TRAINS: Dire Strates: Last carnival train still hopes to roll again

James E. Strates Shows parked its train after the 2019 season, skipped 2020 due to the pandemic, and since then hasn’t been able to reach a contract agreement with CSX
...
Strates and CSX have been unable to reach a contract agreement, which has kept the train parked since the end of the 2019 season. CSX’s rates are now more expensive than trucking, Strates says, which makes it increasingly unlikely that the last carnival train will roll again.
...
CSX’s contract rate quotes for the Strates train have gone up more than 25% overall since the pandemic. Strates asked for tariff rates. They were more expensive than contract rates, which is not uncommon. The deal killer, though, was for the final two legs of the trip back to Orlando. The rate for moving from Augusta, Ga., to Tallahassee, Fla., via CSX and jumping from there to Orlando via a combination of Florida Gulf & Atlantic and CSX, more than doubled, making rail four times more expensive than trucking. Considering that, Strates has not bothered to seek rates from Norfolk Southern for its portion of the train’s traditional route.
...
“CSX has a long history of working with the James E. Strates Shows and we appreciate the nostalgia of the carnival train in American culture. We have worked diligently to accommodate their transportation needs and we have offered them fair pricing for the dedicated, special train service they requested,” railroad spokeswoman Sheriee Bowman says.
...