I am not sure how aligning jobs which run as needed 1-2 times a week, and which haven't existed as a regular road job in over a year, are supposed to fix the congestion issue.
Even with the fluctuations in traffic off of CPKC, Irving is still able to fit the CSX and MNR traffic into the 10K foot train length limits. And even then, if traffic is left behind it is normally picked up by the weekend fiber extras (907/908) which are being used to meet the increased fiber demands of Woodland and Irving Pulp & Paper.
Patterson is adamant about not adding more trains, due to the current traffic levels and the fact that the traffic can still be baled into 120/121. Recently they stopped using Kirby as CSX's parking lot which will help out on the Irving end of things. They have started setting cars off at Bancroft instead and backhauling the MNR's. Once Knights siding is completed in the next month (Progress has been delayed due to the winter rain/wind storms), the MNR's will be set off there. It would make sense for 909 to backhaul the NBSR's and MNR's there for 120 to pick up. Plus eventually the cautionary limits are going to be pushed out to there, so the conductor could drive one of the company trucks out there to assist in switching. Plus EMR could fix the blocking issues coming off CPKC out there, vs tying up Brownville Jct.
For CSX bound traffic, at this point Hardy Pond would make sense since its empty, and would separate the MNR and NBSR traffic, where as 909 would have to dig what they need to get, at Knights. And 909 has to pass by there anyway. And if a 121 couldn't make it all the way to BVJ, they could always do a recrew at Lake View after the set out which is close enough one of the yard trucks could be used.
As for the trackage rights, I don't think those have been utilized since MEC stopped running the Vanceboro local. So I would be surprised if they even existed, especially considering how Irving only wants Irving crews & power on Irving track. Not to mention how Irving uses a different rules set (Canadian Rail Operating Rules aka CROR), with (for the most part) entirely different names/phrases than the NORAC system Pan Am/CSX uses. That would mean either Irving would have to switch to NORAC, or GCOR which is likely what CSX will start pushing for the Pan Am lines, which with how integrated CROR is on Irving, I doubt that will happen. Or plan B. would be CSX would have to train a select number of crews on CROR, which has its own host of issues. As far as I can remember it was always Irving crews who did the Mattawamkeag-Kirby interchange transfers. Even if CSX had trackage rights to Vanceboro, what would be the point in using them for the purposes of the interchange? They are just going to run into the same capacity issues they have now. Bancroft has like 80-100 cars worth of capacity. And track 2 at Vanceboro is only like 65 cars and the backtrack is 30 or so. Track 2 is used for customs kickers while the backtrack is extremely light rail, maybe 60 pounds if not less and it requires stretchers to go into/out of. McAdam is the other option, although it has been pretty full (I haven't been over in a few months), and normally they like to store fiber cars there, so its not really a good spot for an interchange. NBSR intended on reconfiguring the tracks so they would have two tracks I want to say from the defect detector to somewhere east of the main rd. However that project and the siding extension got canned once the intermodal died off. The ties and other materials from McAdam ended up on MNR. But that would require CSX to find crews qualified to enter Canada. Which thats what prevented a number of the guys east of Waterville from leaving to work for Irving.
Last edited by MEC407 on Tue Apr 30, 2024 6:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: unnecessary quoting