by Bob Roberts
Tadman wrote: ↑Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:39 am Boy wouldn't that be a twist on history. Wilmington, although not seemingly big in the CSX system, is perhaps the most important (and easily top five) cities in the system. It was ACL headquarters. From what I understand, ACL was the dominant partner with the SAL/ACL merger, and then the SCL was at first the dominant partner in the CSX merger until Prime Osborn was driven out. You'll notice L&N grey was a prominent color until the mid-80's and has slowly disappeared in comparison to C&O blue/yellow.The other benefit to NCDOT for purchasing the branch line from Goldsboro to Wallace (they already own Wallace to Wilmington) would be that they -could- lease freight rights on it to NS as part of the NCRR agreement (the branch connects to the NCRR in Goldsboro). This would help NS get their money's worth out of their maintenance costs down to Morehead City. But the bigger benefit is this would give the port of Wilmington freight service from two carriers for the first time since the 1967 ACL-Seaboard merger. I am sure CSX would be reluctant give up their monopoly freight position in the (comparatively) tiny port, but the lack of competitive freight service has always held the port back from getting more ships, and it appears clear that CSX has a price.
njt/mnrrbuff wrote: ↑Wed Apr 15, 2020 1:46 pm Back to the Piedmont-isn't there a plan to allow the Piedmont Trains to get up to 90 mph?The ARRA grant was spec'd to make top speeds from Charlotte to Greensboro 90mph (I don't think that was the plan for Greensboro to Raleigh which is single tracked). 90mph never materialized however and NCDOT never explained why. My guess is that NS told them how much they planned to bill NCDOT to maintain Class 5 tracks and NCDOT decided they didn't need the extra 10mph that badly.