Single track Chicago Line?

tree68 wrote:

BR&P wrote:I think it is extremely doubtful that CSX will melt away and become inefficient.

Reported on another forum that UPS is pulling their traffic off CSX and putting it on trucks.

That'll make life a lot easier - that many less cars to move, and expedited cars to boot. That'll help let EHH drop the Chicago line down to 50MPH or less....

I've seen Q003 several times in recent weeks, with UPS trailers.

This says a lot...http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/fre ... eport.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

RMB357 wrote:This says a lot...http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/fre ... eport.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Reading that stuff makes me sick. CSX has pretty much destroyed the high standard of service that Conrail established over a period of time. The CSX takeover was not good for Conrail customers but now it has become a disaster which will take a lot of time and effort to recover.
Noel Weaver

And now a Chicago to Selkirk 178 car train with hazmat just derailed on the bottom of Sandpatch in Hyndman. Unreal

Chicago to Selkirk via southern Pennsylvania?

Yeah, that makes sense.

Maybe EHH can accuse the trains and infrastructure of resisting change as well. How dare a train straight-line on a sharp curve without helpers in the mountains!

Looks like Hunter Harrison is doing to CSX that Ron Johnson did to JC Penney...

The key difference between CSX and JC Penney is customer demand. There is a surplus of mall space in the US (where JC Penney stores are located), so downsizing is a logical outcome. On the other hand, there really isn't a surplus of RR trackage in the US. Indeed, the Water Level Route handles roughly 75-80% of the Class 1 freight trains in NY state, so it is needed.

JC Penney is in a rough spot and not even a financial wizard like Warren Buffet could stop their decline. By contrast, CSX had been doing well prior to EHH. The revenue and stock price had increased in 2016, despite the loss of coal traffic. Although I was happy with the results, other shareholders apparently wanted more and approved EHH to replace Ward.

Here's the part that worries me: the lost business might not come back. One only needs to look at Maine's potato industry and their strong reliance on the trucking industry after PC "misplaced" a train for a week in 1968. That was almost fifty years ago! Shippers will go elsewhere if EHH's policy continues. Connecting shortlines could get caught in the crossfire, too. While I am skeptical of the Water Level Route being single tracked, I do fear it will not a vibrant future.

Matt has a valid point about lost traffic sometimes not coming back. Many years ago I was involved with a potential shortline operation in Canada which served two major customers. The food processing plant at the far end was very enthusiastic about rail. Since the paper mill half way was a large rail user, we were optimistic.

But when we called on the paper mill, it turned out that they had been told by the Class I that the line would be abandoned, and immediately began making alternative plans. They had bought trucks, and also had entered into contracts with private truckers. To enable the truckers to justify buying enough equipment, they had signed long-term agreements. So even if the shortline had been created and gave excellent service, the mill was committed - both financially and legally - to use truck for the overwhelming percentage of its traffic.

I believe that rail line is now a hiking trail.

CSX should bear in mind that the longer the chaos and service issues continue, the more traffic may be lost for good regardless of how well the railroad may recover in the future.

BR&P wrote:CSX should bear in mind that the longer the chaos and service issues continue, the more traffic may be lost for good regardless of how well the railroad may recover in the future.

Until NS messed it up and CSX have new ceo. UPS and other trucking companies would come back..

I also worry a lot about the shortlines whose only connection to the national rail network is through CSX. If CXS does straighten things out (which I believe is going to take a long time) they may be able to bring back some of the lost big shippers but unreliable service to the shortlines could be devastating. Many run on very little profit margins and losing just one or two customers to trucks could be devastating to them. The longer this melt down continues the more precarious things become for the shortlines and even regionals in some cases.

J.L.

sd80mac wrote:

BR&P wrote:CSX should bear in mind that the longer the chaos and service issues continue, the more traffic may be lost for good regardless of how well the railroad may recover in the future.

Until NS messed it up and CSX have new ceo. UPS and other trucking companies would come back..

To repeat, UPS is still using CSX. I saw UPS trailers and containers on Q003 in Riga just two days ago.

Matt Langworthy wrote:To repeat, UPS is still using CSX. I saw UPS trailers and containers on Q003 in Riga just two days ago.

Speaking of WHEN CSX lose UPS to NS... apparently not now.. or not yet...

Driving back to L.I. last sunday, stack train was sitting above 87 in Suffern. They are having trouble to get trains into Oak Island... ON SUNDAY NIGHT!! the leastest traffic of the week.

Other than derailment few months ago, that is first time I had seen sitting train on 87 in 1 yr and 8 months.

Weekends are when arriving trains tend to stack up at terminals. Consignees haven't been picking up containers since Friday night, and won't be until Monday morning (when everybody will want theirs right now), but the trains keep coming in.

Matt Langworthy wrote:

sd80mac wrote:

BR&P wrote:CSX should bear in mind that the longer the chaos and service issues continue, the more traffic may be lost for good regardless of how well the railroad may recover in the future.

Until NS messed it up and CSX have new ceo. UPS and other trucking companies would come back..

To repeat, UPS is still using CSX. I saw UPS trailers and containers on Q003 in Riga just two days ago.

That's cause there are not enough drivers to move it all.But UPS is moving what they can to highway.A fellow driver is now doing nothing but moving UPS trailers from Boston to Chicago and back..