Railroad Forums
Salem Action Alert
- 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
PAR 507 with the usual assortment of hoppers and acid cars headed towards Peabody
Heard them leaving the salem yard at 1:05am. Seems odd time. haven't heard nor seen a train through there in a couple months. The plant has been receiving more deliveries by truck. I do drive by the plant daily. Maybe CSX renegotiated the terms or are in the process of ending the service, which makes sense since there are no other customers north of Boston.
Last edited by MEC407 on Thu Nov 24, 2022 7:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: unnecessary quoting
The Salem mayor wants the line abandoned for a rail trail. She may have swayed CSX to start to end service on the line. Makes common sense.
Rail service to the plant is not going anywhere. Crew call times changed.
Rail seems far safer than trucks to ship the hazmat sulphuric acid used in volume by the plant
I had understood that the load numbers to Rousellot were much more than they were to eastman Gelatine. They had also received a grant for additional track area for storage on the property...not sure where that stands. Why wouldn't CSX continue? They don't pay any of the track maintenance between Boston and Salem. Minimal maint. between salem and Peabody, although PanAm did some work on theat section about five years ago.
A bike path...not another one (even though I do bike)! They could easily fit a bike path from Salem to Peabody along the existing right of way, without losing the track. The right of way was double tracked from salem to Peabody Square for many years until the late 1950s. PLUS, the City of Peabody is still talking about a trolley connection from Peabody to Salem station. There is still a remote...very remote possibility that the line beyond Rousellot could be reactivated to the industrial park...you never know...I see one via youtube in Taunton undergoing revival, and my hunch is that CSX would be more aggressive in maintaining and expanding their customer base.
Want to see an example of a dopey bike path on a street? Check out the newly "designed" pathways and parking on North Street in Salem...a mess waiting to happen.
Steve
A bike path...not another one (even though I do bike)! They could easily fit a bike path from Salem to Peabody along the existing right of way, without losing the track. The right of way was double tracked from salem to Peabody Square for many years until the late 1950s. PLUS, the City of Peabody is still talking about a trolley connection from Peabody to Salem station. There is still a remote...very remote possibility that the line beyond Rousellot could be reactivated to the industrial park...you never know...I see one via youtube in Taunton undergoing revival, and my hunch is that CSX would be more aggressive in maintaining and expanding their customer base.
Want to see an example of a dopey bike path on a street? Check out the newly "designed" pathways and parking on North Street in Salem...a mess waiting to happen.
Steve
That is correct, it's no real skin off their back to go there and the volume is decent.
Get your pictures of freight north (east?) of Chelsea/Everett now while you can: https://www.salemnews.com/news/peabody- ... 6e550.html
I can't see the Peabody line lasting long without any traffic. RIP 100 jobs and the branch will probably be a trail within 5 years.
I can't see the Peabody line lasting long without any traffic. RIP 100 jobs and the branch will probably be a trail within 5 years.
My hunch is that the track from Salem to Peabody, once the plant closes, will immediately be placed out of service. Sad to have seen go from busy in the 1960s to what it is today. I had hoped that maybe there would be a new customer at the Industrial park at the end of the line to save the line.
Steve
Steve
CSX will try to abandon all industries in Boston and the surrounding communities. There is just not enough business left to make it worth the hassle and costs of servicing any industry.
Interesting to note that Rousselot is owned by Darling International. The last carload customer in the city of San Francisco is Darling International which loads tank cars of tallow, apparently from local restaurants and food processors. Similar situation to Boston - all rail yards have been repurposed to high tech or expensive condo developments. The two cities seem to be in lock-step in their planning.
lightbulb wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 4:17 pm CSX will try to abandon all industries in Boston and the surrounding communities. There is just not enough business left to make it worth the hassle and costs of servicing any industry.False. They have no trackage fees and what little is left for Boston traffic makes money at a decent margin. Even going out to Peabody is profitable.
The Finks were kings of shrewd and if it didn't make sense from a profitability perspective it would have been left on the vine a long time ago.
Everything else besides Rousselot is right off of the mainline and requires close to zero maintenance expense.