Rumford Branch, RUPO / PORU

Some good news for Rumford as ND Paper just announced a $111 million investment/expansion at the plant with increases in both paper and pulp production.

The new pulp facility in particular is notable for the use of scrap paper as a feedstock. Expected to be sourced from "New England".

Well, they certainly shouldn't lack for scrap in New England given the vigorous recycling programs throughout the region.

gokeefe wrote:Expected to be sourced from "New England".

I hope that means it'll be recycled paper from ecomaine. The cities and towns that own ecomaine have been hit hard by greatly reduced demand for recyclable materials from China. (Thanks, Trump!) It would be great if there was a new local market for recyclable paper.

Same in NH and MA, they can't give the stuff away.

De-inked consumer post waste (CPW) paper is literally garbage and demand has tapered off (Cascade in Auburn was a de-inking operation) for non-virgin pulp made from CPW Paper. The investment in Maine is due to the healthy forest and rich mix of species to make either hardwood, softwood or blended virgin pulp. That's why the Chinese are investing, great forest and close to regional ports.

Not saying they won't use non-virgin pulp, as I don't know the intricacies of their plans, but I would say if you are looking to use CPW Paper you wouldn't put a plant far away from the feedstock resource... you'd likely put something closer to a large metropolitan area that creates a lot of that stuff.

EDIT: I missed the part about the Greenfield Recycled Pulp upgrade, that looks to be supplementary pulp for their corrugated paper board operations. The virgin pulp I have been told is for tissue operations, so they'll offer likely a diverse portfolio of pulp types (yes, there are several blends, chemistry, ect)

Portland Press Herald is reporting ND Paper LLC has reached an agreement to purchase the pulp mill in Old Town
with a restart in the first quarter of 2019 with an annual production of 275,000 metric tons of unbleached
kraft pulp. Earlier this year several partners looking to redevelop the mill, one being the University of Maine,
appeared to be headed to court involving various disputes between the partners, but none of this was mentioned
in the article or on a report aired on WCSH-TV.

Where I live in MA, the Fall Town Meeting is being asked to come up with another $80K to deal with unanticipated costs associated with recycled paper disposal.

For fans of long strings of uninterrupted boxcars and power heavy consists, here's yesterday's RUPO passing through Livermore Falls. Video is not mine.

https://youtu.be/q88aDRF47Wg

76 cars +/- ... Very interesting KCS boxcar with plug door at 3:47.

Less the 10 MPH, that is tonnage right out of he late 80s, good to see.

Been seeing bigger trains through Rockingham for a while now, up to 120 /130 cars. Lots of box cars in the mix. AYPO held at Swampscott street this morning waiting for Doweaster and the tail end was out on the main past 258 so they wouldn't block the crossing. There almost seems to be a schedule to boot, now that's scary, see how long that lasts.

When was it last TT speed of 25 on parts the branch?

It was TT 35 and 30 all the way up to PAR TT #1 (2008)- and was reduced to sometime 25 thereafter, and eventually down to MAS 10 in TT #4. The speed summary looks better to upper management when there's less on it.

newpylong wrote:The speed summary looks better to upper management when there's less on it.

True but I would imagine the car volumes are hitting them with other issues (excess crew hours etc.). I agree that this would have worked perfectly at the time. Now it's turning into a problem (for good reasons).