St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad (SLR/SLQ)

Nice run of boxcars ...

Hello,
Yes, lots of empty CN-sourced boxcars and lots of loads of paper. Both are good to see.
Best,
Fritz

Makes me wonder how much of that comes from Jay. Their second machine has restarted and might be responsible in part for the uptick in traffic.

Hello,
Today's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0817 with the following:

RM-1 805
GP40-3 3805
Gp40-3 3804
RM-1 804
3 centerbeam flats
1 covered hopper
6 tank cars
12 propane cars
13 hi-cube boxcars
12 boxcars

That's 47 cars total, including 5 loads and 42 empties.
Have a great weekend,
Fritz

Remarkable box car count again ... Very impressive. Hopefully it grows.

Hello,
Today's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0845 with the following:

GP40-2 3008
QG GP40 3105
GP40-2 3047
28 centerbeam flats
8 boxcars
5 hi-cube boxcars
2 NaClO3 hoppers
15 tank cars
14 propane cars

That's 72 cars total including 7 loads and 65 empties. Not too many boxcars - although they included the first SLR boxcars that I have seen in awhile - but lots of empty lumber flats.

By the way, the first loads of road salt should be arriving at West Milan in the next week or so.
Have a great weekend,
Fritz

SLR (if not leased) might indicate higher volumes originating from NEPW.

Those are empty boxcars moving west but are mostly pulp loads coming east.... the pulp market is all shot right now that Jay is producing only what it needs, Sappi is producing only what they need, ND is exporting to Asia, Woodland is selling little pulp on the freemarket and Irving is shipping their pulp to their new plant in Macon, GA (so not on the free market). So a huge shortage all around, thus why you are seeing CN sourced pulp moving into the marketplace.

How is it loaded, "bulk in boxcar" .... ??

Pulp typically comes in bales (I've seen strips or sheets too) and those are put into boxcars (with dunnage). They need clean equipment so there is no contamination from rust, paint ect. Not particularly rocket science and has been going on ever since the boxcar was first invented.

Pulp is the wood fiber material used to make various paper products, done as a sheet 1-2 inch thick,about the size of a freight pallet,about
60 sheets stacked,damp,moved as if on a slip sheet. approx weight 1500-1700 lbs per stack. avg load wgt was 42,500 lbs
Loaded in a 53 ft trailer along the centerline ,spaced 3 ft apart in a row up to 25 stacks.
A 50 ft Box car might have been able to handle 50 stacks of pulp.

Hello,
Today's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0740 with the following:

RM-1 804
GP40-3 3804
GP40-2 3004
GP40-2 3035
10 centerbeam flats
4 covered hoppers
2 tank cars
9 propane cars
17 hi-cube boxcars
5 boxcars

That's 47 cars total, including 18 loads and 29 empties. Lots of paper headed west again, maybe for all those holiday catalogs we are about to be inundated with!
Best,
Fritz

WOW ... Interesting ...

Fritz wrote:Hello,
Today's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0740 with the following:

RM-1 804
GP40-3 3804
GP40-2 3004
GP40-2 3035
10 centerbeam flats
4 covered hoppers
2 tank cars
9 propane cars
17 hi-cube boxcars
5 boxcars

That's 47 cars total, including 18 loads and 29 empties. Lots of paper headed west again, maybe for all those holiday catalogs we are about to be inundated with!
Best,
Fritz

You are on the right track... but its actually boosted this year due to political mailers... election years always busier (although this is the busy time of year). A lot of the SLR-CN traffic is going to the southern Wisconsin area (Sussex, Pewauke, Waukesha, Menomonee Falls, ect)

Hello,
Thanks for all the info about paper and wood pulp shipments.

Today's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0750 with the following:

QG GP40-2W 3014
RM-1 803
GP40-3 3803
GP40-2 3047
9 centerbeam flats
14 hi-cube boxcars
4 boxcars
35 propane cars
15 tank cars
2 cement hoppers

That's 79 cars total, including 28 loads and 51 empties.
Have a great weekend,
Fritz