ShortlinesUSA wrote:Mike,calaisbranch wrote:I've only seen a few trains on this portion you're talking about. However, it's some of the nicest mainline around with 115lb CWR and an immaculate roadbed. It's a far cry from the line that runs Brownville Junction/Northern Maine Junction or even the Searsport Branch. Car counts have ranged from 45-90 from what I've seen. A lot of pulp-wood spike cars, wood chip cars and boxes. It's wierd like you said, but car counts are certainly there! Besides, whoever gets the rail mileage MMA loses will need an interchange point. Millinocket would likely be that for now. I imagine MMA holding on to their tracks above Brownville just for the purpose of keeping the "new" operator a captive receiver.That's precisely what makes me wonder. In the visits I've made to the MMA, #2 takes a decent sized train from BJct to Millinocket. However, I wonder how much of that is bound for the portion they have put up for abandonment? Again, only hypothetical, but if MMA does outright abandon this portion and there is no new operator to take traffic to, what is left to take to the mill at E. Millinocket?
Last visit, I witnessed the 120 bring in 44 loads of woodchips to Squa Pan from Lumber Alley, just south Portage. They brought in another 20 or so cars from the Presque Isle cluster the night before. So that's a sizeable chunk of traffic headed for Millinocket, and on to other places (I assume the chips were bound for the NBSR, since that was their reporting mark) that would no longer be at Millinocket.
I think at this point, finding the lines abandoned is pretty remote, but the state and MMA are several million dollars apart on their offer; about 9 million, in fact. I honestly think if the line does wind up going out of service, it would be more of a, shall we say, "manly contest" between the state and MMA because the offer from the state is scrap value of the line, the same that MMA would receive if they pulled it up.
I've actually seen NBSR and BAR chip cars coming down loaded to Northern Maine Junction and MMA's Lower Yard. I do believe they go west on EDNM like those "custom" cut boxcars with the long cut pulp wood. Matter of fact, chip empties from NMJ were on the #2 yesterday heading for Millinocket. As roberttosh was saying, could be the debacle with PAR/PAS that's causing the number surge with cars. Can't say I'd mind the MMA gaining from the other's failure!