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  • Andover complains about Pan Am train parking

  • 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

 #1421226  by MEC407
 
That's the same article I posted a few days ago. Doesn't hurt to repeat it, though. :wink:
 #1421235  by F-line to Dudley via Park
 
neman2 wrote:
F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:Wow...that claim took some brass ones. Think the MBTA now has no chpice but to intervene and set the record straight.
One has to wonder if PAR has quietly assured the MBTA that this practice will cease once the Everett Casino dirty dirt operation stops which will make more crews and track space in Lowell available. According to another thread here it's supposed to end by March.
This is PAR we're talking about. Once a canning spot, always a canning spot. The only thing that's motivated them to knock it off in the past is when community oppositon has gotten too hot to handle. Then they stop doing it in one densely-settled and/or inappropriately disruptive location, and the whack-a-mole game begins anew somewhere else. If Andover succeeds then it's probably going to be Atkinson's loss as the new Lawrence-bookend perma-can spot du juor. That's just how Billericadome rolls lately. This winter's been extra special for slop ops across D2 so it's glass-half-full view that this is necessarily going to abate when the dirty dirt loads cease. They're not moving anything with much efficiency at present.
 #1421237  by BostonUrbEx
 
F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:Wow...that claim took some brass ones. Think the MBTA now has no chpice but to intervene and set the record straight.
I have a feeling PAR is feeling out the state to see if they can build even more double track/upgrades, perhaps not even on MBTA property but maybe between Lowell Jct and Lowell. Or maybe they really are just stalling until the dirt dirt operations give them space to work with in Lowell, as that is definitely a factor.

But if they keep it up with these bold statements, the MBTA might just remove PAR's decision-making from the equation altogether. If the MBTA takes over dispatching, they're not going to let trains past State Line if they can't make it to Lowell. Honestly, PAR should really start backing down on this, or take the discussion into private talks with the MBTA. The MBTA will not and should not put up with this absurd level of PR.
 #1421245  by MEC407
 
johnpbarlow wrote:Oops - sorry about that! My bad!😟
No worries. :-)
 #1421257  by MEC407
 
As far as I can tell, 40 is very much the exception rather than the rule. Even on Downeaster trackage where the freight speed is nominally 40, I very often see them going substantially slower than 40.

And newpy is exactly right. So that goes back to my somewhat rhetorical questions about crews and train speeds, and my question about whether the Andover idling could be avoided if they had more crews or if they moved the trains faster. Both of those solutions boil down to PAR having to spend money. If the choice is between spending money or irritating some residents in Andover, which choice do we all realistically think they'll make? I have a hunch...
 #1421682  by MEC407
 
Very relevant quote from the article:
Eagle Tribune wrote:This isn't a new or unique problem. A 2006 story in The Eagle-Tribune reported that Guilford Rail System, which later became Pan Am, had agreed to install generators on their diesel engines that would allow all the trains' systems to remain warm but without making as much air or noise pollution.

It is not known if those generators were ever placed on any of the trains now owned by Pan Am.
 #1421746  by Trinnau
 
MEC407 wrote:Very relevant quote from the article:
Eagle Tribune wrote:This isn't a new or unique problem. A 2006 story in The Eagle-Tribune reported that Guilford Rail System, which later became Pan Am, had agreed to install generators on their diesel engines that would allow all the trains' systems to remain warm but without making as much air or noise pollution.

It is not known if those generators were ever placed on any of the trains now owned by Pan Am.
Doesn't matter if the engine has to stay running to power the compressor in order to maintain air on the train. All those small units due is prevent the water-cooled engine block from freezing and cracking.
 #1421768  by MEC407
 
What does matter is that a lot of people in a lot of communities were told that:

A) the entire fleet would eventually be outfitted;

and

B) the APUs would make the idling problems go away


Neither A nor B ever happened. People have a right to be upset.
 #1421769  by F-line to Dudley via Park
 
MEC407 wrote:What does matter is that a lot of people in a lot of communities were told that:

A) the entire fleet would eventually be outfitted;

and

B) the APUs would make the idling problems go away


Neither A nor B ever happened. People have a right to be upset.
Throw on the pattern of behavior like. . .
"The track was built for that."
. . .and trust issues with truthiness has now eclipsed location of the parked trains as the burning issue here.


Like they always say, it's not the crime it's the cover-up. Outside intervention is now going to be because of bungled PR first, parked trains second. And if they get chased out of there slop-ops will take a further hit all because a couple Billerica flaks didn't choose their words wisely and/or thought they wouldn't get caught changing their stories. Entirely self-inflicted.