by dnelson
Many rumors that CMQs investment plan is to sell the railroad off in pieces over time, but it won't happen for a while.
Railroad Forums
Moderator: MEC407
Townshipfarmer wrote:They just put a lot of money in the Newport sub over the summer and they finally got the trains running at a decent speed why would they be cutting back on service?Was CMQ required in the terms of the deal with the bankruptcy court that they perform certain maintenance on all the lines? In hindsight it seems that the bankruptcy court's ruling to liquidate MMA as whole has devastated rail service in the Northeast Kingdom for the few remaining shippers, VRS and the State of Vermont's investment in the the WACR infrastructure.
fogg1703 wrote:Townshipfarmer wrote:They just put a lot of money in the Newport sub over the summer and they finally got the trains running at a decent speed why would they be cutting back on service?Was CMQ required in the terms of the deal with the bankruptcy court that they perform certain maintenance on all the lines? In hindsight it seems that the bankruptcy court's ruling to liquidate MMA as whole has devastated rail service in the Northeast Kingdom for the few remaining shippers, VRS and the State of Vermont's investment in the the WACR infrastructure.
MEC407 wrote:Maybe these lines are just cursed.It wasn't for very long but Iron Road did actually start making $ in the end while in Bankruptcy under the court appointed leadership of Ray Goss. Ray was born and raised in Newport Vermont and is one of the top dogs for G&W now.
Iron Road had all the flashy paint and marketing but couldn't make it work even when the economy was booming.
MEC407 wrote:Maybe these lines are just cursed.Well, honestly, we should be having this discussion in the "Irving System/NBSR/EMRY/MNR (Formerly MM&A/B&A)" forum right now. Saint John would serve as an anchor, traffic wise, east/west. Its this traffic that kept the pre-MNR NBSR system ticking. Searsport, where Irving has a terminal, would have given them options in Maine that they currently lack. Direct connection to CP would have opened up the potential for more overhead traffic. Potash could have come across Maine, rather than up and over. Would have been a great fit. I don't understand why they didn't bid on the whole thing.
Iron Road had all the flashy paint and marketing but couldn't make it work even when the economy was booming.
RailWorld was supposed to turn it into the next Wisconsin Central. Didn't happen.
RAH supporters say they'll turn it into the next Florida East Coast. Good luck with all that.
Would have been a great fit. I don't understand why they didn't bid on the whole thing.Because they realize you can't make a bad route good by painting the locomotives green. Up & over and down & around (in the case of PAR) are better options than being burdened with maintaining/operating hundreds of miles of main track.
Cowford wrote:Because they realize you can't make a bad route good by painting the locomotives green. Up & over and down & around (in the case of PAR) are better options than being burdened with maintaining/operating hundreds of miles of main track.I disagree. Its not a "bad route" at all. With current traffic levels its an anchor bringing CMQ down. But add in CP oil trains in 2016 and it'll survive until the magic date of 2022 when the CN/Irving deal expires . Thats when Irving will pounce. Irving was smart to hold off and let someone else (RA) buy an unpopular fixer upper and allow them to try and make a go at it all along knowing that the majority of their Midwestern bound traffic was going "up and around" by contract with CN. When the CN contract expires they put 100% of their outbound traffic over the Mattawamkeag/Moosehead line to Montreal and it becomes another conveyor belt for them. Mix in any Potash CP might gain back, IM to Saint John and any Auto and/or RO/RO traffic they can keep and it becomes a 2-3 train each way line again. Lets not forget as well that their is some originating traffic in the Eastern Townships that can blunt the additional 290 miles of maintenance. Getting to greater Montreal allows them to play all four Class I's off each other either by direct connection (CP, CN) or connecting carriers (CSX, NS).
fogg1703 wrote:Cowford wrote:Because they realize you can't make a bad route good by painting the locomotives green. Up & over and down & around (in the case of PAR) are better options than being burdened with maintaining/operating hundreds of miles of main track.I disagree. Its not a "bad route" at all. With current traffic levels its an anchor bringing CMQ down. But add in CP oil trains in 2016 and it'll survive until the magic date of 2022 when the CN/Irving deal expires . Thats when Irving will pounce. Irving was smart to hold off and let someone else (RA) buy an unpopular fixer upper and allow them to try and make a go at it all along knowing that the majority of their Midwestern bound traffic was going "up and around" by contract with CN. When the CN contract expires they put 100% of their outbound traffic over the Mattawamkeag/Moosehead line to Montreal and it becomes another conveyor belt for them. Mix in any Potash CP might gain back, IM to Saint John and any Auto and/or RO/RO traffic they can keep and it becomes a 2-3 train each way line again. Lets not forget as well that their is some originating traffic in the Eastern Townships that can blunt the additional 290 miles of maintenance. Getting to greater Montreal allows them to play all four Class I's off each other either by direct connection (CP, CN) or connecting carriers (CSX, NS).
As KSmitty points out, the line has value as a integrated conduit for maritime traffic. I see the line surviving and being maintained by RA until said time that Irving makes them an offer they can't refuse and makes the line whole again and runs it the way some here believe it will prosper.