Railroad Forums 

  • CTC Single tracking of B&M and Maine Central Main Lines?

  • 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

 #1322611  by 690
 
newpylong wrote:http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?20140 ... a&BOOL=ALL

Parking lot in Augusta. Hard to tell but looks like ~105lb rail.

A search for "Augusta" yields plenty to look at including the bridge.
It's 115 lb rail. At least a significant chunk of the Lower Rd is 115 lb, if not all of it. Can't remember what N. Augusta is atm, but I seem to recall the main is 115 through there at least. Winslow, Augusta, Hallowell and Gardiner are all 115 too. Vasselboro might be, but I'd have to check. Unsurprisingly, the Pan Am owned section is in worse condition than the state owned part.
 #1322613  by cu29640
 
Who/what is Irving? Maybe NS will buy PanAm or G&W. Mellon seems to have stepped back to let Fink run operations...things look a little better at PanAm these days.
KSmitty wrote:Either way, wouldn't be a big deal to a railroad. If the lower road were to be restored, 30 days to pull up some gravel is hardly going to be the biggest hurdle.

I do wonder if someday, post-Mellon ownership, the next owner will see value in the line? It might be "operated" by MERR, but surely that would be negotiable if the likes of Irving or NS said they wanted to run trains daily.
 #1322616  by KSmitty
 
cu29640 wrote:Who/what is Irving? Maybe NS will buy PanAm or G&W. Mellon seems to have stepped back to let Fink run operations...things look a little better at PanAm these days.
J.D. Irving is the corporate parent to New Brunswick Southern, Eastern Maine Railway and Maine Northern Railway. Its easier to write "Irving" than it is "NBSR/EMRY/MNRY" while still encompassing the whole property. The rail division is actually New Brunswick and Maine Railways, with the 3 railroads listed above as their operating subsidiaries. They also have a track maintenance/building division under the brand as well. But if people don't know who Irving is, it seems unlikely NB&M will transmit who I'm talking about ;) Anyway, I can see them being interested in Pan Am/part of Pan Am if/when the Mellon led ownership decides to sell.

Mellon has never handled the day to day operations. He has people for that. About the time of the rebrand, Fink Sr. retired and left the company to Fink Jr. They, being of different railroad backgrounds have different perspectives on the way to run a railroad. Unfortunately after 30 years of neglect the "new" plan cannot catch up without significant reinvestment that Mr. Mellon seems unwilling to put back into the property. Its understandable, as he must be nearing the age when he will look to cash out.
 #1322623  by gokeefe
 
690 wrote:
newpylong wrote:http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?20140 ... a&BOOL=ALL

Parking lot in Augusta. Hard to tell but looks like ~105lb rail.

A search for "Augusta" yields plenty to look at including the bridge.
It's 115 lb rail. At least a significant chunk of the Lower Rd is 115 lb, if not all of it. Can't remember what N. Augusta is atm, but I seem to recall the main is 115 through there at least. Winslow, Augusta, Hallowell and Gardiner are all 115 too. Vasselboro might be, but I'd have to check. Unsurprisingly, the Pan Am owned section is in worse condition than the state owned part.
A lot of the Augusta section is in fact 115 LB RE. Especially the section next to the water treatment plant that was rebuilt. Gardiner in particular is not 115 LB in any section that I am aware of. It is 112 LB jointed rail with some lower weights. This information is from direct observation.
 #1322633  by cu29640
 
After researching Irving they seem like they would make good owners. But also G&W or Fortress. Fortress is turning FEC into a huge success story...I assume the same will happen to the recent purchase of the MM&A assets...or they would not have purchased it. Watco is prob not large enough for PanAm. All this assuming NS doesn't want to jump 100% in. But with the recent sale of much of the D&H to NS...I think NS is putting the pieces together.
 #1322634  by gokeefe
 
cu29640 wrote:After researching Irving they seem like they would make good owners. But also G&W or Fortress. Fortress is turning FEC into a huge success story...I assume the same will happen to the recent purchase of the MM&A assets...or they would not have purchased it. Watco is prob not large enough for PanAm. All this assuming NS doesn't want to jump 100% in. But with the recent sale of much of the D&H to NS...I think NS is putting the pieces together.
Irving probably would make great owners. The bigger question is do they actually want to own anything that far south (South Portland/Ayer, MA). South Portland I could understand, which would mean, Maine Central properties and Portland Terminal Co. tracks. The former B&M and legacy trackage rights over the MBTA? I'm not so sure about that.
 #1322650  by dnelson
 
As far as I know, the last freight east of Cathance on the Lower Road was Safe Handling bringing Guilford cars to Augusta via the former Maine Coast / Guilford haulage agreement. They stopped doing that because Safe Handling considered the payment they received for hauling Guilford's cars to be too low, and reportedly Guilford was much more reliable in providing service from Waterville to East Augusta than from Rigby to Brunswick (where Safe Handling would take over). Safe Handling had far more business on the Rockland Branch than any other railroad to operate it since the state bought it, with Maine Yankee radioactive waste gondolas, welded rail, tie trains, or general work trains for the complete rebuilding of the Rockland Branch, plus Dragaon was still receiving coal, and the occasional boxcar of salt for Rockland. It's understandable why running to Augusta wasn't a priority. Safe Handling also ran a trucking division of their company, and the rumor at the time was they switched Pine State's service to truck.

