Searsport Activity

DIM-11 number 3 departed Smiths Falls, Ontario a little after 0600. G13 took the empties from #2 north last night.

DIM-015 (the third train noted above) was into Greenville Jct. at 13:41 with 9821/BNSF 7108, 60 flat cars.

windmill train headed toward Bangor and searsport
looks like 25mph on the bangor sub

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe1dROtyCO0

Yes it was recently upgraded.

I know Vestas paid for the upgrades at Searsport, maybe as part of that deal CPKC got them to do the upgrades necessary for 25 MPH.

I'm told there may be some new upcoming traffic to Searsport. We'll wait and see

According to a friend who is in the know with a few of the pilots for Searsport, Sprauge will no longer be shipping clay slurry out of Searsport. There should be enough slurry to last until mid to late December.

Correct-- Imerys was sold back in July and is now called Artemyn. They are stopping all the imports of clay and sourcing from their own facilities in Georgia. Should still come by rail though but just not Searsport. There should be some new traffic coming that will more than make up for the loss.

I will believe the new business when I see it. They don't have the unloading equipment currently for one and for two once the public finds out about what is going to be unloaded down there, I have a feeling it will get shot down.

MaineRailfan wrote: ↑Mon Dec 02, 2024 9:03 am I will believe the new business when I see it. They don't have the unloading equipment currently for one and for two once the public finds out about what is going to be unloaded down there, I have a feeling it will get shot down.

How is that any different than what is already coming into Searsport by ship?

They could transload from railcar to ship like they plan instead of doing it at Albany, but if they use the Irving/Dead River rack they would only be able to do a handful of cars at a time. If they refit the slurry racks it would be a similar amount as well. But if they are going to move an entire unit train down there at a time they are going to need a whole new rack set up somewhere.
How is the proposed business any different than the LPG terminal that got killed years ago? The residents are fine with what is there now because its the status quo. Any attempt to transport any new haz-mat commodities, or to build infrastructure to handle them has historically had significant opposition leading to the cancelation of those projects.

The proposed LPG project was going to build a massive new storage tank, which residents mentioned would diminish property values. It is well documented.

https://www.penbaypilot.com/article/pla ... tank/12192

I am well aware. There was also significant concern over the flammability of the fuel. Which I can imagine similar concerns will be raised with the ethanol since it has a very low flash point.

Ethanol already comes into Searsport by ship.