Rumors, rumors, rumors...

From what I understand, clearance improvements on the NECR and PW are initially being done for Import Auto traffic coming into the port of Davisville, RI. There is also talk of using this new high clearance route for inbound domestic/Canadian auto traffic as well as international Double stack trafffic coming from the port of Vancouver, BC. The PW has big Intermodal facilities at Worcester but not aware of there being any potential auto unloading sites on the PW or NECR for that matter.

Getting back to Ford, from what I hear, they have already told Guilford they are leaving this March. I don't think my source made this up. Unless Guilford offers them some type of counteroffer they can't refuse (which I can't see happening), I think it's a done deal. The fact that an earlier poster stated that unloading personnel from the Ford yard are already being transfered to GMX because of the loss of this business only confirms the story that I heard.

GMX,East Brookfield??

MickD wrote:GMX,East Brookfield??

Nope, the Intermodal/warehoue facility at Ayer. I think it's still called GMX?

No counter offer or anything else Guilford is gone at auto facility. There will probably be more to come.

I'm curious why Ford would opt for the CP yard in Framingham instead of the also unused ex-Chrysler facility in Westboro, MA?

A few thoughts come to mind....

1) Ford (along with GM) might go bankrupt in the next year or so depending on what happens with their employee retirement plans. Once a business goes bankrupt, any unpaid bills up to that point generally don't get collected or at least not in full. After the bankruptcy, vendors can expect to be paid 100% due to a court or trustees overseeing the business. So there could be some thought in Billerica that losing Ford now is a way to avoid financial exposure down the road..if there is a bankruptcy. However, once you close the door, and Ford reorganizes, the opportunity may still be lost.

2) Town of Framingham was looking forward to seeing the auto facility shutdown due to NIMBY concerns. I wonder if they are going to raise cain now that its coming back 100%.

3) Rumor has been around that the MBTA is going to buy the B&A mainline from Worcester to Boston so that they can run more commuter trains, though they might have CSXT continue dispatching it. Part of the CSXT plan had been to get out of Framingham and Westboro in advance of this change, now it seems this theory has gone out the window.

4) Westboro - always had the impression there may be other plans for this location. Especially as a bulk transfer facility for plastics, but with P&W now running such an operation in the south side of Worcester/Millbury maybe its a moot point.

We shall see...

I'd very much doubt that a possible Ford bankruptcy is any part of this. GM is in much worse shape and their demise is not expected for another couple of years. Also, RRs demand "net 15 days" payment terms unless under special (and unusual) agreement. Finally, GRS has been notorious in the past for shutting others off, i.e., not delivering cars, if the receivables start aging.

The environmentalists have always had it in for the auto yard at Westboro,as it's part of the "Great Cedar Swamp", and they would like to see the property revert back to swampland. Regarding Framingham, when I moved out of there 20 years ago the town had the "anti train" mentality, I see it hasn't changed.

JoeF

So what's the status on NS buying Guilford? I really hope it goes through.

SP 4449 wrote:So what's the status on NS buying Guilford? I really hope it goes through.

Why do you hope it goes through? There aren't to many regional railroad's left, we should be lucky this part of the country is one of the few that sill have one. Yeah NS, BNSF and UP are nice but Guilford is unique and rare. It may not look it from the outside but it holds a lot of character that the B&M and the MEC once had (technically still have). With NS coming that would all be gone and I have a feeling more abandonment’s would fallow. Guilford may have abandoned a lot of tracks since 1983 but let's face it; the tracks they did abandon had no profit. It was inevitable, but you know what the B&M, MEC and any other railroad would have done the samething, it was just Guilford who had the unfortunate it job of acting out on it.

Though I agree with you MEC407, I feel NS won't be much help. NS in my view seems more of a long distance career than a local carrier. I say that with out knowing much about NS but from what I have gathered so far. Can someone actually see NS reviving some of the lines that Guilford has abandoned over the years? Why is Guilford not putting money into there system? I know I said earlier that they abandoned every line that was non-profitable and deteriorated, but I don't understand why. You would think that they would know by abandoning tracks that it would bring them less money and far less chances for expanding business. My views of Guilford are split; I hate them but at the same time I don't. I'm starting to feel as though when Guilford took over the B&M, MEC and D&H they were using that to get to air traffic, and it seems that's their main focus with the Pan Am thing and the direction their heading. Can Guilford turn it around? What would they have to do? Or would it be better to just sell it to a bigger company like NS and let them rebuild what they destroyed?

Well a big factor you are leaving out is the Money NS will bring to the line. Think about it if they poured in a few million to upgrade track and infrastructure (Which Guilford has neglected to do) then service will increase. It'll take less time to get from Waterville to Portland (Seen trains go as much as 12 hours just to get to Portland, a 3 hour trip going 50.) So if the Rail is upgraded, capacity added, customers will come back. NS knows what they are doing, and they are completely commited to the Railroad (Unlike Guilford and how they're messing around with the whole PAN AM thing.) And who knows NS might reopen lines if they were to come here.

Well from my standpoint, I don't like a railroad who doesn't care about it's track conditions, therefore leading to derailments. In another topic I recalled an incident where I saw a train in late 2001 coming out of East Portal all the while the cars were rocking and rolling. I was amazed they didn't derail. I understand they installed welded rail there but until I see the entire line upgraded to better standards, I will remain skeptical about them. With NS buying them out, better track conditions could result.