Pan Am Southern / Patriot Corridor Discussion

newpylong wrote:It doesn't really.

I have to wonder if there's an angle for East Coast traffic coming from Maine that might otherwise have transited via CSX.

NS doesn't care about Maine.

Besides, if the customer is on CSX that's where the cars need to end up, so sending them via NS makes no sense.

I wouldn't say they don't care about Maine per say, I would say they are interested in the NBSR and some paper mill traffic that they already handle on the pig jobs out of Ayer and EDMO/MOED jobs. Maine just happens to be right in the middle of where they would like to pull traffic. Saint John is a gem in the northeast and with a connection like NBSR, you could run oil trains both for the refinery as well as export, and intermodal traffic out of the (re) blooming port. But also you can open up the VRS/CMQ/NBSR gateway which is ready to handle full clearance trains (Maybe some obstructions on the Conn River, I don't know enough) to meet PAS/NS that could be a loophole to avoid the problems on Districts 2 and 1

Isn't the point that NS gets to connect its Crescent Corridor and Heartland Corridor to New England, offering great, double-stack intermodal and auto rack (new car delivery) service deep into New England (ok, Mass.) , at which point it switches to road? (and has bypassed NYC's awful roads, congestion, and tolls). The big road-rail freight shippers (UPS, FedEx, JBHunt, Schneider) and the foreign auto makers in the south are going to love seamless rail trips from factories (and intermodal terminals all along the Crescent Corridor) in the South to intermodal terminals in New England.

To me, a big part of being "Pan Am Southern" is being directly connected to the Crescent Corridor, and getting the Crescent Corridor treatment (intermodal terminal upgrades).

Arlington wrote:Isn't the point that NS gets to connect its Crescent Corridor and Heartland Corridor to New England, offering great, double-stack intermodal and auto rack (new car delivery) service deep into New England (ok, Mass.) , at which point it switches to road? (and has bypassed NYC's awful roads, congestion, and tolls). The big road-rail freight shippers (UPS, FedEx, JBHunt, Schneider) and the foreign auto makers in the south are going to love seamless rail trips from factories (and intermodal terminals all along the Crescent Corridor) in the South to intermodal terminals in New England.

To me, a big part of being "Pan Am Southern" is being directly connected to the Crescent Corridor, and getting the Crescent Corridor treatment (intermodal terminal upgrades).

None of this traffic is running up here yet. The 22k/23k is all from/to the west.

CPF363 wrote:

Arlington wrote:To me, a big part of being "Pan Am Southern" is being directly connected to the Crescent Corridor, and getting the Crescent Corridor treatment (intermodal terminal upgrades).

None of this traffic is running up here yet. The 22k/23k is all from/to the west.

But that's got to be the plan, right? If you're NS and looking for growth opportunities, and a way to leverage the considerable work done on the Crescent and Heartland Corridors (double-stack clearance and shiny new intermodal terminals), extensions that reach into New York and New England are the way to go. Its got to be (in the long run) about Autos and national accounts like Schneider, JBHunt, ABF, and FedEx/UPS, and equally about taking business from the highways and tollways as it is about muscling in on CSX.

Arlington wrote:

CPF363 wrote:

Arlington wrote:To me, a big part of being "Pan Am Southern" is being directly connected to the Crescent Corridor, and getting the Crescent Corridor treatment (intermodal terminal upgrades).

None of this traffic is running up here yet. The 22k/23k is all from/to the west.

But that's got to be the plan, right? If you're NS and looking for growth opportunities, and a way to leverage the considerable work done on the Crescent and Heartland Corridors (double-stack clearance and shiny new intermodal terminals), extensions that reach into New York and New England are the way to go. Its got to be (in the long run) about Autos and national accounts like Schneider, JBHunt, ABF, and FedEx/UPS, and equally about taking business from the highways and tollways as it is about muscling in on CSX.

You will most likely see a pair of trains coming out of Ayer going to Atlanta. From there they may continue on to Dallas on the Meridian or into Mexico on the KCSM. Autos can now come directly out of Mexico as well but will probably move up to somewhere like Atlanta (from Mexico) where they can be distributed to other places in the US (to include Ayer).

The NS/Hunt pact will undoubtedly combine the strengths of both to market new business in the area. Schneider will not run on NS as they have a similar deal with CSX and run via Worcester. Parcel service stuff is for sure a possibility as well as Hub Group/EMP/Other RR owned boxes. What I think you will see for growth is 53' reefer containers that are coming up. A company just announced it will be starting a rail service to the Northeast with reefer trailers (Not sure the company name or which line they will use)

I'd keep an eye out on the up and coming 53' box guys like Swift, CH Robinson, Tiger, White Arrow, and CR England (Who also has 53' reefers). I haven't seen much on both CSX and NS for UPS and FedEx 53' containers but they run on NS in PA.

Of interest, CH Robinson has an office in both Portland, ME and Tewksbury, MA. Also, Eimskip can benefit from a stronger NS connection with the D&H purchase and PAS improvements. We will have to keep an eye out on the Poland Spring moves out of Auburn, if any more come to be.

Here's a couple shots of yesterdays EDPO...

Caught POED in Montague this morning. Large train.

what are the varying track speeds between Mechanicsville and Ayer?

GE45tonner wrote:what are the varying track speeds between Mechanicsville and Ayer?

Slow, slower, slowest, and "the MBTA paid for it"?

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:

GE45tonner wrote:what are the varying track speeds between Mechanicsville and Ayer?

Slow, slower, slowest, and "the MBTA paid for it"?

Haha, well done sir, you made me laugh with that!

GE45tonner wrote:what are the varying track speeds between Mechanicsville and Ayer?

Mostly 25 mph with some 40 out west and obviously on the T. Some semi permanent 10s sprinkled in as you expect.

There was a lot of 30 and 35 too but in an asinine move they reduced it all to 25 TT.

Whatever NS may be feeling about Maine, Maine feels enough about NS to send a letter of support to the STB for the D&H purchase, specifically referencing investment in the Patriot Corridor:

http://www.stb.dot.gov/filings/all.nsf/ ... 237234.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Maine, like PAR, may not want to have all its (cliché alert) eggs in one carrier, or NS may be only protesting its disinterest, or some unknown factor/actor is at play, or some or all of the previous may be combining in varying percentages.

jaymac wrote:Whatever NS may be feeling about Maine, Maine feels enough about NS to send a letter of support to the STB for the D&H purchase, specifically referencing investment in the Patriot Corridor:
http://www.stb.dot.gov/filings/all.nsf/ ... 237234.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That's a good letter. It reads as it should: anyone who shows the promise of improving connections and competition in New England should have the support of Maine. NS does, and Maine supports it. Nicely done.