Brunswick Branch Activity

[MEC407]

Test (please disregard)

[CBass1307]

Does anyone have another link to the story, that one is unavailable and wants to charge me to get it from the archives?

[NHN503]

It would most probably be an extention of the Downeaster. Acela service needs electricity to run, so that will never happen.

Ah, if we only had MONEY!!

Extention cord...duh!



Seriously, someone should tell them to find some one to gitty up the money for the repairs and service...that way at least there will be a Downeaster from Portland to Brunswick in a few years when the other is limping along

[wolfmom69]

A fairly active day for Guilford in Brunswick, including some cars left by Maine Eastern, that were picked up off the former Lower Road(first time I've seen this in a while).

GP-40, 347, with the "mismatched number boards" on cab, arrived a bit after noon with 7 empty cement hoppers & 2 perlite loads, but found 7 loaded steel flats on the interchange track by Stanwood St. They did have room for their cars, barely.
Next, they wyed the #347, and went the short distance to the jct. of the Rockland Branch, and the old "Lower Road", and coupled onto the approximately dozen empty flats, perlite hoppers, and several cement loads, did an air test, and headed back to Rigby on their STAS.

Saturday "seems" to be the day that Guilford has been running a STAS local to Brunswick, lately, but this is not "scheduled" !!!

On a different note, Thursday, at Danville Jct., a Blue Seal Feeds 18 wheeler, from their Augusta facilty at Kennebec siding, was using a portable conveyor to unload a grain hopper on the "wharf track"(by Morin's ramp). Don't know the exact reason, why the car was being unloaded at Danville. Last time I saw this was about a decade ago, when Guilford service from Waterville to Augusta was "spotty" due to track conditions on the old Lower Road, and Blue Seal used to old overpass at Danville on the SLR to transfer the grain into trucks for the haul to Augusta.

Bud

[bwparker1]

STAS ?

[PT1101]

STAS stands for "Short Turn Around Service". Without going too deeply into railroad history, union agreements, etc (because I don't know the particulars), I'll try to summarize. STAS refers to a policy which allows a crew to make numerous arrivals / departures to or from a terminal without being able to submit a penalty claim for doing just that. Before STAS, a local crew would depart its initial terminal, perform its duties and then return to tie up for the day. If they were ordered to go back out (depart their home terminal for a 2nd time during their shift) they were entitled to a penalty claim. I can't remember if it was a 4 or 8 hour claim. As you can imagine, back when railroads had numerous locals, with 4 or 5 person crews, those penalty claims could be costly. STAS eliminated a lot of them. I hope this helps.

[gokeefe]

I should have asked this the first time I read the thread but better late than never. Which "Lower Road" are you referring to? The Lewiston Lower that serves Pejepscot Mills or the Augusta Lower Road that serves Augusta, Hallowell, Farmingdale, Gardiner, etc.? Lewiston Lower would make some sense as there are a few potential customers on that line, but the Augusta Lower Road would be really as there are no known customers on that line. Thanks.

[mainecentral]

The Lower Road is what you are calling the Augusta Lower. It used to lead into Waterville prior to a bridge failure in 1987(I believe). The useful part of the Lewiston Lower(I think Pan Am holds the deed for the Lewiston Lower) currently leads up to the Knight-Celotex mill in Lisbon Falls. I cannot think of any other possible locations on the Lewiston Lower except for Crooker's and Whorff's pits in Topsham, and both of those companies have made more money trucking dirt than selling the material. The tracks that continue from Lisbon Falls northward to Lewiston are either completely useless or they have been removed altogether. The Lower Road has had many rail customers in the past and there are many viable rail customer access points along many points of the line. With all the rail rehab that has happened in Maine recently, coupled with the fact that the State of Maine holds the deed for the Lower Road, I wonder why the bridge from Augusta to Waterville hasn't been rebuilt? Wouldn't a railroad that can interchange at both ends(even if it's the same less-than-stellar railroad at both ends) make more sense than a line with interchanging capabilities on only one end?

[gokeefe]

The Lower Road is what you are calling the Augusta Lower. It used to lead into Waterville prior to a bridge failure in 1987(I believe). The useful part of the Lewiston Lower(I think Pan Am holds the deed for the Lewiston Lower) currently leads up to the Knight-Celotex mill in Lisbon Falls. I cannot think of any other possible locations on the Lewiston Lower except for Crooker's and Whorff's pits in Topsham, and both of those companies have made more money trucking dirt than selling the material. The tracks that continue from Lisbon Falls northward to Lewiston are either completely useless or they have been removed altogether. The Lower Road has had many rail customers in the past and there are many viable rail customer access points along many points of the line. With all the rail rehab that has happened in Maine recently, coupled with the fact that the State of Maine holds the deed for the Lower Road, I wonder why the bridge from Augusta to Waterville hasn't been rebuilt? Wouldn't a railroad that can interchange at both ends(even if it's the same less-than-stellar railroad at both ends) make more sense than a line with interchanging capabilities on only one end?

Mr. Mainecentral,

The Lewiston Lower is currently owned by the State of Maine. They have put a considerable amount of money into it over the years, in particular in an apparent attempt to maintain the viability of the Knight-Celotex mill and the jobs it creates. Unfortunately to date Knight-Celotex has not appeared to be that interested in using rail freight. The rest of the line north of Pejepscot Mills is in really bad shape and slowly but surely disappears as the Right of Way enters Lewiston.

