lvrr325 wrote:The contract renewal may have allowed the move, but it was planned out well in advance; they spent about a year rebuilding the north end of the DL&W in Syracuse to allow the move under the excuse of Ontrack. I think the first press run was in May of 1992 with the 142 and all the local dignitaries on board (check Railpace, they published my photo). It could even be they brought in other business first, I know that first train had an NS unit leading. Others turned up with you name it for power, even new BNSF units.
I should do a "Trackside" book for that era.
Right. The Syracuse side needed a considerable investment before the trains could be moved. Prior to the Sealand Trains, the line only saw fairly limited local business. The move was part of the entire packaging including the purchase of the line from Jamesville to the connection with the Chicago Line, the upgrade of the trackage, the upgraded connections, the Ontrack project with the track to the new Syracuse Station, etc. It was quite involved.
The one aspect of it that didn't get built until much later was the connection in Binghamton from the Westbound DL&W main (or track 3) to the Eastbound Erie main (track 2). That would have to wait until after the NS takeover.
The change west of Buffalo was easier to make. Since CSX owned Sealand, they had no issue with changing the contract from CSX to CR. The B&P only had a handling agreement.
You should do a book. It was a very interesting era.