MONTREAL – Canadian Pacific is acquiring the Central Maine & Quebec Railway. The acquisition of the 481-mile short line connecting Quebec with northern New England – much of which is former CP trackage – comes 25 years after th...
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2019/11/20-cp-to-acquire-central-maine-quebec
Brian Schmidt, Editor, Classic Trains magazine
Good good!
Back to the future.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
A welcome move.
The Trains jinx hits again (The railroad was just featured a few issues ago). :)
The Red Barns won't be long for this world after this deal closes, but it sounds like good news overall.
My two-part question is how deep is Penobscot Bay and what is the best location for a container port for all those container ships that are coming from SE Asia through the Suez Canal to the the East Coast of North America?
I know the Bay of Fundy by St. John has very dramatic tide changes - the highest in the world - but Penobscot Bay has much more normal tide changes.
What was old is new again.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
kgbw49My two-part question is how deep is Penobscot Bay and what is the best location for a container port for all those container ships that are coming from SE Asia through the Suez Canal to the the East Coast of North America? I know the Bay of Fundy by St. John has very dramatic tide changes - the highest in the world - but Penobscot Bay has much more normal tide changes.
- PDN.
Paul_D_North
And they still are! What was a good idea then is a great idea now!
https://www.railpictures.net/photo/697410/
https://www.railpictures.net/photo/674474/
https://www.railpictures.net/photo/632792/
https://www.railpictures.net/photo/716012/https://www.railpictures.net/photo/706843/
Indeed, the circle closes...
Leo_AmesThe Red Barns won't be long for this world after this deal closes, but it sounds like good news overall.
I was happy when CMQ picked them up, because it sounded like they were all going to be scrapped. Hope at least one survives.
What are the "Red Barns?"
Lithonia Operator What are the "Red Barns?"
Editor Emeritus, This Week at Amtrak
This whole thing sounds similar to the re-acquisition of the Iowa line by Illinois Central some years after it was sold and became Chicago Central & Pacific. I don't know how true it was but there was some talk that IC re-acquired the line to make it a less attractive merger partner.
Fortress bought the line for 17.25 million in 2014..CP is reportedly paying 130 million for it now.. wow..
UlrichFortress bought the line for 17.25 million in 2014..CP is reportedly paying 130 million for it now.. wow..
What was the sale price when CP originally sold the line?
BaltACD Ulrich Fortress bought the line for 17.25 million in 2014..CP is reportedly paying 130 million for it now.. wow.. What was the sale price when CP originally sold the line?
Ulrich Fortress bought the line for 17.25 million in 2014..CP is reportedly paying 130 million for it now.. wow..
I'm not sure. I've been looking for that but can't find it. No doubt, Fortress paid the fire sale price right after the Lac Megantic accident. Nonetheless, that's quite a fine return on investment (likely they did the happy dance a few times already). CP probably paid fair market value, and if they're going to keep building it up as an oil conduit to the East then they'll do well.. its a great line operationally and well constructed, but has limited upside from a marketing standpoint.
Ulrich BaltACD Ulrich Fortress bought the line for 17.25 million in 2014..CP is reportedly paying 130 million for it now.. wow.. What was the sale price when CP originally sold the line? I'm not sure. I've been looking for that but can't find it. No doubt, Fortress paid the fire sale price right after the Lac Megantic accident. Nonetheless, that's quite a fine return on investment (likely they did the happy dance a few times already). CP probably paid fair market value, and if they're going to keep building it up as an oil conduit to the East then they'll do well.. its a great line operationally and well constructed, but has limited upside from a marketing standpoint.
So - was the CP management that originally sold the line 'Economically Blind' as to it's future value?
Top Management always tell the 'rank and file' that what management gets compensated for is their 'Big Picture view of the Future' and charting the company's path forward.
I don't necessarily think so. Both CN and CP looked at a number of options, including combining their operations east of Montreal. In retrospect that might have been a good option to pursue. Moreover, the CP line through Maine was part of a much larger network of lines in Atlantic Canada... CP had isolated their Eastern operations and called it "Canadian Atlantic" .. the idea being that it would have its own management based in Atlantic Canada, and that somehow an ear closer to the ground would result in more responsiveness to the shippers there and ultimately more business to sustain those lines. But that was not to be.
One has to remember 25 years ago is a long time ago, and by 1995 CP and CN had been grappling with unprofitable lines in Atlantic Canada for decades with no end in sight. Today the business environment is different..with no overbuilt network of secondary lines to support, the line through Maine may just have a shot at profitability on its own.. so long as the oil keeps flowing and what's left of the resource sector doesn't tank.
