Pan Am Southern / Patriot Corridor Discussion

csx people which ostensibly are mostly ex par folks have been doing quite a bit of mow/cs work on pas especially after csx and then fra geometry reviews. lots of surfacing hours west of east deerfield.

There is a crew out today clearing the brush at the junction by S. Main St. in Voorheesville .

BLET signed an agreement for the B&E/ST split. No details yet. UTU/SMART plus other craft unions still need to sign as far as I know but they usually say me too once BLET ratifies.

Line is totally cleared in Voorheesville, both the old main that crossed the CSX main and went to Albany and the existing old interchange track. It's all wide open now, almost looks like it did 20 years ago.

There are some interesting artifacts like old pole line and signal bases visible now.

Sounds interesting. Would be great to see a picture or two of the location where the work is taking place.

Just noticed that as of 3/13/23, NS has posted conductor & engineer job openings for Voorheesvile. See attached screen grab. Job description:

Locomotive Engineer - Voorheesville, NY
Date: Mar 13, 2023

Location: Central Bridge, NY, US, 12092 Mechanicville, NY, US, 12118

Company: Norfolk Southern Corp.

Locomotive Engineer - Voorheesville, NY


Job Description

Norfolk Southern is seeking a skilled Locomotive Engineer to operate locomotives safely and efficiently. The ideal candidate will have a strong work ethic, a focus on safety, and a passion for operating trains.

Employees hired under this announcement should initially expect to serve on train crews operating an approximately 190-mile run between Voorheesville, NY and Ayer, MA.

Interesting, looks like NS has decided to use their own crews. There was talk of them just bringing it to Selkirk and then having a B&A crew take it east.

This suggests NS may move the trains as soon as VO is upgraded whether or not the Worcester main is cleared for DS

Why wouldn't they? DS may be the big piece, but they're not going to fix the track just to sit and wait...

Qualification won't happen overnight too. We're talking another railroad and ruleset for them now...

I suspect NS hopes to luck out and hire a couple guys from csx that already run on the B&A

NHV 669 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 10:49 am Why wouldn't they? DS may be the big piece, but they're not going to fix the track just to sit and wait...

I suppose it depends on the economics. Do they need DS efficiency to offset csx trackage rights fees? NY state is putting up big bucks for the rebuild of the Albany main so NS is not footing the whole bill

F74265A wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 1:11 pm I suspect NS hopes to luck out and hire a couple guys from csx that already run on the B&A

It's strange to begin with to hire for a very specific location and not a terminal when in reality these are seniority T&E positions. Unless they have the flexibility in the labor agreements to create new terminals on the fly like that, (and prevent others from bumping the job) I don't see how they can promise someone off the street that that is where they will be working.

Agree it is odd that the advertised position is VO to Ayer.

newpylong wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 2:05 pm

F74265A wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 1:11 pm I suspect NS hopes to luck out and hire a couple guys from csx that already run on the B&A

It's strange to begin with to hire for a very specific location and not a terminal when in reality these are seniority T&E positions. Unless they have the flexibility in the labor agreements to create new terminals on the fly like that, (and prevent others from bumping the job) I don't see how they can promise someone off the street that that is where they will be working.

Agreed and every T&E in Selkirk knows this. I'd guess you'll hire out per this ad as a new man, and work out of VO until the more senior people get qualified and then you get bumped to Binghamton. There may be some kind of loophole involving the purchase of the line from CP that would establish it as a new terminal. But I'd want to see that in writing. I see its advertised as 190 miles, which if NS pay scale is like CSX, will pay ok.

I can maybe see them getting some of the new conductors from CSX, but no way any engineers go for this without ironclad guarantees.