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  • CSX Acquisition of Pan Am Railways

  • Guilford Rail System changed its name to Pan Am Railways in 2006. Discussion relating to the current operations of the Boston & Maine, the Maine Central, and the Springfield Terminal railroads (as well as the Delaware & Hudson while it was under Guilford control until 1988). Official site can be found here: PANAMRAILWAYS.COM.
Guilford Rail System changed its name to Pan Am Railways in 2006. Discussion relating to the current operations of the Boston & Maine, the Maine Central, and the Springfield Terminal railroads (as well as the Delaware & Hudson while it was under Guilford control until 1988). Official site can be found here: PANAMRAILWAYS.COM.

Moderator: MEC407

 #1553360  by Safetee
 
Not to quibble but the northern tier rail folks, aka panamland today, have been fighting for human dignity not to mention buckaroonies with the southern tier folks in the commonwealth since the 1850's. and its the same deal 170 year later we want equal rights for transportation to and from the hub and the great beyond maybe including chicago.

we folks on the northern tier have no east west four lane highways, we have no bus company offering hourly service, and we have no passenger rails service to boston. springfield already has all that stuff and more. among other things, 60 million dollars for one lousy railroad station with virtually no passengers. certainly springfield and worcester have much much bigger populations than athol and greenfield, but they also have the infrastructure in place to move all those folks around.

the effort to make a regional rail mecca out of springfield is goina take a long time. too many constraints expensive constraints in framingham and south station to be resolved before that grand scheme has any chance of moving forward.

north station on the other hand is a great passenger logistics center with numerous easy need to go to places like mass general hospital and the gahden. all within walking distance. not to mention the fact that rail service to north station offers many things that south station just can not offer like direct rail access to cambridge, the north shore, and lobsterville.

we are not disputing springfields quest to be the east west rail mecca. in the final analysis, all the northern tier people are really pushing for is a little transport parity with our southern neighbors who already are sitting pretty .
 #1553364  by ccutler
 
Massachusetts wastes vast sums of money on their mass transit, but who are we to complain if it helps the freight rail carriers? I have no desire to ride on dirty, low-frequency passenger trains to get anywhere, unless I have all day to get somewhere by train that takes an hour by car.
 #1553516  by Mikejf
 
newpylong wrote: Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:49 am
Mikejf wrote: Fri Sep 25, 2020 10:47 am I am betting there is a reason 507 got painted the colors it did.. And not for heritage either.
I've noted the purpose of the repaint several times.
Sorry, I don't follow this board like I used to. I don't care for the new layout. I guess I will have to see what you are refering to..
 #1553568  by lordsigma12345
 
Safetee wrote: Sat Sep 26, 2020 9:26 am Not to quibble but the northern tier rail folks, aka panamland today, have been fighting for human dignity not to mention buckaroonies with the southern tier folks in the commonwealth since the 1850's.
While I don’t want to go too far down this topic in a freight rail thread, I don’t think fighting the southern tier folks is a winning strategy to get northern tier passenger rail. All of western Massachusetts is historically neglected by politicians in greater Boston. I think the northern tier rail is less likely to be considered if the southern tier East west rail does not succeed - not the opposite because you need the political support of all of the region many of who aren’t going to get behind Greenfield rail without Springfield rail. In the interim an improved Valley Flyer service could at least connect the Greenfield area in with the southern tier rail for those who don’t want to drive.

I don’t think making anti passenger rail arguments like highways and bus service against the southern project helps the northern tier project as similar arguments can be made against any passenger rail project. Using that same kind of argument, the rt 2 expressway extends all the way out to Orange with four lines out to nearly Athol. That’s quite a lot of highway for the population involved. The Orange - Greenfield portion has issues but the state has made upgrades to it to address some issues over the years.

The reality is if Boston won’t pay for a passenger rail corridor to Springfield, it won’t pay for one to Greenfield.
 #1553587  by Safetee
 
well I'm a firm believer that the squeeky wheel gets the grease and when there's a will there's a way. and it will be very interesting to see who gets pan am along the way. i would expect more potential for partnering with mass dot on the north side of things to make passenger service happen because the freight schedules will substantially benefit. csx and it's conrail predecessor both have frowned frowned on more passenger service east of worcester especially since their track already is up to snuff.
 #1553589  by PBMcGinnis
 
Safetee wrote: Sat Sep 26, 2020 9:26 am Not to quibble but the northern tier rail folks, aka panamland today, have been fighting for human dignity not to mention buckaroonies with the southern tier folks in the commonwealth since the 1850's. and its the same deal 170 year later we want equal rights for transportation to and from the hub and the great beyond maybe including chicago.
Well considering that southeastern MA went without commuter rail options from July 1959 to Spring 1997, all I can say to Northern MA is boo hoo!! Northern MA never lost their commuter rail options.
Last edited by MEC407 on Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:00 pm, edited 1 time in total. Reason: excessive quoting
 #1553595  by MEC407
 
Let's get back on topic, please.
 #1553680  by A215
 
Found out today the most recent OCS tour was for CSX. Previous was for G&W as previously stated.
 #1553682  by Shortline614
 
G&W makes sense, but CSX? That only NS and CSX have some sort of plan to split Pan Am, or if CSX is checking out what they want in the event another Class I gets Pan Am. Where did these trains run, over the entire system?
Last edited by MEC407 on Wed Sep 30, 2020 5:15 pm, edited 1 time in total. Reason: unnecessary quoting
 #1553700  by F74265A
 
CSX interest in Rotterdam/Mechanicville-Ayer makes no sense whatsoever. B&A route is far superior in terms of clearance, track conditions and access to Selkirk. East of Ayer, perhaps, but not West. Moreover, NS owns half of the route west of Ayer.
 #1553702  by gokeefe
 
A215 wrote:Found out today the most recent OCS tour was for CSX. Previous was for G&W as previously stated.
WOW. That is news. Did the most recent OCS tour go west of Ayer? I can't remember.

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