Maine Northern Railway (ex-MMA lines operated by EMR/NBSR)

Posted on the CMQ Yahoo group today... a Brownville Junction Webcam (For both NBSR and CMQ)

http://www.trcwebcams.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm sure that Irving would have interest but not sure they wanted their name associated with the line after the accident.

CPF363 wrote: One wonders if the NBSR would look to acquire the CMQ after they get to an operating state that is to NBSR's liking.

If JDI was interested in the property they would have bought it for the rock bottom price at bankruptcy. They are doing just fine with pulling everything they need off MNR via the new Brownville connector and playing CMQ off of PAR off of CN for finished goods outbound and CBR inbound. A stay of execution for the Moosehead for now....

fogg1703 wrote:

CPF363 wrote: One wonders if the NBSR would look to acquire the CMQ after they get to an operating state that is to NBSR's liking.

If JDI was interested in the property they would have bought it for the rock bottom price at bankruptcy. They are doing just fine with pulling everything they need off MNR via the new Brownville connector and playing CMQ off of PAR off of CN for finished goods outbound and CBR inbound. A stay of execution for the Moosehead for now....

A friend tells me CMQ is reinstalling double track off the east wye by the station in Hermon over the bridge up to the main line. Also hearing of more freight using the Moosehead Gateway

Vt lines averaging 8 to 10 loads per week on 2 trips, 7 loads last week total. Business is boomin!

Not sure what to say about Iring in Vermont except their rail services are hiring folks in Montpilier. Other than that, I have no idea what you are talking about in regards to JDI trains. At least CMQs track expansion on the interchange tracks with PAR is an indication they expect the PAR-CMQ-NBS route to continue for some time... although I have heard some other things in PARs camp.

From what I'm hearing there won't be much traffic in vt for a while... Irving or anyone else. I think the g&w (Necr) has put the kabosh to the pas-vrs-cmq-nbsr routing they were hoping for....

csx2039 wrote:From what I'm hearing there won't be much traffic in vt for a while... Irving or anyone else. I think the g&w (Necr) has put the kabosh to the pas-vrs-cmq-nbsr routing they were hoping for....

NECR/G&W is being fickle, but they don't have the rights to kill it, going back to the conveyance of the line to them in the 80's. They of course can fight it and hope to deter the others, but I don't think they can win in the long run if the others continue their case.

Seeing there stubbornness, they will make it darn near impossible for pas to do anything. Even if stb sides with pas.

Looks like the Engineering shed in Houlton has been sold. Either being used by a logger or as a heavy duty repair shop.

Maine Northern Railway, Squapan to Fort Kent, Maine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy1wQacDhnk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Video by MaineRailFanner

Several washouts today in Maine on CMQ, NBSR and PAR. Basically besides short haul trains, nothing much has run today except MOW

From the Portland Press Herald:

Portland Press Herald wrote:The Maine Northern Railway and Eastern Maine Railway will provide $6.5 million toward a $17.4 million project. Most of the money will be spent on the Eastern Maine Railway to upgrade the line connecting Maine railroads with New Brunswick, Canada, to allow speeds of 40 mph, up from 25 mph.
. . .
The Maine Northern Railway project will focus on improvements to its rail yard in Oakfield. The railroad operates on a state-owned line that runs from Madawaska at the Canadian border to Millinocket.

Read the rest of the article at: http://www.pressherald.com/2015/10/26/f ... from-feds/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

MEC407 wrote:From the Portland Press Herald:

Portland Press Herald wrote:The Maine Northern Railway and Eastern Maine Railway will provide $6.5 million toward a $17.4 million project. Most of the money will be spent on the Eastern Maine Railway to upgrade the line connecting Maine railroads with New Brunswick, Canada, to allow speeds of 40 mph, up from 25 mph.
. . .
The Maine Northern Railway project will focus on improvements to its rail yard in Oakfield. The railroad operates on a state-owned line that runs from Madawaska at the Canadian border to Millinocket.

Read the rest of the article at: http://www.pressherald.com/2015/10/26/f ... from-feds/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Huh. Wonder if they're feeling bullish on Mr. Trudeau's campaign promise to spend a ton on public transit. The Liberals swept 100% of the Maritimes' ridings in the election, so if there's spoils owed for being the provinces most responsible for clinching the majority then the much-demanded restoration of the Atlantic is going to at least get a due-diligence conversation. The Liberals got punished at the polls by being the government that whacked the route not once but twice in a political horse-trading ploy to shore up some of their more vulnerable ridings along the Ocean. The Maritimes really, really didn't like being played like that so somebody's cronies could get their unpopular arses protected in their home ridings. Especially since Ottawa has been habitual at playing the Maritimes like that. They'll have their set of local demands on Trudeau to ensure future loyalty. It's only a question of whether this particular transpo-related campaign promise is the one they give top billing in the package of local demands.

What interests me is that most RRs struggle to get their lines from 10MPH to 25MPH, which is a large and significant jump. However, going from 25 to 40 doesn't make much difference in terms of operational efficiency with manifest freight. The only use for a line such as this would be a real time sensitive service such as intermodal.

So a wye and and a second track is to built in Van Buren to facilitate easier interchange between MNR and CN. Im sure MNR's conveyor belt to the mill across the border is contributing to the bottleneck. Sadly MNR's lack of access over the bridge is a result of the MMA/CN/Fraser dispute. Is Fraser loading cars in Madawaska again or are they still trucking across the border to CN?