Port of Politics

CSX not only serves all five of the East and Gulf Coast ports involved in the transaction between British P&O Navagation and the Dubai concern, but also previously had a transaction with this same Emirates concern when they exitted the port management business themselves as part of their maritime operations divestment (primarily Sea Land sold to the Danish maritime concern, AP Moeller - Maersk).

I'm at a loss to think of any impact from the transaction when and if it moves forth, to CSX or, for that matter, any transportation company. In fact I think the topic title sums up the tempest in the teapot.

But contrary thoughts could be held; discussion anyone?

I dont think it would affect freight operations for CSX. Someone still has to move the containers in and out of the port.

CSX does not handle Miami nor Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale) for
that matter either. I realize that only the Port of Miami is involved in this
one but the Florida East Coast does the pickup and delivery at both of the
above ports here in south Florida.
In fact to the best of my knowledge, CSX handles no trailers nor containers here in south Florida, it is all handled by the FEC and there is a
lot of it in and out of both Hialeah and Fort Lauderdale.
Noel Weaver

Mr. Weaver--

Would you know if the Port of Miami is "open' to CSX for reciprocal swiching, or will FEC have a line haul on any traffic moving to/from the Port.

Also of interest is New York Times columnist's Nicholas Kristoff piece appearing yesterday. He seems to think the matter is of no concern insorar as either security or economic and efficient operations of the Port. In my opinion, Mr. Kristoff is pretty much 'center' in a conservsative (Tierney) to liberal (Dowd) scale of the columnists.

Brief passage therefrom:

• Let's be blunt: this fuss about ports is really about Arabs.
  
  Port terminals have been managed, without alarm, by companies from Britain, China, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan. So let's look at the arguments of those who believe we should discriminate against Arabs. ...
  
  Look, Kristof, if this is discrimination against Arabs, that's because it was Arabs who attacked us on 9/11 and still threaten us today. If Singaporeans were plotting to set off nuclear explosions in American cities, then we'd scrutinize them, too.
  
  Even if you believe in racial profiling, you have to look beyond the profile. Senators talk about Dubai in dark tones that suggest they've never been there. Dubai is the Disneyland of the Arab world — it's the place people go to relax, to shop, to drink. It is staunchly pro-American and pro-business, and its vision of the Arab future is absolutely the opposite of Osama bin Laden's. If we want to encourage Arab modernization, we should be approving this deal — not engaging in quasi-racist scaremongering.

For those with access to paid subscription Times Select, here's the "full monty":

http://select.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/op ... istof.html

I don't know about CSX with the ports of either Port Everglades or Miami.
The FEC does very little out of the port of Miami, they have a single track
branch into the port with a drawbridge on it but the last time I was down
in that area, the track had a fair amount of rust on it and it does not see
much use. It was at least at that time and I haven't heard anything to
change it, still in service as there were some pilot lights lit at various
crossings which have good protection on them.
FEC handles a lot of containers out of the Port of Miami but they are
hauled by road to the van site at Hialeah which is a huge operation and
can be viewed from Metro Rail trains enroute to Palmetto Station. The
check in area for trucks at Hialeah looks like a huge toll station on the
New York Thruway.
Port Everglades at Fort Lauderdale is a little different, there are active
tracks into that right out of the Fort Lauderdale Yard and those containers
do not need city streets for movement. The Florida East Coast runs two
solid trains out of Fort Lauderdale to and from Bowden in Jacksonville.
Noel Weaver

Isn't the line that follows SR 84 to Port Everglades ( Ft Lauderdale) jointly owned between CSX and FEC?

Since 'shipfanning' nowadays is even more a suspicious activity than railfanning, I haven't exactly been down that way in a while. I can remember when no one could care less if one were to drive down to the Port and watch the cruise ships sail. The same is equally applicable to parking along US41 in Miami opposite Dodge Island to watch that "navy' set sail on "Caribbean maneuvers'.

That container trains could be rumbling through your town shortly after the container has arrived in a UAE controlled port in NY/NJ?

To be fair , any foreign country controlled port?

If the majority of us Americans agreee on this, please email your Washington Reps , Let them know this CAN"T happen.

Not long ago they were pretty freindly with TERRORISTS!

jbeckley68 wrote:That container trains could be rumbling through your town shortly after the container has arrived in a UAE controlled port in NY/NJ?

To be fair , any foreign country controlled port?

If the majority of us Americans agreee on this, please email your Washington Reps , Let them know this CAN"T happen.

Not long ago they were pretty freindly with TERRORISTS!

Are you familiar with COSCO? They're extremely active at our ports. Guess who they're owned by. Which "guru" decided to create a political thread?

Any foreign country/company.

Sorry , I thought CSX and intermodal talk was Railroad, not politics..

sorry, GW

Looks like China? again, for the last TIME.. NO COUNTRY OTHER THAN U.S SHOULD CONTROL OUR PORTS?

Should UAE get JFK or Dulles Airports?

... and the importing of millions of barrels of toxic substances from those same countries must be stopped. Oops... that's oil.

68, were you against CSX when they had port holdings in Hong Kong?

Gilbert B Norman wrote:Isn't the line that follows SR 84 to Port Everglades ( Ft Lauderdale) jointly owned between CSX and FEC?

Since 'shipfanning' nowadays is even more a suspicious activity than railfanning, I haven't exactly been down that way in a while. I can remember when no one could care less if one were to drive down to the Port and watch the cruise ships sail. The same is equally applicable to parking along US41 in Miami opposite Dodge Island to watch that "navy' set sail on "Caribbean maneuvers'.

The line to Port Everglades once went west to the CSX but that got cut
when I-595 was built over the right of way. CSX has no connection to
Port Everglades. The FEC does serve that port on a regular basis and
they handle some cars in and out of there although I am not sure just
how many.
The FEC does make up two trains every day during the week at Fort
Lauderdale for Bowden, one of these train is solid containers and the
other one is mixed containers and freight. Most of the thru trains out of
Hialeah do not stop here but go right through.
Noel Weaver

This topic is in time-out for awhile........let's chill for awhile. I know it's a sensitive subject, but let's be nice to each other.

Us mods will decide whether or not to re-open or destroy the topic.

Thread is unlocked.........now let's play nice please? We will be carefully watching.

With the construction activities mentioned in the above posts, CSX decided to "steer" all of their intermodal business in Southeast Florida to the FEC, with the intermodal cars being turned over to CSX in Jacksonville, FL for the "long haul", and the reverse for intermodal traffic to Southeast Florida from the CSX.

ACLfan