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  • CSX Acquisition of Pan Am Railways

  • Guilford Rail System changed its name to Pan Am Railways in 2006. Discussion relating to the current operations of the Boston & Maine, the Maine Central, and the Springfield Terminal railroads (as well as the Delaware & Hudson while it was under Guilford control until 1988). Official site can be found here: PANAMRAILWAYS.COM.
Guilford Rail System changed its name to Pan Am Railways in 2006. Discussion relating to the current operations of the Boston & Maine, the Maine Central, and the Springfield Terminal railroads (as well as the Delaware & Hudson while it was under Guilford control until 1988). Official site can be found here: PANAMRAILWAYS.COM.

Moderator: MEC407

 #1564655  by JacobKoppel
 
Also on the topic of how all of this would impact CSX in Framingham, is it possible that csx could reconnect the north end of the Fitchburg Subdivision to what is D3 now with the switch opening to the west like it was years ago? It would be cool to see a train run East Deerfield to Framingham for example.
 #1564656  by J.D. Lang
 
I recall that GJ used to be clearance limited. No idea about now.
Good point about traffic moving from PAS. I forgot that
Wasn't part of the deal with giving NE Produce to Pan Am was that they were able to send taller reefers down there. Seems I read in one of these thread's that one bridge obstacle was taken care of.
 #1564657  by roberttosh
 
JacobKoppel wrote: Mon Mar 01, 2021 11:58 am Also on the topic of how all of this would impact CSX in Framingham, is it possible that csx could reconnect the north end of the Fitchburg Subdivision to what is D3 now with the switch opening to the west like it was years ago? It would be cool to see a train run East Deerfield to Framingham for example.
Not seeing how that would really benefit CSX?
 #1564660  by F74265A
 
First, bridge over route 2 in Leominster was removed. Second, believe the ROW was formally abandoned and sold for a trail. So I think this idea is exceedingly unlikely to even be considered
 #1564661  by JacobKoppel
 
Oh okay, thank you for the info. I guess CSX is slow to update their real estate boundaries on the map
Last edited by MEC407 on Mon Mar 01, 2021 1:07 pm, edited 1 time in total. Reason: unnecessary quoting
 #1564668  by F74265A
 
Mass has been trying to build a trail there for years and I understand construction started last year

I’ve always been intrigued by that connection. I started exploring the rail infrastructure in that area in the mid 1980s and my recollection is the connection was already moribund by then, It involved an interesting bridge in Fitchburg. I’ve been told the connection was closed as a practical matter at the beginning of conrail
 #1564670  by roberttosh
 
CSX already has direct PAS interchanges at both Rotterdam Jct and Ayer, which are likely their 2 protocol interchanges. Again, looking at traffic flows and existing business, I just don't see a business case whereby CSX would go through all that effort to have the connection reestablished.
 #1564672  by johnpbarlow
 
In a similar vein of out of the box ideas, there used to be a connection between B&M Worcester Main and the New Haven in the SE quadrant of the two lines’ crossing at downtown Clinton. Current aerial photo shows the RoW still appears to be there although I’m guessing track was lifted decades ago? At any rate, a restoration of the connection would enable CSX Worcester - Ayer main to connect with the CSX Agriculture Branch so that Ken’s Foods, the lumber distributor at Lancaster , and the new C&D transload in Leominster could be served by a local out of Worcester. But Don’t know if it’s possible or even an ops improvement to move this traffic out of North yard at Framingham. Food for debate... :wink:
 #1564675  by F74265A
 
I explored that connection on the ground in the 1980s. No one really cared then if you were on railroad property. At the time there was still some very old, rotten track on the ground. It was long abandoned at the time.
There is a significant vertical separation between the two lines and the interchange tracks had a very noticeable grade plus a sharp curve at the top. I always wondered how successfully and safely that connection was operated.
If there was a way to make it work, the track from roughly Marlboro to Clinton would be redundant
 #1564676  by roberttosh
 
CSX has no local switcher based at Worcester as the yard is purely set up for intermodal operations with some manifest block swapping taking place out on the main lines and passing sidings. The terminal is already congested and is only going to get more so with the Pan Am acquisition, so I highly doubt that they would try to shoehorn a local switching operation into the yard for one branch line and rebuild a long out of service connecting track when they already have a perfectly good setup going through Framingham.
 #1564679  by Red Wing
 
Okay I'm going to jump in on the Agriculture Branch . I would be interested if bulk water for Poland Spring might switch to rail from Maine if one railroad is involved, I could see tankers into Boston across the Grand Junction to Poland Springs. Of course I'm a forester and not a railroader or have an MBA.
 #1564684  by Ridgefielder
 
NYC27 wrote: Sat Feb 27, 2021 9:20 am
MEC407 wrote:One of the STB documents mentions that Vermont & Massachusetts Railroad (V&M) is 98% owned by Boston & Maine Corporation. Who owns the remaining 2%? I can't seem to find that in the document, but in my defense it's almost 400 pages long and I'm not going to read the whole damned thing.
Unknown....P&W had acquired V&M shares and used them as leverage, trading them to B&M/GTI to get the 3 miles from Barber to Worcester and the last mile of the Gardner Branch on the north end back in 1984. Bob Eder was a sneaky SOB. :P
I am absolutely stunned that the Vermont & Massachusetts, a railroad that has not had an independent existence since 1874, still has a corporate existence.

It's entirely possible that nobody today knows who exactly owns those other shares. They're probably paper certificates sitting in a safe deposit box in a bank somewhere in New England.
 #1564687  by PBMcGinnis
 
The yard at Lawrence, MA would continue to be the origin serving yard for all traffic around Boston/Everett/Charlestown/Somerville. Which has been the case since CSX gave that traffic to Pan Am to handle the past 3 years. No need to put a job a Framingham for that traffic. Plus you can hit all the customers in Wilmington, Winchester and Woburn via the various ways into the city from there. Also 1 less freight train for Keolis/MBTA to have to deal with on the Worcester line.
 #1564691  by newpylong
 
The word on the street is CSX plans to serve the Eastern Route traffic from Framingham in the future once the Grand Junction is cleared under Memorial Drive for Plate F. Who knows when that will be.
 #1564693  by F74265A
 
perhaps this is bc of the way the track around BET is being reconfigured. Maybe it will be easier to get to Eastern route from the GJ than from western route or the Lowell line
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