I am not aware that there are acutally any problems with the bridge across the Kennebec at this time. My strong impression is that Guilford chose to favor the Back Road possibly because it went through Lewiston and connected to the Rumford Branch while the Lower Road was more of a through route, in a very small way much like the Mountain Division, direct, but remote from other rail freight or connecting branches with online traffic.

Judging from the description of events and the fact that the snow on the Augusta Lower all the way down to the Androscoggin River is completely undisturbed I'm going to say that the cars coming off the Augusta Lower Road were stored there for pickup. Most of the cars described are part of the regular Maine Eastern traffic on the Rockland Branch.

[bubbytrains]

Mr. Mainecentral,

The Lewiston Lower is currently owned by the State of Maine. They have put a considerable amount of money into it over the years, in particular in an apparent attempt to maintain the viability of the Knight-Celotex mill and the jobs it creates. Unfortunately to date Knight-Celotex has not appeared to be that interested in using rail freight. The rest of the line north of Pejepscot Mills is in really bad shape and slowly but surely disappears as the Right of Way enters Lewiston.

The State of Maine does not own all of it. They own from Brunswick to MP 38.8 in Lisbon. The rest remains Guilford/Pan Am/ST, and yes it is in horrid condition. I don't know if Knight-Celotex is not "that interested in using rail freight" as you phrase it or if it's just not cost effective. We railfans generally are not privy to such negotiations. However, if the past is an indicator it's safe to assume Guilford (the line's connection to the rest of the rail network) hasn't given them much incentive. The Knight-Celotex mill has been struggling. Last fall they decided to continue making only one item from their product line at this location, a product called Conflex. As a result of this reduced production, they laid off more than half their employees.
-Alan S.

[gokeefe]

I agree that we are all usually in the dark in regards to the inner workings of modal decisions for freight made by companies. My judgement that Knight-Celotex is not that interested in using rail freight is based purely on the observation that there simply hasn't been any rail traffic generated on the line despite two projects attempting to facilitate traffic growth. I think this is a reasonable observation and deduction. Why Knight-Celotex chooses not to use rail as their preferred mode for freight transporation is unknown to me and probably most people browsing this forum.

I agree that it is possible that Pan Am Railways (PAR) may have made it exceptionally difficult for them to restart rail service, or perhaps Knight Celotex was concerned about the quality of the rail service and therefore never initiated it in the first place.

I wasn't aware that north of Lisbon was still PAR owned. Interesting. That would explain a lot about the deterioration of the Right of Way.

[Watchman318]

This week's Mid-Coast Forecaster has a photo on page 3 of what appears to be a Jordan Spreader eastbound on the Brunswick Branch last Friday. PAR interchanged with Maine Eastern on Saturday, the 12th.
Making tracks
"Roads aren't the only things that need plowing this winter. Here a plow train approaches the 'Deep Cut' bridge Friday, Feb. 11, on its way from Portland to Brunswick."
Looking at Google Maps, I believe the bridge where the photographer was standing is on Hillside Rd.

I wish pics like that would shake some sense into the people who think the track is a good place to go cross-country skiing . . .

[Highball]

I wish pics like that would shake some sense into the people who think the track is a good place to go cross-country skiing . . .

More importantly, a serious situation exists with motorized vehicles......snowmobiles in winter and ATVs, both summer and winter, upon railroad lines. I recently observed ATVs travelling between the rails of a very active line, pushing hard pack snow against the rail flanges...........participants part of an " organized " event, no less. What are these people thinking.....they are not. As the saying goes, " it's difficult to legislate common sense ". No doubt, a train can derail when snow becomes packed against rail, especially at road crossings.

I x-country ski along ( well to the side ), not within the tracks, from time to time and I always listen for trains. Stands without reason, a motorized vehicle cannot hear the approach of a train.

[Watchman318]

No doubt, a train can derail when snow becomes packed against rail, especially at road crossings.

That's apparently what led to the rollover of the NEGS locomotive in Concord, NH earlier this month.
I've never found any news articles or other info about it, but I was told MEC had a derailment in Woolwich (on the Rockland Branch) because of wet snow that was packed down by snowmobiles before it froze.

I x-country ski along ( well to the side ), not within the tracks, from time to time and I always listen for trains. Stands without reason, a motorized vehicle cannot hear the approach of a train.

Keep in mind that even though you're not "on the track," the right-of-way extends a certain distance from the track. The figure I've usually seen is 33' either side of the center-line (66' r-o-w).
I was a little surprised that the CSX Safety Awareness For Emergencies course (for first responders) says to keep 30 feet away from the near rail. (<http://www.csxsafe.com/learn/safety/wor ... ls/walking>) But if you've ever seen a metal strapping band that broke away from a load on a flatcar, flailing the ballast as the train rolls on, you'll know where that rule comes from.
"That's gonna leave a mark."

[jaymac]

Ditto if a tiedown on a bulkhead flat gets loose and starts its tethered bounce along the ROW. Things that aren't tied down -- like scrap -- are probably the real cause for for the 30' statement, and it may just happen that PAR/S will get moving fast enough to provide sufficient momentum for that to happen.