I was down east last year..my son was attending a university science forum at Mount Allison U. in Sackville, NB. With some time to spare I walked down to the CN track that connects eastern Canada to Montreal. The stark simplicity of that ONE line says it all. It is ONE track.. nothing more.. not like it used to be with a little yard and switches and rolling stock sitting about right and left.. That's why CN has been able to make money in that market...they've reduced it to its simplest form.. and CP apparently will do the same with its line..
Color me totally unimpressed here. True, it does make CPRS a “true” transcontinental across Canada again but so what? The reality is that CPRS has much bigger fish to fry here and the railroad that should be sought after starts with the letter “K”. Today’s news was just a total letdown.
Not a “true” transcontinental either as the purchase takes CP to Brownville Junction, ME, which is roughly 188 miles from the coast... but who’s counting... the idea is to capitalize on business opportunities, not collect accolades.
Just like CP sold off much of the former MILW, originally to the IMRL and then bought it back.
Jeff
The question I have, is who is/was exposed to Lac Megantic liability. If it was Fortress, that might explain the price difference.
Actually they get to Searsport, ME on the good ole coast of Maine
Maybe there’s hope yet for CP’s former Quebec Central route from Sherbrooke to Levis, QC. Likely not, but one can dream..Maybe an intermodal hub at Levis (across the river from Quebec City) could generate the traffic needed.
MidlandMike Ulrich Fortress bought the line for 17.25 million in 2014..CP is reportedly paying 130 million for it now.. wow..
Paul_D_North_Jr kgbw49 My two-part question is how deep is Penobscot Bay and what is the best location for a container port for all those container ships that are coming from SE Asia through the Suez Canal to the the East Coast of North America? I know the Bay of Fundy by St. John has very dramatic tide changes - the highest in the world - but Penobscot Bay has much more normal tide changes. - PDN.
kgbw49 My two-part question is how deep is Penobscot Bay and what is the best location for a container port for all those container ships that are coming from SE Asia through the Suez Canal to the the East Coast of North America? I know the Bay of Fundy by St. John has very dramatic tide changes - the highest in the world - but Penobscot Bay has much more normal tide changes.
Found it (took longer than it shoudl have - Magazine Index was being finicky, I was using CN instead of CNR, and Halifax isn't in the title or keywords):
Like everything Middleton wrote, it was pretty good.
F. H. Howard wasn't the author, obviously - but he was a high officer of "Halterm" (or similar) which operated the container terminal at Halifax, as I recall.
kgbw49, thanks for the links to those nice photos! Looks like the present tense for those operations is still applicable.
Wonder what will happen with the proposed LacMegantic bypass line ? Has f
Fortress done any work on it ?
How about Stockton Harbor for the container ship port?
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Searsport,+ME/@44.4699434,-68.8699877,2310m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4cae68ee71819e8d:0xc9402ffc2a447f26!8m2!3d44.463934!4d-68.9038627
I think I will miss the Central Maine & Quebec just the same. They stepped in to save the line when nobody else would, and by the looks of it they did a great job running it and bringing in new business. Perhaps, the much higher selling price is in part due to their efforts and success. Maybe CP can delay the repaint a little bit.. everything will be red soon enough.
According to today's NewsWire article, Fortress also spent $55 million upgrading the line to 30 mph..
Will CM&Q retain its identity? Or will the line simply be CP?
Central Maine and Quebec
New York, NY
Began operating June 2014 former CPR lines in Quebec and Maine as well as BAR trackage. 481 miles.Formerly operated by failed Montreal Maine & Atlantic following the Lac-Megantic disaster July 6, 2013.
Acquired ten units 9/2015 (retired 12/2012) 9004, 9010, 9011, 9014, 9017, 9020, 9021, 9022, 9023, 9024. SD40-2F with "Draper Taper" full width carbody.
9017_9011 with Brownville to Millinocket turn job heads back south after making its pickup from the Maine Northern.Norcross, Maine October 2, 2016
9010 leads 3 other units with CMQ 1 between Brookport and Farnham on Adirondack Subdivision. DD-GM A4816 10/1988. Farnham, QC December 13, 2018
9017 last of the 10 ex CP units repainted was done as a heritage unit honouring BAR. Posed on a transfer table! Former BAR Derby Shops, Milo, ME November 7/2016.Owned by the town the shop would soon be demolished. Milo Junction
CITX 3091 (ex CP 5552) CMQ 9023_9020 with CMQ #1 in Farnham, QC. April 21, 2017 Note: CP 4723 in background on display. It would soon be scrapped due to neglect.
CITX 3091_3057_3071 (leased 2014) switching train in Jackman, ME 3/25/2015 3091 ex CP 5552, 3057 ex CP 5686, 3071 ex CP 6402, ex SOO 6402/624, nee KCS 624.
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