by newpylong
gokeefe wrote:I've been pondering the relationship in Maine between propane traffic and strong rail service. Propane is interesting to me as one of the few freight types common in Maine that involves low volumes of carloads with a lot of local switching. This type of service for other commodities, such as lumber, often seems challenging for shippers to obtain in Maine unless they are located relatively close to other online shippers. Propane on the other hand seems to be a customer and load category that Pan Am (and other railroads) are more than happy to switch and serve.None of these. Right off the mainline somewhere or near a yard where the locals can get at it. The exercise is where the service can be best not what branch it would be nice to see it on.
Propane also has recently transitioned in Maine from being a gas fuel used universally throughout the state to being a fuel primarily in demand in more rural areas. This to me seems to be a natural consequence of the build out of urban and suburban natural gas distribution. Propane has also become more popular as a heating fuel due to its stable pricing and the efficiency of the appliances that use it (tankless hot water heating and very high efficiency boilers).
In terms of rural development it is interesting to note that there are several branch lines that have the potential for construction and operation of propane terminals that would improve propane distribution opportunities in the local area. There are at least four that immediately come to mind in central Maine, the Rumford Branch, the Lewiston Industrial Track (Lewiston Lower), the Augusta Branch (Waterville to North Augusta), the former Lower Road (through Gardiner), and the Mountain Branch, either at Westbrook or potentially a few miles beyond (not all the way to Fryeburg).
The question in my mind is whether or not the resulting base loads would be attractive to Pan Am. How big does a new terminal need to be in order to be worthwhile to serve? Obviously an online customer on the Rumford Branch could be almost any size and receive service. But what about something like the Lower Road, perhaps if the customer was in Richmond (somewhere not very close to the existing end of current service at the interchange). Same question with the Mountain Branch, if there was a propane terminal requiring weekly switching how much further up the Branch could it be before Pan Am felt it was too far to be worth it? Obviously Fryeburg is too far, but what if its only another mile down the line from the Sappi switch in Westbrook?