Slushbucket wrote:FYI, the ex-MBTA leased GP40WH-2s (51, 59, 66) are headed to Rhode Island for storage.
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?20140 ... 913061.jpg
And in dispute, too.
Technically those units were not leased by the MBTA, they were leased by their then-operator: Mass Bay Commuter Railroad (partnership of Veolia + Bombardier + Alternative Concepts, Inc.). MBCR lost their contract renewal this year to Keolis, who took over ops on July 1. And lost it acrimoniously since they were threatening everyone in earshot with lawsuits through the first half of the year before slinking off out of town at the handover. Since it was a 3-way partnership formed for ONLY the singular purpose of winning the T commuter rail contract, MBCR are now a defunct organization save for whatever skeletal staff is still processing closeout paperwork.
Amidst all this drama, MBCR "forgot" to take those 3 inoperable hunks of junk with them when they split or notify MPI that the lease was up and they could come fetch 'em. So the now-defunct commuter rail operator that was making legal threats to anyone and everyone is the entity that has to pay the waybill for taking those back.
The T's breaking in its brand new locos and brand new coaches, and doesn't have any space left at their primary maint facility with all the new overlapping with old. These inoperable MARC Geeps that aren't theirs were taking up valuable real estate. But the rival operator, Keolis, that's now in charge was afraid to move them out-of-district because they're MBCR's property and they were one of the ones threatened with suit. So...the T had already taken out some rent for unused yard space with the shipping terminal shortline at Port of Davisville, RI near the last Providence Line commuter rail stop to stuff 60 of their retiring coaches and retiring locos in mothballs for a year until the scrap and re-sale bids go out. How to solve the problem of getting them offsite, but in-district so MBCR's lawyers don't get all stabby? Why...they just lashed them up to a gigantic non-revenue move of dead coaches to Rhode Island. If MBCR ever wants to send MPI the bill to go pick their property up in Rhode Island, they're free to do so. Otherwise they'll just rot and get vandalized down there until the storage lease in the freight yard expires, the coaches/locos they're being stored with are all gone, and they get declared abandoned or MPI goes after the ex-MBCR partners for monetary damages.
Problem...solved?