MidlandMike Fred M Cain I was kinda sorta hopin' that NS would get Pan Am and preserve more competition to New England via the Hoosac Tunnel line but that just didn't happen. Now, CSX has what's essentially two parallel lines from Albany to the Boston area so, now what? NS has trackage rights over CSX thru southern Mass for traffic which does not fit Hoosic.
Fred M Cain I was kinda sorta hopin' that NS would get Pan Am and preserve more competition to New England via the Hoosac Tunnel line but that just didn't happen. Now, CSX has what's essentially two parallel lines from Albany to the Boston area so, now what?
NS has trackage rights over CSX thru southern Mass for traffic which does not fit Hoosic.
And the Berkshire & Eastern 3rd party operator was setup to run the ex-Pan Am Southern line thru the Hoosac Tunnel for the benefit of NS, CPKC, and CSX. Currently NS has four scheduled trains running via the PAS line and Hoosac Tunnel: manifests 11R and 16R and intermodal trains 264 and 265. At some point NS is supposed to be allowed to run a double stack train pair over CSX's B&A line.
NS is currently suing CSX over alleged violations of the Pam Am purchase agreement: https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/norfolk-southern-claims-csx-violations-of-pan-am-railways-agreements-hurt-competition-and-service-in-new-england/
Fred M CainI was kinda sorta hopin' that NS would get Pan Am and preserve more competition to New England via the Hoosac Tunnel line but that just didn't happen. Now, CSX has what's essentially two parallel lines from Albany to the Boston area so, now what?
I doubt if there is enough traffic for two parallel lines. Also, I doubt if any shortline would want to take on the maintenance of Hoosac.
I hope this isn't too far off topic for this thread, but I have been wondering for some time now, what is the latest story concerning Pan Am's Hoosac Tunnel line?
I was kinda sorta hopin' that NS would get Pan Am and preserve more competition to New England via the Hoosac Tunnel line but that just didn't happen. Now, CSX has what's essentially two parallel lines from Albany to the Boston area so, now what?
Would they possibly spin the Hoosac Tunnel line off to another shortline operator? Or, is there a greater danger of downgrading and eventual abandonment?
Remember - CSX is still single stack East of the West Portal of the Howard Street Tunnel in Baltimore (alledgedly the project to allow double stacks is under construction). This affect CSX containers into and out of Sea Girt Marine terminal in East Baltimore as well as the I-95 traffic between Philadelphia and Jacksonville.
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I see no reason for CSX to enter interline with Port of Saint John traffic. That gives an already low volume port 3 carriers. At that point you're fighting for scraps with very little profit. Not to mention as Bill stated there's restricted clearance and, last I checked only 263K GRL between Bangor and Mattawamkeag. The news doesn't indicate if CSX upgraded to 286K GRL. Which I assuming they would probably want to do.
As I recall, there are currently places on CSX that will only handle single stacks. It would be doable... Maybe not as profitable, but doable.
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My bad on that one. I was reading through the Port St John progress and at a location in their web site they note connections to the networks of CP and CSX as well as CN.
So I jumped to the conclusion and my bad on that.
Are the through truss bridges over the Penobscot River the impediment on the route?
I would suppose single stack may not make economic sense.
Thank you for the correction!
One problem: The line is not cleared for double-stacks and CSX has not announced plans to increase clearances.
CSX recently completed upgrades to the Pan Am line to Mattawamkeag where it can interchange directly with New Brunswick Southern which serves the recently-expanded and growing Port St John.
https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/csx-track-improvements-allow-restoration-of-direct-pan-am-new-brunswick-southern-interchange-in-maine/
Port St. John has its second berth and associated cranes in operation, capable of serving ships with as many as 14,000 TEUs and is working to get capacity up from 150,000 TEUs annually to 800,000 TEUs annually.
https://huddle.today/2023/06/22/two-new-cranes-operating-at-port-saint-john/
This will be the big payoff for CSX's $700 million purchase of Pan Am, as many of us surmised several years ago.
With New Brunswick Southern serving as the equivalent of a longer-distance Pacific Harbor Lines and their service for UP and BNSF, CSX will be able to work with New Brunswick Southern to provide service via the former Boston & Maine, Boston & Albany, and New Yourk Central to Boston, Greater New York (West Shore Line), Buffalo, Cleveland, North Baltimore, Detroit and Chicago.
It should be interesting to see how they compete for traffic with CP and CN.
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