by Shortline614
Hello,
With Canadian Pacific's purchase of the Central Maine & Quebec, it seems that the former Bangor & Aroostook and International of Maine Divison have once again found their place in the North American Rail Network. So I think it is time for some reflection on the events of the past dozen years.
I was recently reading through some of the older posts on this board regarding the MM&A to get some perspective on recent events regarding railroading in New England. (I was not apart of this forum at the time.) It seems that just a few years ago the lines were more likely to end up as a snowmobile trail than an important rail route. When the CMQ took over, there were some who were rightly skeptical of their ability to succeed. (Iron Road and the MM&A both failed on the same route, so why would the CMQ succeed?) Yet, the CMQ did succeed, so well in fact that the very same railroad that left these lines for dead in the mid-90s, came in and bought them once again!
That leads to my question. Why did Iron Road and the MM&A fail, while the CMQ succeed? I would imagine that the railroads had very similar cost structures, operating over the same route and all. All three railroads also handled the same type of traffic. (Products of Forrests, Carload Traffic, etc.) Fortress put 50+ million into the CMQ while Iron Road and the MM&A made very little investments throughout their time. (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.) The overall state of the economy of Maine and the country as a whole was also much better during the CMQ's time during that of Iron Road and the MM&A. Are those two factors the biggest reason why the CMQ was successful?
Thanks.
With Canadian Pacific's purchase of the Central Maine & Quebec, it seems that the former Bangor & Aroostook and International of Maine Divison have once again found their place in the North American Rail Network. So I think it is time for some reflection on the events of the past dozen years.
I was recently reading through some of the older posts on this board regarding the MM&A to get some perspective on recent events regarding railroading in New England. (I was not apart of this forum at the time.) It seems that just a few years ago the lines were more likely to end up as a snowmobile trail than an important rail route. When the CMQ took over, there were some who were rightly skeptical of their ability to succeed. (Iron Road and the MM&A both failed on the same route, so why would the CMQ succeed?) Yet, the CMQ did succeed, so well in fact that the very same railroad that left these lines for dead in the mid-90s, came in and bought them once again!
That leads to my question. Why did Iron Road and the MM&A fail, while the CMQ succeed? I would imagine that the railroads had very similar cost structures, operating over the same route and all. All three railroads also handled the same type of traffic. (Products of Forrests, Carload Traffic, etc.) Fortress put 50+ million into the CMQ while Iron Road and the MM&A made very little investments throughout their time. (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.) The overall state of the economy of Maine and the country as a whole was also much better during the CMQ's time during that of Iron Road and the MM&A. Are those two factors the biggest reason why the CMQ was successful?
Thanks.
Barbecuing in Chessie's backyard. Host of "Shortline's Rail News & Comment."