POED / EDPO (Portland - East Deerfield trains)

NuBlue trailers 600 and 608 were led dark blue 615, which still had HLCX visible in its sides, as they sat pointed west, followed by about a half-mile of cars, at Second Street in Westford on the Graniteville main on 03-09-2011 at 1030. D-3 talked to them later, calling them POED.

It was a nice and simple plan. On 03-17-2011, POED's power would head-pin, leaving its train on the Brook, head to Hill Yard, and swap for other power. At 0958, OldPaint 616 and NewBlue 607 rounded the corner on East Wye and disappeared. With the power, disappeared the simplicity. The new power, which supposedly contained newest-semi-long-term-visitor UP 5519 and also contained a unit that maybe did or maybe did not work that maybe AY-4 could or could not help switch out. Commuters went east. Commuters went west. Conversations took place. AYMO's power with the black-lined SOO middle unit headed east. FI-1 came in West Wye and sat on East Wye. ED495 with NewBlues 604 and 612 plus 34 highballed the town. Still POED was deep in the yard.
My modulus of elasticity of patience having been exceeded, I headed west. At 1209, already more than two hours after entering Hill Yard, yet another conversation took place in which POED told D-3 that -- after having had a job briefing -- it might still another quarter to half an hour before they could return east in order to return to going west.

Sounds like an otherwise normal day - such a shame....

Years and years ago I actually chased, in one day, in daylight, a train from Lawrence to East Deerfield, and the leader had to be spun at N. Chelmsford too. Someday I'd like to see that again, but holding my breath, I am not.

It's part of PAR/S's Be Kind to Fans Program. Keeping train speeds low helps keep chasers like us from getting MSP and local PD autographs.

Maybe PAR, not PAS. The NS is on them to keep the speeds up. There were no 10's west of Ayer before the spring thaw and flooding happened. A bunch have popped up now though. I imagine they have already begun ironing them out.

I don't doubt Norfolk's applying pressure, but there has been at least some historical tendency for Pan Am R and S to -- I never thought I'd quote Nancy Reagan -- "just say no."

In this case they have no choice. If they say no the Horse coffer shuts : )

I hope -- with the change up top -- there's quicker response to "suggestions" from the South.

Assuming my fingers, toes, and brain were working the way they should, 131 -- yes, one hundred thirty-one -- cars were west of Millers Falls on 1 at 1122 on 07-07-2011, hauled by OldPaint 617, NewBlue 608, OldPaint 618, NewBlue 505, OldPaint 305, NewBlue 602, and OldPaint 619. No idea if any were isolated. There were the usuals -- OMYAs and other slurrries, paper-chemical tanks, boxes, mostly grain-service covered hoppers, and MT spines.
What was unusual was a cut of BM four-digit MT and well-worn boxes. Any idea if they're headed for disposition?
Also, any idea if the train length was from still catching up with the holiday, or diverting some CSX traffic to RJ to maximize the daylight work-window on the Worcester line, or a combination?

Intermodal spines? Were these picked up somewhere or originate from Portland?

CN9634-
Bulkhead spines, possibly in lumber service. As to point of origin, your guess is probably better than mine.

jaymac wrote:Assuming my fingers, toes, and brain were working the way they should, 131 -- yes, one hundred thirty-one -- cars were west of Millers Falls on 1 at 1122 on 07-07-2011, hauled by OldPaint 617, NewBlue 608, OldPaint 618, NewBlue 505, OldPaint 305, NewBlue 602, and OldPaint 619. No idea if any were isolated. There were the usuals -- OMYAs and other slurrries, paper-chemical tanks, boxes, mostly grain-service covered hoppers, and MT spines.
What was unusual was a cut of BM four-digit MT and well-worn boxes. Any idea if they're headed for disposition?
Also, any idea if the train length was from still catching up with the holiday, or diverting some CSX traffic to RJ to maximize the daylight work-window on the Worcester line, or a combination?

Just normal traffic for a couple days. POSE and SEPO ran today too.

EDPO with OldPaint 617, NewBlues 609 and 352, and OldPaint 333 plus 68 got east of the Ayer platform on 1 at 1123 on 08-10-2011. There were a couple of spines with new ties, mebbe for Brunswick, mebbe elsewhere. At Willows, it would pass a decrewed POED on 2 with OldPaints 312 and 619.
I stopped listening a bit later, but things would probably be "interesting" on D-2 even later than that. SEPO had gotten east of the East Wye at 0950 in reverse numerical order with CSXTs 598 and 597 plus 93 at 1017 and would be doing a power swap mebbe around Maaco with WAAY. Besides 2 EB and 1 WB freight movements crowding into the Merrimac Valley with a less than opportune interval, there was the possibly confounding variable that mebbe only the 598 had a receiver, so there might have to be wyeing at CPF-NC, but the D-2 TOM is more than adept at dealing with variables that confound.

Today's EDPO arrived at Rigby around 1800. I managed to catch it at CPF 221 at 1729. I noticed a good 15 BM or MEC gondolas filled with scrap metal. Just so happens that the EDPO of Wednesday, 12/21/2011 also had a lot of scrap metal gondolas. Where is this headed and where did it come from?

About 20% of this train had paper-related cars. Some OMYA tankers and Sodium chlorate cars.

Also about 20 centerbeam cars, all empty.

Also noticed that the shawsheen railcam saw this train at 1209. Probably worked/lunched in Lawrence, right?