Utica Branch Discussion Thread

[milkman]

[quote="JoeCollege"]My understanding from talking to a local politician who spoke to someone at the IDA level is that the line is complete and ready for service. But:

1.) There remain no customers between Chenango Forks and Waterville.
2.) The railroad does not have any desire to utilize the line to access Waterville or Utica, preferring the current arrangement with CSX to access the Utica branch via Syracuse and transit from Dewitt to Utica.
3.) The powers that be in Cooperstown have nothing but disdain for this line and no interest in operating it to the point that they have refused any discussion of obtaining customers in Chenango county.[/quote

Well then my question is why did the railroad put up over $85,000.00 of there own money to help pay for the restoration of the line?, and why did they sign a contract with the CCIDA agreeing to maintain the line for 10yrs?

[NYS&W142Fan]

Could this just be someone or some group who just doesn't want to see rail, like a trail group. We know how that goes!

[JoeCollege]

Could this just be someone or some group who just doesn't want to see rail, like a trail group. We know how that goes!

If you're throwing stones my way, you're off base. I do not like the idea of a trail in that location. I do want to see rail. There are some in this thread, close to the project even, that can vouch for that. I have expressed my support for this project to Cliff Crouch and Steve Craig as well as a consultant involved. I attempted to make the economics work for one of my businesses to bring in product via rail and could not make it work economically. I worked with a consultant to ship a product out of this area via rail that was not financially viable at this time either. And no one would like to see jobs brought to this area more than I would.

But I am a cynical idealist. I just don't see any traffic in the area and have been told, albeit second hand, on multiple occasions that the highest levels of management want nothing to do with the line unless they can make money using it. Makes sense to me. I recall seeing somewhere- maybe this thread- that the number of cars needed to generate revenue on this line when leaving Binghamton is around 20. Baillie trucks their lumber to Dewitt in containers to be loaded on cars. Maybe if they could dray it to Utica or even Sherburne to do same, they'd go back to the rail, but the facilities are not in place for this. Chobani would have to dray from Norwich, and Utica may actually be a more cost effective transload point- I don't really know.

Raymond brings in decent amounts of steel by truck, but would still need to transload, which they could do in Binghamton unless facilities can be built in Greene. Trust me- I have wracked my brain trying to help bring something to this line, and not just so my kids and I can see trains!

[cjvrr]

I have heard the same on the southern division of the NYS&W too. If a customer is only shipping a few cars every few months, management isn't interested as the economics just don't work. Its a shame that costs have gone up so much that car loads are turned away.

[NYS&W142Fan]

@JoeCollege, no the comment was not directed to/at you. It was more a general comment in that NY State appears to prefer trails over rail, the Adirondack Scenic comes to mind or the Line in Kingston. I do see a potential for the line, but more Businesses need to make it happen.
I used to have a House up there where the Utica line was in my front yard so to speak. Always liked seeing the trains run, now my son hopes to see them.

[JTBernier]

Apologies for the obscure question, but do all drops at Utica from CSX come from DeWitt or eastbound trains and all pickups go to Selkirk?

[milkman]

Here is some information on the restoration of the railroad from Progress Chenango.
Scroll down to page 50.

http://www.evesun.com/progress/2017/pdf/progress9.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[NYS&W142Fan]

Thank you for the update Milkman. Its a shame that the Raymond Corp is on the opposite side of the river from the Railroad. I'm sure they could benefit from it if they were closer. However, the article does give some encouraging news that there are some inquiring about service. Let's hope it all pans out!

[RSD15]

Apologies for the obscure question, but do all drops at Utica from CSX come from DeWitt or eastbound trains and all pickups go to Selkirk?

Yes generally that's correct and that is shared with the MA&N. Meaning if the MA&N gets a drop the NYS&W will not and vise versa.

[ricky]

any new updates or new news on this line?

[thebigham]

^BIG NEWS in Norwich:

"A locomotive employed by NYS&W Railway moves north to Utica. The locomotive will be used for local freight deliveries originating in Utica."

They ran an engine from Binghamton to Utica today! Video is on Facebook.

Pics here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/79889233@ ... 862627283/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ricky]

they should have the crossing gates working before they ran train from greene to north nowich

[milkman]

It went by our house about 2PM.
My wife saw it.

[ut-1]

Here are three photos I took just past 4 yesterday in North Brookfield:

[NYS&W142Fan]

they should have the crossing gates working before they ran train from greene to north nowich

They don't have to have the gates working to move a loco like that, all they need to do is protect the crossing, meaning the Conductor or one of the train crew needs to get out and flag the crossing or the need to stop and make sure the crossing is clear then proceed. I am certain once the line starts seeing traffic on a regular basis, the lights/gates will be activated.