by Cowford
"Likewise with the Rumford Branch, I think PAR would have no problem signing off on some kind of an agreement with the state, perhaps one that stabilized the freight tariff from those locations for a period of X years. I'm sure that would help the paper mills."
I would be highly surprised... no, shocked... if ANY road would agree to rate "stabilization" in exchange for public funding. PAR has stated that it is content being a low speed railroad. They see no significant benefit in higher track speeds. Many here will take issue with that, but with the majority of Maine shippers it's been transit time consistency, not transit time that has been the focus of their concerns.
PAR seems to be doing just fine without public funding. The only "cause" I could see that would benefit rail and shipper alike is in increasing lines to 286K. (I don't know the details of, say possible Rumford branch conversion rates needed to determine such a cost-benefit, so can't say definitively that 286K would be a worthwhile aim, and NO! I am not trying to start another 286K flame war as found in another thread.)
"...Short of full rehabilitation they wanted to relay the track that was torn up as an incremental step in maintaining the RoW. I think MDOT was wise in doing so as otherwise someone, somewhere in that area would eventually have come up with the money to build a trail directly on the RoW, thus likely forever ending future possibilities for service."
GO'K, in earlier posts on the Mountain, you had portrayed MDOT as being indifferent to the cause of the Mountain. MDOT was, in effect, placating local support for line rebuilding/reactivation. And now the expenditure of $5 million to relaying part of the line- without connecting the the existing trackage to the west- should be viewed as precient? Also, consider that the trail now in place along the existing track has rendered the roadbed unstable to the point that it cannot safely support rail traffic in many locations. Another case of MDOT foresight?
I would be highly surprised... no, shocked... if ANY road would agree to rate "stabilization" in exchange for public funding. PAR has stated that it is content being a low speed railroad. They see no significant benefit in higher track speeds. Many here will take issue with that, but with the majority of Maine shippers it's been transit time consistency, not transit time that has been the focus of their concerns.
PAR seems to be doing just fine without public funding. The only "cause" I could see that would benefit rail and shipper alike is in increasing lines to 286K. (I don't know the details of, say possible Rumford branch conversion rates needed to determine such a cost-benefit, so can't say definitively that 286K would be a worthwhile aim, and NO! I am not trying to start another 286K flame war as found in another thread.)
"...Short of full rehabilitation they wanted to relay the track that was torn up as an incremental step in maintaining the RoW. I think MDOT was wise in doing so as otherwise someone, somewhere in that area would eventually have come up with the money to build a trail directly on the RoW, thus likely forever ending future possibilities for service."
GO'K, in earlier posts on the Mountain, you had portrayed MDOT as being indifferent to the cause of the Mountain. MDOT was, in effect, placating local support for line rebuilding/reactivation. And now the expenditure of $5 million to relaying part of the line- without connecting the the existing trackage to the west- should be viewed as precient? Also, consider that the trail now in place along the existing track has rendered the roadbed unstable to the point that it cannot safely support rail traffic in many locations. Another case of MDOT foresight?