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[jaymac]

conrailsharedassets-
Thanks for surpassing your screen name in sharing.
For a somewhat similar tale, back in the early Fink 1.0 days -- dates uncertain because my memory and documentation don't match yours -- Guilford reduced West End service to the bare minimum and began using the PW from CP-45 to Barbers as a bridge for traffic to/from the west on Conrail. As now, there was a requirement that racks traffic had to be distinct. Naturally, after a period it wasn't, and PW raised the bridge -- briefly. Racks went back to unit, and folks went back to bargaining, and accommodations were reached.

[fogg1703]

Can anyone explain the demand to separate racks and IM? Train handling, length or weight, union issues?

[QB 52.32]

Can anyone explain the demand to separate racks and IM? Train handling, length or weight, union issues?

I'll second this question. It seems odd that a landlord carrier would contractually stipulate to a tenant that they have to run their auto traffic seperate from their intermodal traffic, differentiated from some other constraint.

Like the example of the Ford traffic moving between Conrail and Guilford, I have only generally heard of commercially-driven reasons to segregate auto traffic into dedicated trains (or, if necessary, blocks that run in dedicated intermodal trains) and aimed at reducing damage to the finished vehicles. This resulted from the rail industry's response to the auto industry's push to improve quality. With the opportunity to increase marketshare in a high-margin line-of-business if the automakers' needs could be met, Conrail, like other rail carriers, developed a finished vehicle network consolidating autoracks in dedicated trains, to the extent possible, and dedicated flat switching operations that eliminated the humping of loaded racks and tightly controlled handling during switching (ie., with air and hitches made under 4 mph) to minimize damage (the industry had also converted to a chalking system instead of chain tie-downs within the autoracks, so easy handling became even more critical). That's the reason, for example, the Conrail/Guilford Ford traffic and returning empties ran in dedicated trains (from/to the dedicated autorack switching operation in Selkirk Yard).

[newpylong]

Because CP has gotten ridiculous?

Out of all seriousness it probably is getting to do with train length as some of those 22/23K's are almost 2 miles long, but just a guess.

[fogg1703]

So if that theory holds then only 205/206 will handle PW racks at Gardner?

[newpylong]

Correct, or 190ED, which brings empties back to Deerfield to pick up sometimes. But if the yard needs to be cleaned anyone can make a pick up and drop them off for 205 somewhere.