Yes folks, it REALLY IS official...

GP40MC 1116 wrote:As far as railfans go, your odds of getting police called on you by GRS employee's just for taking a picture is very great.

I've been photographing Guilford for the past 10 years and have never had the cops called on me by Guilford employees. The majority of them are friendly and don't seem to mind railfans who keep a safe distance.

MEC407 wrote:

GP40MC 1116 wrote:As far as railfans go, your odds of getting police called on you by GRS employee's just for taking a picture is very great.

I've been photographing Guilford for the past 10 years and have never had the cops called on me by Guilford employees. The majority of them are friendly and don't seem to mind railfans who keep a safe distance.

Really, thats good then, I wasn't refering to personal experiences w GRS, i live in NH so theirs not a "whole" lot of Guilford goes at least in my area. Hopefulyl i will get to see first hand how Guilford and New England Southern Interchange in Manchester sometime soon

So was there a reason why they renamed to Pan Am or did some one buy the company. I am not too in tune with what Guilford is all about but with the recent news and that strange derailment turned fire along the line, I'm seeking information.

Seems like an interesting railroad.

lutherkb wrote:So was there a reason why they renamed to Pan Am or did some one buy the company.

It's just a name change.

Quote from the aforementioned newspaper article:

For months, Billerica-based Guilford Rail System has been painting its train cars a distinctive shade of baby blue and adorning them with the familiar white globe that was once a hallmark of air travel.

In March, the company officially changed its name to Pan Am Railways. Its parent company, Guilford Transportation, is now called Pan Am Systems.

"It was something that had been planned for a great deal of time," said David Fink, president of Pan Am Systems. "(Pan Am) is one of the five most-recognized names in the world."

Guilford has owned the Pan Am name since 1998.

I keep hearing a rumor to the effect that NS is about to acquire Pan Am Railways, however, with all the cash being invested in paint and name change, this seems rather doubtful. Anybody have any insight into this rumor?

ddillaby wrote:I keep hearing a rumor to the effect that NS is about to acquire Pan Am Railways, however, with all the cash being invested in paint and name change, this seems rather doubtful. Anybody have any insight into this rumor?

If you browse through the other topics, you will find that this question comes up all the time, and that it has, in fact, been floating around for years and years -- especially right around April 1. Every few months, somebody pops up and says they have a reliable source and that it's "really" going to happen this time... but it hasn't happened yet, despite the many, many "reliable" sources who say it's going to happen.

i remember years ago seeing an all white boxcar with pan am markings i think i'm not dreaming.....

what ever became of these cars if the did exist?

i think decals of this car are out there somewhere.

MEC407 wrote:

ddillaby wrote:I keep hearing a rumor to the effect that NS is about to acquire Pan Am Railways, however, with all the cash being invested in paint and name change, this seems rather doubtful. Anybody have any insight into this rumor?

If you browse through the other topics, you will find that this question comes up all the time, and that it has, in fact, been floating around for years and years -- especially right around April 1. Every few months, somebody pops up and says they have a reliable source and that it's "really" going to happen this time... but it hasn't happened yet, despite the many, many "reliable" sources who say it's going to happen.

I had that kind of feeling about this, which is why I labled it a "rumor." Thanks for the confirmation.

murray83 wrote:i remember years ago seeing an all white boxcar with pan am markings i think i'm not dreaming.....
what ever became of these cars if the did exist?
i think decals of this car are out there somewhere.

Did it look like this?

http://mec407.rrpicturearchives.net/sho ... ?id=308558

(The Pan Am logo is missing in that shot, but you can see where it would have been)

They did exist and you're not dreaming, but I'm not sure how many were painted in that livery. Only a handful at the most.

yep thats her,seen one about 2 weeks ago in the local yard kinda had to do a double take to see if i was seeing things