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  • State of Maine Purchases MM&A Trackage

  • Discussion of present-day CM&Q operations, as well as discussion of predecessors Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MMA) and Bangor & Aroostook Railroad (BAR).
Discussion of present-day CM&Q operations, as well as discussion of predecessors Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MMA) and Bangor & Aroostook Railroad (BAR).

Moderator: MEC407

 #863038  by SemperFidelis
 
The State of Maine has decided to step in and save the trackage that was up for abandonment.

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/n ... p?id=24829

The state is purchasing the trackage and will contract with a private company for day to day railroad operations.

Government intrusion on private industry! I guess people's silly fears of socialism don't reach as far north as Maine...
 #863213  by ShortlinesUSA
 
Actually, I would not consider this a government takeover of private industry, but rather a transportation policy decision on the part of the state of Maine, approved by the voters of Maine via a bond issue. Private industry (MMA in this case) decided they couldn't make a go of this line, put it up for abandonment, and in the interest of preserving rail service to the benefit of the area's few remaining industries the state bought it.

Whether this ultimately winds up being the right move will play out over the years to come, but the bottom line is that by the beginning of next year, this trackage will be on its fourth operator in the last two decades, and the previous three have gotten out of it due to the economics (including a bankruptcy). That definitely points to a situation that will require a subsidy by the state for the years to come without a drastic change in the area's business climate.
 #863245  by MEC407
 
SemperFidelis wrote:Government intrusion on private industry! I guess people's silly fears of socialism don't reach as far north as Maine...
MMA asked the state to buy it. It was MMA's idea, not the state's. How is that government intrusion? The state didn't really want to -- God knows we've got a million other things we need to spend money on -- but MMA threatened to rip up the tracks and put hundreds out of work if the state didn't pony up the $$$. That's not socialism, my friend; that's capitalism run amok.
 #863247  by MEC407
 
P.S. We already have a thread on this subject.
 #863248  by scottychaos
 
ShortlinesUSA wrote:Actually, I would not consider this a government takeover of private industry, but rather a transportation policy decision on the part of the state of Maine, approved by the voters of Maine via a bond issue. Private industry (MMA in this case) decided they couldn't make a go of this line, put it up for abandonment, and in the interest of preserving rail service to the benefit of the area's few remaining industries the state bought it.
Put another way, It cant be a government takeover of private industry if there is no private industry to take over! ;)
(I know thats essentially what you said..)

Lots of government agencies do this to preserve rail service..many counties have bought lines up for abandonment, to help local business..
and of course Conrail and Amtrak are the ultimate examples..

generally im against Government interfering in private business too..
but when it becomes the ONLY remaining option, well..I dont see it as a bad thing..
as long as the people of Maine can afford to buy their own railroad, and it hopefully helps them in the long run..

Scot
 #863253  by MEC407
 
Like I said in the other thread, we can either spend money to keep the line open, or we can spend money to give assistance to all the people who would lose their jobs if the line was torn up. It's gonna cost us money either way, but which one is the better long-term investment? In either scenario, MMA gets a big infusion of cash. Very smart on their part. Yay capitalism.
 #863280  by Cowford
 
MEC407 wrote:That's not socialism, my friend; that's capitalism run amok.
You said it!
MEC407 wrote:we can either spend money to keep the line open, or we can spend money to give assistance to all the people who would lose their jobs if the line was torn up.
My personal opinion: the issue of potential job losses (should the railroad be torn up) has been drastically over-stated. The potato industry turned their back on the railroad years ago... its later decline had nothing to do with transportation costs); IIRC, LA-PAC in New Limerick only ships about 30% of their product by rail, and lumber (what's left of it) market share is probably similar. Much of that product could alternatively be trucked to rail-served transloads without tremendous cost penalty. I'm not saying rail service in the County doesn't help the area's competitive position... but it doesn't make a difference between life and death for the County's industries.
 #866100  by CNJ
 
This is not as uncommon as you would think.

It was done here in Texas when South Orient Railway petitioned to abandon its nearly 400 mile long line in west Texas.

The Texas DOT bought the line and is leasing it to FerroMex who is operating it as Texas Pacifico Transportaion.
 #866132  by calaisbranch
 
How about the case of the Rutland closing shop way back? The State of Vermont bought the Burlington-North Bennington-White Creek segment and leased it to the newly formed Vermont Railway in 1963. Whoever thought that the whole VTR/C&P would turn into what it is today? They certainly weren't handed a prefect scenario. Not exactly the same with the State of Maine being the buyer involved and amount of possible bidders this time, but a beginning almost "scarey" simliar to the VTR almost 50 years ago now! Desk jockies can push the stats from a chair as much as they want. Tell that to the the folks directly involved and/or affected by it. They'll be the ones who decide if it works or not.
 #866645  by Cowford
 
I don't think comparing the situation with the MMA and Rutland is quite apples-to-apples. While the Rutland was marginal and growing more so, it was labor that "decide[d] if it works or not." That road might well be around in some form today (similar to VRS) had it not been for labor's incalcitrance. On the MMA, it's a different day and based on what I've read, labor has largely given what they've been asked to. At this point, it'll primarily be the shippers that determine the new shortline's fate.
 #868874  by roberttosh
 
Anyone else hear about the crap that the MMA is trying to pull with CN's rights in Madawaska? Through a one time cash payment to Iron Roads at the time, CN got permanent rights several years ago to serve Fraser directly, but instead agreed to let MMA handle the business to St Leonard for them under haulage. Well I guess the haulage expired and instead of renegotiating, CN decided they would exercise their trackage rights and serve the plant directly. Now MMA is saying there was a mutual mistake with the milepost measurements or something along those lines when the original agreement was put together, so lo and behold, CN actually can only get to within a couple hundred feet of the mill - and MMA will not let them get any closer. When CN said pointed out that the agreement lets them serve the mill, MMA came back and said that technically it doesn't say anything about "switching" the mill, so again, CN is not being allowed to access the plant. It's all in court now and MMA apparently isn't even letting Fraser (or whatever they call themselves these days) route cars over the CN. Obviously MMA is beyond desperate and is doing anything possible to get all the Fraser business back under line haul terms, but this is just absurd. I hope the CN crushed them in court.
 #868900  by roberttosh
 
Do you mean can MMA route traffic single line from Madawaska to themselves at Millinocket? I am not sure what kind of rights the MMA will have over the new operators tracks, but am guessing there will likely be an overhead haulage in place which will allow them to do that. Or maybe they just want to be the only one serving the plant at Madawaska and figure they can ask for a king's ransome to just hand off the car a few hundred feet down the line to the CN?
 #869996  by employee4
 
Why should MMA get any kind of haulage rights over what they just sold? Does the former owners of the other peices of trackage in Maine that the state bought have any rights on that property? Anyone else from outside wanna come into Maine and scam the taxpayers out of more money cuz it sure seems to be the way things have been for this railroad for the past 15 or 20 years. It's easy on the outside looking in but when you are on the inside looking at your feet then it really stinks. Labour has given and taken consessions?? Not so! Those consessions have been forced upon them, ie, "the employees are now all supervisors and are on salary" or "we are not going to pay any overtime but you will have to work extra hours when asked to do so, for the good of the company". This from the same person who said, "the employees and their overtime was what put the Bangor and Aroostook Railorad into ruins".