CSX Track Upgrades & Infrastructure of Pan Am

newpylong wrote: ↑Sun Jan 01, 2023 9:25 pm You are all missing the larger issue and that is rulset(s). CSX uses in house rules and the ST and and MBTA use NORAC. You can qualify employees on territory all you want but until they travel for a week and are taught and become qualified on the other ruleset it doesn't matter. It is also easier said than done to pull someone out out of service to do so when labor is still scarce.

Also what are they gaining by doing a crew change at Harvard vs New Bond/Burncoat? It's still a crew change that has to occur regardless of location. Efforts are better spent reducing the unforced errors ie speed restrictions.

The Selkirk crew almost never brings the train to Burncoat anymore. It sits in Worcester on Main 1 for usually at least 12 hours before the yard crew brings it up the branch, to get recrewed again. So that is 2 recrews, or three crews total.

They are not going to be able to keep 426 &436 parked on Main 1 for hours like they have been doing ever since the pandemic started. They are going to need to have both main tracks kept clear, especially with the T and Amtrak running more trains through here.

They gain keeping Worcester fluid by qualifying Selkirk crews to Ayer and ex- Pan Am crews to Worcester. That way they can do the recrews anywhere in the 30-mile area, adding flexibility.

It's all one railroad now.

Here's Worcester-bound CSX W011 CWR train trundling east through Springfield at 0244 Tuesday 1/3/23. I'm guessing the rail is to be dropped somewhere in ex-PAR land.

W011-31

It was W011-14 from Chicago to Worcester. Sat in Cleveland from the 15th until New years eve when it was reprofiled as W011-31.

It’s a reclaimed welded rail train with approximately 31* strings of 1600 ft rail.

*one string is about 1400 ft.

Since it’s reclaimed rail I dont think it’s for D1. Probably for some branch line, maybe Danvers branch or Hillsboro.

Do you know what line it's coming in on?

taracer wrote: ↑Tue Jan 03, 2023 2:43 am The Selkirk crew almost never brings the train to Burncoat anymore. It sits in Worcester on Main 1 for usually at least 12 hours before the yard crew brings it up the branch, to get recrewed again. So that is 2 recrews, or three crews total.

They are not going to be able to keep 426 &436 parked on Main 1 for hours like they have been doing ever since the pandemic started. They are going to need to have both main tracks kept clear, especially with the T and Amtrak running more trains through here.

They gain keeping Worcester fluid by qualifying Selkirk crews to Ayer and ex- Pan Am crews to Worcester. That way they can do the recrews anywhere in the 30-mile area, adding flexibility.

It's all one railroad now.

This is information I did not know, and that makes sense.

I would leave the caveat that it may make sense to actually qualify the Selkirk crews a little beyond Ayer ie Lowell as to not limit recrew locations. Ayer is PAS territory so unless CSX wants to recrew at Harvard or Still River (just south of the Hill Yard) on their single iron that's really all they are going to be able to do once GWI takes over operations of PAS. There are no provisions in the operating agreement for CSX to park trains in Ayer for a recrew. Of course, in doing this would that would mean they would need to run over more MBTA territory on the Fitchburg which has its whole host of requirements.

JacobKoppel wrote: ↑Tue Jan 03, 2023 10:37 am Since it’s reclaimed rail I dont think it’s for D1. Probably for some branch line, maybe Danvers branch or Hillsboro.

Those are absolutely the two last places you will see anyone install relay ribbon on on this system.

Reclaim or relay? A good bit of rail up here has been relay with some new mixed in.

Certainly Rumford, Hinckley branches would be more worthwhile as well as any yard leads and double irons (CPF 199 to 195 for instance) make great sense...

I also heard of some upcoming milepost renumbering and splitting the line into two subdivisions between Worcester and Keag

Some relay rail was used in the Worcester Main rehab around Clinton. There’s still a few miles of old stick rail on the WML between Clinton and Ayer. Or maybe it will be used at Rigby?

The Holland/CSX welding crew was between Town Farm crossing and CPF-309 again this morning. One of the crew told me if they have to clear for trains sometimes they will move to a different location so they can keep working.

CN9634 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 03, 2023 12:22 pm I also heard of some upcoming milepost renumbering and splitting the line into two subdivisions between Worcester and Keag

I would assume that the existing dividing point of Rigby/PT Tower/B&M-MEC/etc... would remain in place, and that the existing Freight Main Line will become the "Freight Main First Subdivision" covering Keag - Rigby, and the "Freight Main Second Subdivision" covering Rigby - Willows East. It doesn't make sense to split it up any other way - there are already different radio frequencies in use for each part, and separate dispatchers for each. As far as milepost renumbering goes, while that's possible, I doubt it. CSX still uses milepost numbers that start at places rails don't even go to anymore - they're not going to worry about where mileposts on their new territory are counted (not measured) from. Remember - mileposts aren't measurements. They're simply a way to give each location along the line a unique identifier. Once a location has an identity, there's almost no reason to change it.

The weird parts about the milepost numbers are where the track switches to/from MBTA owned track. For example at the wye in North Chelmsford is MP303, but continue past the wye toward Lowell and the next milepost is MP28. I don’t see how CSX could do anything about that set of discontinuities.

It's simple - all ex-B&M milepost locations (except for the ones along the Lowell Branch and the Stony Brook) are measured from Boston North Station. All ex-MEC milepost locations (except for the Mountain Branch) are measured from PT Tower 1. The MBTA kept the old milepost numbers that were in place when they purchased the lines within Massachusetts from the B&M, and still uses them. Guilford chose to recount (not remeasure) mileposts along the main line starting with what was previously MEC milepost 195 (measured via Augusta) as the new "0". None of the actual milepost locations moved or changed.

I don't expect CSX to worry about renumbering anything. They haven't done that on any other lines they've purchased, and there's no compelling reason for them to do it this time either.

Agreed. I doubt they will renumber a thing. Unions talks this week regarding ST > B&E and CSX I don't think you'll see any Division or Sub-Division changes until closer to agreements being ratified and when the ST goes away. Hard to setup Divisions before they've figured out how seniority rights will work.

newpylong wrote: ↑Tue Jan 03, 2023 11:39 am

JacobKoppel wrote: ↑Tue Jan 03, 2023 10:37 am Since it’s reclaimed rail I dont think it’s for D1. Probably for some branch line, maybe Danvers branch or Hillsboro.

Those are absolutely the two last places you will see anyone install relay ribbon on on this system.

FWIW, 503 and at least a few cars derailed yesterday on the Hillbilly.

Not worth much, it's been happening for decades and still doesn't warrant ribbon rail for 10 cars/week regardless of the owner. Putting some actual ballast and spot ties out to get back to a solid 10 MPH certainly would be more beneficial.