Route cancellation

[jschwendler]

Over two years we lived 50m East of St. Louis, in Carlyle, Il. Roughly 6 trains daily passed through, CSX route. In July 2015 the route was stopped completely, signals removed, and reason given was drop in freight traffic.

Anyone have any details on this closure? Is it temporary, like, 5 years or less? Or more permanent?

Thanks, 

J

[mudchicken]

B&O SW Line (Cincinnati Line)

Carlyle = Clinton County

Your line got de-emphasized, demoted to dark territory branch status in favor of the ex- PRR-PC-CR to the north that CSX got in the Conrail breakup. CSX is not looking at abandoning the line yet. (If you are only running 40 MPH out there with zilch for traffic, why bother with ABS expense?)

Traffic got so bad on the line that CSX posted a discontinuance of service (ie-mothballed the line from Avison (15 miles west of you) to Caseyville  on 11/20/15 (STB Docket AB_55_748_x, effective 1-9-2016) because there has been zero train movement over there (no business) for two years.

Your burg is about to be out near the end of a stub ended branch instead of a through route. The line isn't to be abandoned, but it might be later if things don't improve and CSX puts it on their SDM map filed with STB.

Effingham and Greenville are kicking your collective butts. I'd be a little upset with your county Economic Development bubbas and St. Clair county's ED bubbas, not CSX. No business = no trains = no reason to keep a line open = eventual abandonment ............ CSX files its SDM maps under SDM-55_0

http://www.stb.dot.gov/FILINGS/all_search.nsf/WEBUNID/85257E340057640C85257F03006BBDEB?OpenDocument 

 

[BaltACD]

Started my career on the B&O's St. Louis Div.  Shame to see it de-emphasized to this extent.  Route of the Trailer Jets!

At that point in time - the line had 6 to 8 manifest trains each way plus a Trailer Jet each way, plus a number of locals.

Can still remember writing the Book of Rules in the Operators bay window in the depot at Washington, listening to the Dispatcher's wire and trying to make sense out of what I was hearing - and it didn't sound like any form of English I was familiar with.

[Deggesty]

Balt, I have a couple of pleasant memories of this line--in the spring of 1969 and in the fall of 1970. The first trip took me first class from Washington to Cincinnati (change in Charlottesville) and then on, in a coach from Washington, to St. Louis. On the second trip, I boarded a coach in Ronceverte (after visiting a sister-in-law who lived near there), and had to change in Cincinnati.

I enjoyed the countryside both times, and had a little conversation with trainmen.

[jschwendler]

Thanks, but I was hoping for a reply in English.

What is:

PRR_PC_PR

ABS expense

dark territory

stub ended branch

SDM

STB

We lived across the street from the tracks for just over 2 years, 11-13, and trains ran all day and all night. What they might have been carrying was a wild guess, but they ran consistently, both directions. All of sudden, nothing. A terse notice in local paper that freight traffic wasn't sufficient. So, it looks like the economic bad ripple rolling through the state caught up with the area. No state budget; no new businesses; major departments such as transportation and education hugely in the red; a democratic controlled statehouse with cronyism run rampant; a gov. determined to break the stanglehold. What a mess.

thanks

J