POSE / SEPO (Portland - Selkirk trains)

M426 received yard instructions for Ayer from B+E at about 21:00. I believe they were re-crewed at Still River.

M427 was onto the B&A at 08:09 with 475/3047/988 and 135 cars.

M426 was through Springfield Union Station at 13:56 with 483/466/335 and 73 cars.

M427 was onto the B&A at 08:09 with 4:67/482/5403 and 117 cars.

[Edited at 12:53]

M426 was through Springfield Union Station at 12:18 with 488/465/148 and 67 cars.

M426 received Ayer yard instructions from B+E at about 21:00.

M427 was onto the B&A at 06:58 with 483/466/335 and 102 cars.

M426 was off the B&A at 17:19 with 478/476/7241 and 91 cars.

An interesting tidbit from a Trains article earlier this week. It seems CSX is planning to significantly expand the complexity of their blocking on NE-bound freights out of Selkirk:

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.— CSX is wrapping up work at Cumberland Yard in Maryland that will enable the former Baltimore & Ohio main line to handle merchandise traffic moving between the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest that’s currently routed the long way around via Selkirk, N.Y., on the former New York Central Water Level Route.

CSX has been running the carload freight via the hump yard at Selkirk because Cumberland has lacked the necessary switching capacity due to a combination of being converted to a flat-switching facility and the subsequent removal of yard tracks, says Chief Operating Officer Mike Cory, who joined the railroad in September 2023.

[...]

Cumberland currently handles about 350 cars per day. Once the improvements are complete next month, the yard’s switching capacity will rise to more than 850 cars per day.

And then CSX will be able to shift a daily merchandise train pair to a Mid-Atlantic-Midwest routing via Cumberland. This will free up capacity at Selkirk, which will then be able to handle growth in paper, forest products, and waste traffic from former Pan Am Railways territory in New England.

[...]

Link: https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews ... le-content

Thanks for sharing the above. It's interesting - looking at the Google images of Cumberland yard, there are about 24 tracks that have been cut off and are now stub-ended. It's mostly a single-sided yard. It looks very strange to see; I really wouldn't be surprised to see CSX spend yet more money to put back in a bunch of the track that was (presumably recently) removed.

I believe that Google image captured a stage within the transitioning from (idled) hump yard bowl to flat yard with two switching leads entailed within this project. There's an updated image provided in the Trains article showing the new configuration connecting those ex-bowl tracks through those new east end leads.

In terms of Selkirk and New England, not only does this indicate additional blocks but also an additional road train pair to/from ex-PAR territory within the next few years as a Philly road train pair and blocking returns to Cumberland. They're preparing for volume growth over these next few years and not only arising from strategic investment in New England but in the Mid-Atlantic as well.

It's worth noting that in nearly every single Investor call and operations update with senior management at CSX, they have mentioned the ex-PAR territory. These are not off-handed comments but things that are mentioned deliberately. No railroad is perfect, but this level of attention to the Division is certainly positive and speaks well to its future.

The work they've done at Rigby Yard is astounding. It's almost unrecognizable compared to how it looked before CSX took over. And they're not even done yet.

M427 was onto the B&A at 08:05 with 488/465/148 and 117 cars. They stopped somewhere east of CP 48 for about a half hour, with the tail two cars finally clearing the live cam at 08:45.

M426 was through Springfield Union Station at 13:51 with 474/294/473 and 109 cars. They had a nice cut of clean BN hoppers on this one. No sign of them at CP 45 as of 17:10, the southbound Gardner Switcher just cleared the branch a few minutes ago after a short wait.

Carovail in Houlton on Maine Northern and Cavendish in Fort Fairfield get those BN and BNSF hoppers. They normally get them in the fall, I think they use them to ship out grain which is used as a cover crop by some of the potato farms. CMQ had a bunch of 3 bay hoppers they used until CP took over. CP either sold them or ended the lease on them and AEX got them, Phoenix Feeds has been getting them on occasion at Waterville.
You can see them further back in the train. This was the Presque Isle local which switched out Fort Fairfield and was headed back for Squapan.

M427 was onto the B&A at 07:52 with 478/476/7241 and 52 cars.

M426 was off the B&A at 16:20 with 464/5472/5440 and 86 cars.

EA dispatcher gave " M426 with CSXT 464 at CP45 Form DG 125 Burncoat to WOR 1 at 16:16 ,tie down at Still River."

EA told them "ok down to Burncoat."

M427 was onto the B&A at 09:11 with 473/294/474 and 104 cars.

[Edited at 19:03]

M426 was off the B&A at 16:54 with 475/487/519 and 71 cars.