"Up North" Gawking (District 1 sightings)

I haven't seen any sightings of the SD23's in a few days. It sounds like both of them are laid up in Waterville with mechanical issues (again). One of them died at Mattawamkeag a few days back and rescue power had to be sent for the train. It sounds like they are having a lot of reliability issues and are very slippery.

So maybe the old pan am c40s are not so bad after all seeing as how the new power is unreliable

Unsurprising, considering that they are essentially a totally new type of locomotive. There are always teething problems to be worked out with new technology. Hopefully Wabtec will send some of their people up to Maine to figure out what's going on.

High volume of lumber moving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuJPnj6uMIo

I'm guessing this block of Irving lumber is headed for Selkirk via CSX M427? Or would some of it be headed for PAS/NS at Ayer? I'm guessing any Irving lumber bound for NS would go via CP across the Moosehead?

Those Freeman cars were moving over CP, don't think I've seen one in a minute. I guess some St. Stephen cars are moving over CSXT instead of CN via NBR.

FWIW, today's CPKC 121 had 8 Irving's, one Lebel, and one Delco.

johnpbarlow wrote: ↑Wed Mar 06, 2024 9:38 am I'm guessing this block of Irving lumber is headed for Selkirk via CSX M427? Or would some of it be headed for PAS/NS at Ayer? I'm guessing any Irving lumber bound for NS would go via CP across the Moosehead?

As I'm seeing it, you're on target with the 1st and 3rd questions, Mr. Barlow, and with thanks to Mr. NHV's input.

Across the trend starting early last summer before Keag's re-opening and day-to-day flows, there was a similar 1 -day 21-car peak for the first time last week moving on M427 and up from a 1-day 11-car peak early last Fall.

Plans announced today to redevelop the Androscoggin Mill in Jay, ME to produce OSB:

https://www.maine.gov/governor/mills/ne ... -mill-site

Best thing that could have come out of this situation-- thanks for sending over the good news. Sounds like theres room too for expansion and/or other tenants.

Best case scenario would be for this OSB facility to bring in adhesives and send out centerbeams. There's not much detail about the planned scale of the facility but this certainly better than letting the site get overrun by the service sector and light industry.

Excellent news even if no rail loads come of it, but that's doubtful.

Some of the earlier speculation I had seen ( i.e. " business incubators " ) left me expecting little more
than another underused warehousing facility. If this pans out, and the man behind the development
certainly has the experience, this puts the woods operators and others involved in the fiber supply
chain back into the game since being out of it after the pulp mill explosion thus helping the local
economy. I would expect CSX to gain some traffic as well.

With the cost of building materials these days this is probably a win-win-win

NHV 669 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 06, 2024 10:26 am Those Freeman cars were moving over CP, don't think I've seen one in a minute. I guess some St. Stephen cars are moving over CSXT instead of CN via NBR.

FWIW, today's CPKC 121 had 8 Irving's, one Lebel, and one Delco.

The Saint Stephen cars have been moving over CSX/Pan Am for years now. The blue double door boxcars go via CSX/Pan Am and have OSB products from Flake Board. I think the only cars which go via CN are the fish food cars that go to the fish farm in Saint Stephen. CPKC moves some of the Woodland cars, not much on the finished products side I believe but they handle all of the chlorate business.

Cosakita18 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 09, 2024 7:41 am Best case scenario would be for this OSB facility to bring in adhesives and send out centerbeams. There's not much detail about the planned scale of the facility but this certainly better than letting the site get overrun by the service sector and light industry.

As well as propane, New Limerick and until recently Easton both got LPG on top of the adhesives by rail. As for the finished product, I believe OSB is shipped in boxcars, at least the stuff from Easton is. That protects the product from rain and in climate weather a lot better.

But the construction of a new OSB plant is an interesting choice. Considering New Limerick was converted to making LP siding due to the lack of a demand for OSB in 2022, which that has also impacted Huber in Easton which I think scaled back production two years ago. Not to mention the OSB plant in Woodland which closed about 15 years ago, which had its equipment scrapped in the not too recent past. Maybe they are intending on making some sort of OSB related product, but if they intend on making traditional OSB it seems like an odd move considering the industry shift in the area.