Currently, Maine Eastern only leases the Lower Road as far as Gardiner. They didn't want to deal with insurance involving the trackside Kennebec River Rail Trial from Gardiner to Augusta. The crossing signals do not function between Brunswick and Augusta, and even back in 2008 when MERR ran the excursion to Gardiner, flagging was used at the crossings. The track was good for 10MPH, at least when last used.
 #1322657  by newpylong
 
cu29640 wrote:After researching Irving they seem like they would make good owners. But also G&W or Fortress. Fortress is turning FEC into a huge success story...I assume the same will happen to the recent purchase of the MM&A assets...or they would not have purchased it. Watco is prob not large enough for PanAm. All this assuming NS doesn't want to jump 100% in. But with the recent sale of much of the D&H to NS...I think NS is putting the pieces together.
NS wants nothing to do with east of Ayer let alone east of Portland where this thread is discussing.
 #1322662  by 690
 
gokeefe wrote:
690 wrote:
newpylong wrote:http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?20140 ... a&BOOL=ALL

Parking lot in Augusta. Hard to tell but looks like ~105lb rail.

A search for "Augusta" yields plenty to look at including the bridge.
It's 115 lb rail. At least a significant chunk of the Lower Rd is 115 lb, if not all of it. Can't remember what N. Augusta is atm, but I seem to recall the main is 115 through there at least. Winslow, Augusta, Hallowell and Gardiner are all 115 too. Vasselboro might be, but I'd have to check. Unsurprisingly, the Pan Am owned section is in worse condition than the state owned part.
A lot of the Augusta section is in fact 115 LB RE. Especially the section next to the water treatment plant that was rebuilt. Gardiner in particular is not 115 LB in any section that I am aware of. It is 112 LB jointed rail with some lower weights. This information is from direct observation.
Right by the waterfront park there is 115. Which I have directly observed.
 #1322695  by Watchman318
 
gokeefe wrote:I was on that trip and as I recall it was under two hours. Regardless, although acceptable for excursion service I don't think it would be acceptable for scheduled public transit service.
Oh, heck no. But it does support your point that the line isn't in really rough shape. I think it's less raggedy than the Lewiston Lower/LIT, anyway. :wink:

Some CWR, etc., would be good before any regular passenger service, and it'll need some work before much of any freight operation, too. I'm just glad it's still there to maybe get used again some day.
 #1322742  by gokeefe
 
newpylong wrote:It all leads to the conclusion that the Lower Road (like the Back Road) was in a decent state of repair before GTI got their mitts on it, more specifically when the MEC was rolled into the ST.
I would strongly agree. I have always been surprised by the signal density on the Lower Road and that those signals lasted as long as they did. Even deep into the woods the blocks are no more than a few miles long.
 #1322774  by ejones
 
Forgive me for being somewhat off topic as far as the direction this thread as headed, although I think it is well within the given subject: I recall growing up that the Connecticut River Line was double tracked from Springfield to the Greenfield tunnel. Any guidance on whether my recollection is correct, and if so, when B&M/Guilford tore up much of the second track for reasons I am sure are similar to those referenced on the other main lines?
 #1322775  by gokeefe
 
ejones wrote:Forgive me for being somewhat off topic as far as the direction this thread as headed, although I think it is well within the given subject: I recall growing up that the Connecticut River Line was double tracked from Springfield to the Greenfield tunnel. Any guidance on whether my recollection is correct, and if so, when B&M/Guilford tore up much of the second track for reasons I am sure are similar to those referenced on the other main lines?
All of that is covered in the Conn River Line thread if you can dig through it. Right down to the Mileage Posts.
 #1322854  by F-line to Dudley via Park
 
MEC407 wrote:I've heard 48 hours from some sources and 30 days from other sources.
It's both. It's 48 hours from the FRA filing to de-embargo where Augusta has to be notified that it has 30 days to evict the parking and brush off the gravel. 48 hours is the default the FRA rule for advance notice of an operating status change. And then 30 days is the contract legalese on the lease Augusta signed with PAR on those last few blocks of downtown private ownership before the division post with MEDOT underneath the Route 100 bridge.