few CR, and aluminums, which had been a rarity around here, have become far more frequent and numerous, possible indications of the increasing availability of company rolling stock and the increasing relative importance of Bow.

What about Schiller station in NH near Portsmouth? I think they are on the Newington branch.