WILMINGTON, N.C. — North Carolina port officials are enthusiastic about a new scheduled intermodal service between the port of Wilmington and Charlotte, N.C. CSX will begin the Queen City Express on July 28, offering two-day service to the por...
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2017/07/21-wilmington-port-intermodal
Brian Schmidt, Editor, Classic Trains magazine
2 days to go 200 miles sorry but the time sensitive customers are not going to exactly be lining up for this one. Yet CSX is saying this is the best they can do. How about trying to run it overnight. Then you might get some customers. Sorry but if I told it would take 2 days to service one of my customers that was 200 miles from a shipper I would be thrown out of the door so fast my rear would catch me in a week.
The railroads do not even try anymore to please customers and wonder why they can not recover any of their lost traffic service like this is a huge reason why.
Two day ? Not to quibble but what does that mean ? Could be anything from 0010 Monday - 2350 Wednesday. Or best case 2350 Monday - 0010 Wednesday ? What do the CSX marketing persons think ? Our customers are idiots and will not see the problems ? Now if CSX had given hours enroute ? 200 miles at 10 MPH average == 20 hours == 2 T&E crews.
Does the train hae to sit in Hamlet for a day?
Johnny
CSX does not have a 'straight line' route between Charleston and Charlotte.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
But it is a more-or-less straight line between Wilmington and Charlotte (with the longest tangent in the bountry).
Is the track signaled only between Hamlet and Monroe?
DeggestyBut it is a more-or-less straight line between Wilmington and Charlotte (with the longest tangent in the bountry). Is the track signaled only between Hamlet and Monroe?
Florence Div. Timetable circa 2005
http://www.rtprailfan.com/_files/florence%201-1-2005.pdf
The two day thing puzzles me too. The press release on the Port's website says nothing about transit time. The two day mention comes from the Trains item, which looks like a reproduction of someone elses press release. CSX did not bother with a press release which says to me it is not a big deal to them.
The Port did state that they are handling 300,000 containers per year. Whether they mean 300,000 TEU or 300,000 boxes is unclear. Most ports use TEU, which means a 40' is counted as 2 TEU. Lets give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they really do mean boxes. That means they average 1,000 boxes a day on a 6 day week basis, or 500 on and 500 off the boat.
The Port's release notes train can carry up to 280 boxes each, which would be 560 per day, a most unrealistic over 50% market penetration based on a 6 day week. The Port also emphazises the North Carolina market.
I suspect the two day reference means that CSX will provide an inbound train on two days per week. CSX claims a slow average of 23 MPH for intermodal trains, so 12 hour running time should be attainable. A possible schedule is Sunday PM leave Charlotte, Monday AM arrive Wilmington. Unload and Load. Monday PM lv Wilmington ar Charlotte Tues AM. Unload & Load. Lv Charlotte Tue PM or Wed PM depending on traffic accumulation. Two round trips with one set of power per week. Four revenue moves per week. Lots of spare time. The Port is trying to get into the rail business, and I suspect is looking to compete for long haul traffic and using intrastate as political cover. Hope CSX has a minimum revenue commitment from Port as I doubt the ecomomics of a 200 mile rail move make much sense. If it does make sense then CSX deserves a gold medal in marketing and operations.
Mac
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