CSX Acquisition of Pan Am Railways

I can't imagine it would have stayed as a minor transaction. If a Class I buying the largest Class II in the country isn't Significant, what is? Particularly since New England really doesn't have many rail alternatives that don't involve going through Canada. (Are there any other rail routes across or around the Hudson in the USA besides Selkirk and the Amtrak bridge in Albany?)

markhb wrote: ↑Mon May 31, 2021 1:40 pm (Are there any other rail routes across or around the Hudson in the USA besides Selkirk and the Amtrak bridge in Albany?)

Poughkeepsie of course!

You jest, of course!

Ft Edward NY

Twice!

markhb wrote: ↑Mon May 31, 2021 1:40 pm Are there any other rail routes across or around the Hudson in the USA besides Selkirk and the Amtrak bridge in Albany?

New York harbor carfloats, plus, of course, Amtrak via Penn Station (I think that was proposed for a specialized TOFC/COFC single level route at one point)...

Hudson River Tunnels (Amtrak)
Selkirk (CSX)
Albany (Amtrak)
Mechanicville (Pan Am)
Ft. Edward (CP)

Ft. Ed is the point where the Hudson starts to head west away from the NY border.

Edit: If you want to include the Champlain Canal which connects the Lake to the Hudson in Ft. Ed there is a crossing in Whitehall (VRS I think).

Thanks everyone! I knew about the North River Tunnels but discounted them because AFAIK they don't carry freight, and I wasn't aware that any NY harbor car floats were still in operation. The real aim of my question was the number of rail routes available in the US to get freight off the New England/New Brunswick/Nova Scotia island formed by the Hudson, the canal, Lake Champlain and le Rue Richelieu and the St. Lawrence. More than I thought and decently sorted among current operators, honestly. Thanks!

jamoldover wrote: ↑Mon May 31, 2021 4:01 pm

markhb wrote: ↑Mon May 31, 2021 1:40 pm Are there any other rail routes across or around the Hudson in the USA besides Selkirk and the Amtrak bridge in Albany?

New York harbor carfloats, plus, of course, Amtrak via Penn Station (I think that was proposed for a specialized TOFC/COFC single level route at one point)...

Early 1980s with Roadrailers of produce from Florida. It was going to back into/out of the Harlem River Yard via Oak Point. They even got permission from Amtrak. John Kneiling also advocated for single stack COFC along the NEC via Penn Station....PC did it with Flexi-Vans of mail, why not? I wonder if TTAX spine cars could handle the vertical curve at the bottom of the tunnel, maybe the new one.

At $400/car for general commodities to cross from NY to NJ the carfloat route isn't that uneconomical...just that CSX controls New Haven to Fresh Pond for general merchandise so P&W can't use it to connect to Conrail Shared Assets or NS.

Amtrak CEO publicly kvetches about CSX acquisition of Pan Am in a 6/4/21 media release:

As currently proposed, the acquisition of Pan Am by CSX represents a significant threat to the American traveling public which relies on Amtrak and our state partners to deliver frequent, reliable and sustainable intercity passenger rail service. Unfortunately, we believe the proposed merger, in its proposed form, will negatively impact current passenger train service and future routes in Massachusetts and Northern New England that are identified in the Amtrak Corridor Vision.

It's not clear to me why the Amtrak CEO is being so hyperbolic about this acquisition given CSX has stated its intent to implement PTC on the Downeaster route to permit frequency expansion.

Per article in Trains Magazine on-line, CSX official response to Amtrak's vague, baseless, and unsubstantiated criticism of CSX (which scored a B+ with Amtrak in 2020) was:

“CSX commits to maintaining or improving existing service on Pan Am both as to customers and passenger service. We are confident that the pro-competitive acquisition of Pan Am will bring significant benefits to stakeholders in the Northeastern United States and beyond and look forward to presenting further detail illustrating those benefits.”

https://media.amtrak.com/2021/06/statem ... sx-merger/

The Downeaster is not subsidized by Amtrak. Amtrak merely runs the service for NNEPRA. The Amtrak CEO would do better to worry about how his trains will operate between Worcester and the Post Road Branch on the B&A. MassDOT should have the same concern for their East-West rail proposal. MassDOT intends to put back double track between Worcester and Springfield, AFAIK. When that will happen is anybody's guess.

This is the whole Gulf Coast expansion (New Orleans to Mobile) becoming a bigger issue. Amtrak feels CSX is playing hardball down there, so why not try and play hardball right back if the opportunity presents itself? Pan Am has been much better as a partner over the last decade than they were in getting the service started. It's not perfect but it's been a much friendlier tone.

Newpy: Obviously, he was not around when the cat fight was in progress between Guilford and their 112lb rail and NNEPRA/Amtrak. [He's been with Amtrak only a little over a year, IIRC.] Guilford lost that fight.

As Trinnau pointed out, Mr. Flynn has a fight on his hands on the Gulf Coast. My point was that NNEPRA should be just as concerned about what's going on down there. Are they?

Seems like a good opportunity to get CSX's commitment to extending service to Lewiston/Auburn or Bangor, moving the Portland station to the main line and anything else they might be considering like going to Concord, NH and increasing Boston - Albany frequencies.