Falls Road Update

The IMF plant in Lockport served by the Falls Road Railroad closed on Friday. This was a fairly good railroad customer for the FRR. I'm not sure exactly how many customers they have now.

-Regular power has been the DL 334 in an LV inspired paint scheme. The unit faces east.
-The 1804 is layed up in the Lockport engine house in need of some major work.
-The 1802 is on loan to the Somerset Railroad while their GE switcher has been receiving a overhaul. However, apparently the SOMR had a little mishap with the 1802, resulting in major coupler damage. The cost for repair may be too high to fix it, and it may ultimately be scrapped for parts.

IMF, you mean International Multifoods on Park ave?

The same...

This is from a local Lockport paper...


Food plant closing leaves bitter aftertaste
Mark Lindsay
Tuesday, February 01, 2005

They should have been told face-to-face.

That’s what one longtime employee of International Multifoods had to say about the way they were told of the Lockport plant’s demise.

The West Avenue plant closed its doors for good Friday night, notifying some with a phone call and others with a certified letter Saturday morning. In all, about 48 employees lost their jobs.

“I would have thought they would have sat down and told us in person instead of sending something through the mail,” 40-year employee Michael Griesser said.

Employees suspected trouble might be on the horizon for their plant but were completely caught off guard by the abruptness of the closing. “I was shocked. It was hard to believe,” 60-year-old Griesser said.

Multifoods was purchased by the J.M. Smucker Company of Orville, Ohio, in March, which in turn sold the company a few weeks ago to Value Creation Partners Inc.

In a press release, Multifoods said it was notified Friday by Value Creation Partners that operation would cease in Lockport once the sale closes later this month.

“As a result, we have discontinued production, effective immediately, and will permanently close the Lockport facility,” the unsigned statement said. Multifoods officials refused further comment.

In its own press release, Value Creation Partners echoed the statements
made by the Multifoods spokesperson.

Scrapped because of a coupler problem? I've got more faith in the GVT shop forces than that!

I'd be shocked to see the 1802 parted out for a couple problem. For one thing the utility should be responsible for the cost of repairs and I'd think fixing the couple would be a lot cheaper than buying GVT a replacement locomotive.

RS

As Info, The Falls Road ran a snow plow extra last Friday

Dave