Pan Am Southern / Patriot Corridor Discussion

New switch going in at Athol # 2 side into the old yard...

At 0730/03-26-2014, activity still ongoing there. To show how long it's been since I've been at in Athol, the surprise was all the CWR waiting for installation.

Caught a 7 unit POED today. Chased them from Gardner to Deerfield. They had 618-614-3489-354-613-619-610 and 73 cars.

A couple more shots...

There was an article in the Athol Daily News either yesterday or the day before regarding the Athol Fire Dept. having to pump water over the tracks due to a collapsed culvert. The culvert in question is slightly east of Tyters, near Pike St. Apparently the collapse has not affected the ROW. It even had quotes from a Pan Am employee from Billerica, saying they can put up signs so trains don't go more than 10 mph over that stretch. It also stated the MDOT would be sending a crew out to check the problem...

Caught EDPO and ED190 yesterday between Deerfield and Athol. ED190 had 344-310 and 19 cars. EDPO had 321-502-614-517 and 59 Rigbys. Here's a couple shots.

Excuse my ignorance here, but I just heard something about the Pan Am Southern agreement includes a clause that NS has the option to take the whole thing over in 2016. Is this true? Does anyone know about this possibility in 2016? Does the agreement have an end date?

Thanks for any feedback.

There was no such agreement when the application was filed and accepted by the STB.

But on a related note, there have been some serious rumors about a deal between NS and CP on the D&H South End. Handwriting has been on the wall for years, but this time the rumors appear to be stronger, with some issues as far as details (how far north NS will get - they want Mohawk, CP wants it too, etc).

newpylong wrote:There was no such agreement when the application was filed and accepted by the STB.

But on a related note, there have been some serious rumors about a deal between NS and CP on the D&H South End. Handwriting has been on the wall for years, but this time the rumors appear to be stronger, with some issues as far as details (how far north NS will get - they want Mohawk, CP wants it too, etc).

Doesn't PAS already own Mohawk Yard?

Only some land - the yard office and the abandoned Gle ville side as far as I know.

I've heard some talk. Interesting to know what, if any role Pan Am will have in an exchange. Also, PAR/CP have a deal for Pan Am service to Saratoga Springs

in other news, the new signals on the west end at least west of eagle bridge should officially be in service very soon if not already. all the old searchlight heads between the hudson and eagle bridge have been turned, and the crews were out in force today pulling signal cabinets from schaghticoke. the new signals were lit at eagle bridge and johnsonville when i drove by this afternoon.

Great shots by atholrail. Do any of those trains go west of East Deerfield or originate west of East Deerfield? I'll be visiting some friends in Shelburne Falls next month and I obviously want to see some trains. On a normal day when should I expect some action? Also, what is the range of the hot box detectors? Thanks in advance for any information anyone can give me.

EDPO and ED190 run to Portland and Millers Falls/Gardner respectively. West of Deerfield you're working with EDRJ/RJED and EDMO/MOED for road freights, 22k/23k and 206/205 for container and auto trains, and AD-2 which forwards VTR/BKRR/Adams Branch cars from North Adams to East Deerfield. EDRJ/EDMO usually take off from Deerfield in the mid-late morning but often can at Soapstone. RJED and MOED are less predictable, but you may be surprised. 22k and 206 probably won't get to Shelburne until the late-late afternoon, and 205 and 23k often run at night, as does AD-2. You might also luck out with an empty or loaded coal train. Prepare to spend 6 hours seeing nothing, only to have 4 trains tuck into the sidings at Buckland/Shelburne as soon as the sun sets.

Here's an iphone grab of the Batten Kill today, framed by the bare signal bridge at Eagle Bridge. Searchlights rest in peace.

Interesting to note the very minimal aspects permissible by the setup as built.