Pan Am Southern / Patriot Corridor Discussion

Cab signals required on the B&A, would need to attain and maintain qualifications for crews, reverse move at Palmer. Would need NS, MassDOT and CSX approval. It's a non-starter.

Perhaps the discussion needs to get back to PAS (for which this is being installed for) and not other railroads.

A good reason to avoid use of Gardner yard trackage...
Chuck Heidorn photo:
http://photos.greatrails.net/showpic/?p ... otoindex=0

Here's a link to the public PAS/B&E operations service metrics that CSX posted to the STB filings site on 7/16/24 that shows how CSX, NS, and B&E will monitor and report PAS performance against goals (redacted unfortunately!) on a monthly basis. I believe this is the first time CSX has published this PAS operations performance doc and I'm guessing the unredacted doc does not show any actual data to compare against the monthly goal as yet. The monthly actual data columns from left to right are "December, January, February, etc" but no year is specified but I'm guessing CSX/NS/B&E will initially report actuals starting December 2023 through July 2024 to the STB.

https://dcms-external.s3.amazonaws.com/ ... 308472.pdf

Alan LaPierre got a nice photo of the new NECR to PAS track 1 crossover being installed at Millers Falls on July 17,2024.

http://photos.greatrails.net/showpic/?p ... rder=new99

Matt Baj, Jr. has a photo showing the crossover appearing largely installed as B100 passes by July 28.

Credit: Matt Baj. Jr./Facebook

Apparently the Commonwealth of MA is paying for this connection because when MA DOT rehabbed the Conn River line tunnel under Greenfield, the new lining reduced clearance such that Plate E cars could not be accommodated? Do I have this right? Any idea what commodities in what types of cars will now use this new connection? And is this to be used only for B&E - NECR interchange?

How much traffic is there between N. Adams and Greenfield lately?

In terms of train counts between N Adams and Greenfield, there are 4 daily trains: IM pair B100/B101 and NS interchange manifest pair MOED/EDMO. Beyond that, there is an "as needed" (I believe) CSX interchange manifest pair to/from Rotterdam Jct EDRJ/RJED (I read on PAS FaceBook page that EDRJ/RJED might operate once per week?). There is a Thursday only (?) E Deerfield - N Adams turn local. And a couple of times per month, loaded and empty grain trains run between NS Mohawk Yd and Ardent Mills at Ayer. Of course, once the NS IM traffic starts operating via CSX, there will be only one daily train pair plus the occasional EDRJ/RKED, AD-1, and grain trains. Things will be pretty quiet on D3!

Here's a list of B&E trains posted on railroadfan.com - I can't vouch for its accuracy and I'm guessing operation schedules may be fluid. For example, I haven't seen a reference to a B&E train EDPO in awhile as I thought that traffic was handled between Ayer & E Deerfield via EDSA/SAED but I might be wrong. Also, increasingly there seems to be EDPW operating as an E Deerfield - Gardner turn several days per week handling P&W interchange (often a live meet with P&W WOGR/GRWO).

https://railroadfan.com/wiki/index.php/ ... n_Railroad

Has the recently installed NECR / B&E crossover at Millers Falls been put to revenue use yet for interchange? If so, I'm guessing NECR 611, the Brattleboro - Palmer road local turn would have set out or picked up cars on PAS main track 1? Are NECR crews qualified on PAS between MF and E Deerfield Yard? Is this interchange only performed when cars bigger than what fits through the Greenfield tunnel must be handled by PAS or NECR?

The more I think about that crossover, the more I think the main user of it would be PAS for freight that they would otherwise haul up the Conn River to East Northfield but that now won't fit through the Greenfield tunnel. I don't think it's for NECR interchange. I think it's for PAS to bypass Greenfield.

Massachusetts releases Northern Tier Passenger Rail Study final report:

https://www.mass.gov/northern-tier-passenger-rail-study

Actually its the draft final report. There is a 60-day comment period that ends in early October.

I know my eyes are capable of deceiving me, but the maps seem to ID Westminster as "MP-330," which is actually 5 miles E and just E of the Rollstone OHB, Westminster being 335.
Alternative 3 -- overhead electrification all the way to North Adams -- makes no mention of clearance issues at the Hoosac Tunnel. Bridge work gets budgeted, and the Hoosac gets a brief historical mention, including the 2020 shutdown, but without the roof being raised and/or the floor being dropped, there would seem to be problems with bilevel passenger cars getting through unless it's 11K power. Racks and trash would have difficulty unless rthe tunnel were deenergized for freight movements.
Mebbe the 3-and-later alternatives are sacrificial just to make the earlier ones seem more attractive...

I understood that as part of the Pan Am purchase, CSX is to allow NS to run double stacks and auto racks over the B&A to Ayer (avoiding taking those through the Hoosac tunnel. The study does specifically call out that passenger equipment for this service will be Amfleet or similar equipment (i.e. Airo trainsets), so there is no need to support bilevel passenger equipment.

The 4th alternative seems the most attractive, as it has the same O&M costs as alternative 2, but serves more potential passengers along the same route with only a 10 minute difference in end to end run times.

Yes, NS is going to get DS and rack access after work on clearance issues on the Worcester Sub is set. The T is inching towards bilevels, so simplicity of equipment utilization would seem to point toward an eventual all-bilevel car fleet. The CSX main isn't immune from flooding issues, so there is sense in maintaining a viable second -- B&E -- route. Until additional double-tracking happens to the west, the diverted NS traffic may well divert non-clearance-challenged loads to the B&E.
When CSX double-tracking is complete, that might seem the opportunity to undertake a full-bore -- pun intended -- refit of the Hoosac. -- extended vertical clearance, full-length shields, and water diversion. The technology exists. Political will is another matter. When Lt. Gov. Jane Swift -- a North Adams native -- took over after Gov. Paul Cellucci went to Washington to go to Ottawa, there were scant Northern Tier improvements -- road or rail.
Let's all hope for a brighter future.