CMQ a year and a half later

[MEC407]

From the Bangor Daily News:

Officials say the company formed a year and a half ago to acquire the bankrupt Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway has made significant headway in its efforts to upgrade crumbling infrastructure and build up its customer base.
. . .
“We’ve put $23 million of fresh capital into this railroad,” Chief Executive Officer John Giles said during a recent visit to Bangor to celebrate the opening of the company’s new offices at 700 Main St.
. . .
Much of the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic track system was limited to 10 mph before the ownership changed, Giles noted, adding that the former owner “had put no capital into this railroad for decades.”
. . .
Giles said that since Maine Central and Quebec bought the railroad, its base of active customers has increased almost three-fold.

“When we arrived, there were a little over 3,000 carloads per quarter. We’re now in the 7,000 range today,” he said.

Arguably one of the biggest shifts under new ownership is a company-wide emphasis on safety that has involved, besides track and equipment upgrades, safety instruction for all employees when it assumed control, training programs for communities and paying to send town fire chiefs to training centers in the western U.S.
. . .
A particular source of pride for Giles, given his predecessor’s Lac-Megantic legacy, is the safety award that Central Maine and Quebec received last year from the Railway Association of Canada.

Read the rest of the article at: http://bangordailynews.com/2016/02/15/b ... ding-line/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[trainiac]

I'm not an expert but I've been quite impressed with some of the infrastructure improvements that are clearly visible from the trackside. I hope CMQ can continue the momentum.

[Cowford]

Not to take away from their progress, but 7,000 carloads per quarter is still tenuous for a line of such size... and is that counting the PAR overhead and Rockland branch traffic? I have a hard time believing they've increased loadings "organically" 130% in a year and a half.

[MEC407]

What I find difficult to comprehend is that MMA only had 3,000 carloads per quarter. Is that really true?

Giles also stated that the former owner[s] “had put no capital into this railroad for decades” which isn't true or even partially true.

Unfortunately this isn't the first time Mr. Giles has made public statements that aren't supported by the facts...

[csx2039]

I agree he clearly says things at times that are a bit of a stretch... I'll put money on the line north of Newport Vermont being a bike path with in the next 10 to 15 years at the rate he is going.

[KSmitty]

A decade is believable, MM&A did a whole lot of work in and around 2004. Which was 10 years ago, and showed. There have been several noticeable speed increases in the last year +.

Also, don't think you can blame every "stupid thing" he says on him. "Maine Central & Quebec" would seem a pretty easy thing to get right "Central Maine & Quebec" and a sort of essential fact if you're going to write an article on the topic. If you can screw up something so basic, it would seem you could easily misquote finer details. Not saying he doesn't stretch things, but in this case, both the article and his statements seem questionable.

[MEC407]

If he'd said "in the past decade" I might give him a pass (although I don't think that's entirely true either, but at least it's closer to the truth). "For decades" has a much different meaning.

You're absolutely right, he might've been misquoted. I do think the man must have terrible luck if he's been misquoted so frequently and by multiple newspapers/reporters.

Maybe he's just not good with words. Some people aren't and that's OK. But if that's the case he should appoint someone else as spokesman or he should prepare written statements which are vetted before being released to the public. Alternatively there's the Guilford Method that worked well for them for many years: no comment.

[KSmitty]

I'm not saying its all the newspaper, but its likely not all him either in this case.

He does have a tendency to put his foot in his mouth, but hes miles of improvement better than his predecessor showing up in Megantic and blaming the smoldering remains of downtown on the Nantes FD.

[MEC407]

Absolutely, no argument from me!