Trains on CSX St. Lawrence Sub (CR's Montreal Secondary)

There's already rumors he's going to close Selkirk

tree68 wrote:Track is an expense. Who cares if you can't run as many trains? You got rid of that expense, didn't you? One less thing to deduct from the bottom line. And more money in my pocket as an "investor."

The thing about those "marginal" lines is that they generate revenue. Sure, you have to switch them, and put them into trains somewhere, but they still generate revenue.

Kinda like cutting all the branches off a tree because the only useful part is the trunk (for lumber)... Then expecting the trunk to continue to grow...

Now I do agree with you here. I expect EHH will spin off or abandon more than a few branchlines. With that being said, the St Lawrence Sub is probably safe. CSX only has 2 connections with CN in the east and I don't think he'll want CSX to short-haul itself by relying on the Black Rock connection alone.

Northbound went up about dusk and didn't seem to have his headlight on. At all. Kind of odd.

CP4743 wrote:He did stop the CP SD60 rebuild program but he kept the ECO rebuild programs going at CP.

Sort of, but it was drastically curtailed which was what I was referencing. Plans before he entered the picture were to purchase approximately 60 Eco units a year, for a period of 8 years.

When he appeared, they tried to get out of purchasing the SD30C-ECO's. Plans were to purchase 350 of them as part of this program, but he immediately tried to cancel. He was unable to get out of it though and they were forced to accept the initial 20 that had already been contracted for and were under construction, but the contract options were allowed to expire for additional examples. They came back in 2015 a few years later though and bought 30 more that were delivered in 2016, for a total of 50 to date.

The Geep program also was cut back, but to a lesser degree. They stopped at 130 units rather than the planned 150, and started selling retired GP9's in 2015 which sent a clear signal that was it, since they had been used as trade-in fodder to recycle their Blomberg truck frames and air compressors for the otherwise all new GP20C-ECO's. They apparently viewed replacing their GP9's and such as a more urgent priority than SD40-2's, which certainly makes sense, so this one largely escaped unscathed.

But all and all, the ECO program should've been in its twilight by 2017 with them closing in on 500 units delivered. 180 units is a far cry from the planned 500.

A short Q621 cleared Watertown headed north about 4PM.

I think the DS said he had a couple of trains up around KALB, plus a local at Gouverneur, and the 621. Busy, busy...

tree68 wrote:A short Q621 cleared Watertown headed north about 4PM.

I think the DS said he had a couple of trains up around KALB, plus a local at Gouverneur, and the 621. Busy, busy...

Could have been busier but Q018 derailed at Batavia in high winds.

Leo_Ames wrote:Since I've kept my eyes open for years and have never managed to spot it, and I can't see it on any satellite images, could someone help me out with coordinates for this station in De Kalb that was moved (It's the 5th entry from the top of the list). Thanks

https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/479762830" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Once you know approx. where it is, you can't miss it.

Thanks Russ.

For some reason, I thought only Rt. 17 south of De Kalb Junction went by the road name listed there, so I never bothered to even try to find it on the other side. I bet I've driven by it dozens of times through the years.

Leo,

The old Dekalb station was moved down CR17 toward Old Dekalb. It is located a few miles down from the hamlet of Dekalb, on the righthand
side. Not sure if it is used for anything or not. I was in the station a few times in it's later years. At that time, it was being used to store small
amounts of track repair / maintenance materials. The office was still fully equipped with every form you could think of! I imagine, in true railroad
fashion, all went to the trash heap when the building was sold.

I quickly found it yesterday morning, thanks for the help you two.

Looks open to the elements and just like the picture of it at the surviving NYS depot website. Not beyond saving it looks like with everything nice and square still, but the clock has to be fast counting down for when it's a complete goner.

Q621 is heading up with all Norfolk Southern power leading.

CSX track geometry train north by MP3 at 9:45 AM. Spent a batch of time stopped there for some reason.

Oddly, there is a high side gondola between the loco and cars; the engine is a standard GP40-2.

Track geometry train returns south 1:30 PM. Same consist including the gondola.

lvrr325 wrote:Oddly, there is a high side gondola between the loco and cars; the engine is a standard GP40-2.

Probably there for braking - one coach doesn't add much to the mix.

When I had a geometry car several years ago, they didn't want us using the air as it would mess with their readings. Dynamics were the preferred method.

Was the loco, gondola, and two cars.