Portland Waterfront Rail Ops (Yard 8, Intermodal, etc)

Today's Portland Press Herald http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; has a front page story on the future of the container facility on the site of the old Portland Terminal Wharf and more recently, "International Ferry Terminal". Basically, the State of Maine is taking its operation over from the City of Portland. Number of containers handled nearly doubled from 2006 to 2007. Most are shipped by barge from NYC and Boston then trucked to final destinations from Portland.

NOT ONE mention of the very nearby abandoned tracks, from Guilford's rarely used Yard 8, on West Commercial St!! While I know that Guilford had a bad experience with containers out of the Waterville container yard(largely built with public funds over a decade ago) and their 2 dedicated container trains(TV-95 and TV-96), you would think that in this time of high diesel prices and unhappy truckers, that the "rail option" might get a "mention"???

Bud

State of Maine needs to Upgrade the terminal, upgrade the Mountain Division, contract a RR to run it, and take containers from Portland over the Mountain Division to Montreal. In the case that most containers are going south well then I guess they would have to get Guilford involved. Good luck.

CN9634 wrote:State of Maine needs to Upgrade the terminal, upgrade the Mountain Division, contract a RR to run it, and take containers from Portland over the Mountain Division to Montreal. In the case that most containers are going south well then I guess they would have to get Guilford involved. Good luck.

All dreams. Faster and more economical just to go to Halifax and ride a Class 1 to the rest of the continent.

newpylong wrote:

CN9634 wrote:State of Maine needs to Upgrade the terminal, upgrade the Mountain Division, contract a RR to run it, and take containers from Portland over the Mountain Division to Montreal. In the case that most containers are going south well then I guess they would have to get Guilford involved. Good luck.

All dreams. Faster and more economical just to go to Halifax and ride a Class 1 to the rest of the continent.

The Auburn ramp provides that Montreal service now. Possible solution is to go over the road from Portland to there.

Now that the state owns (or will soon own?) the former SLR line from Portland to Yarmouth Junction, with an option to buy the section from Yarmouth Junction to Danville Junction in the future, it would make a lot of sense to simply truck the containers the very short distance from the container terminal to the rails at East Deering, and then an SLR train could take them from there to Montreal or wherever. I'd love to see the Mountain Division reopened but using the SLR would be a lot more cost effective at this point.

Tis a shame. I heard back in the Day CP had an interest in the Mountain Division to gain access to the deep water port of Portland but then they picked up the D&H. Has anyone else heard that?

cpf354 wrote:

newpylong wrote:

CN9634 wrote:State of Maine needs to Upgrade the terminal, upgrade the Mountain Division, contract a RR to run it, and take containers from Portland over the Mountain Division to Montreal. In the case that most containers are going south well then I guess they would have to get Guilford involved. Good luck.

All dreams. Faster and more economical just to go to Halifax and ride a Class 1 to the rest of the continent.

The Auburn ramp provides that Montreal service now. Possible solution is to go over the road from Portland to there.

There is a big difference between a pig ramp and a container facility where containers can be barged both in the area of operations and sheer volume. Also, it makes little sense to off load containers, put them on trucks, just to move them a few miles, then offload them onto a train. Direct loading to rail is required to be effective.

MEC407 wrote:Now that the state owns (or will soon own?) the former SLR line from Portland to Yarmouth Junction, with an option to buy the section from Yarmouth Junction to Danville Junction in the future, it would make a lot of sense to simply truck the containers the very short distance from the container terminal to the rails at East Deering, and then an SLR train could take them from there to Montreal or wherever. I'd love to see the Mountain Division reopened but using the SLR would be a lot more cost effective at this point.

When did this happen?

Somewhat recently... within the past year, anyway. I e-mailed MaineDOT today and they confirmed that they do own the section from Portland to Yarmouth Jct., with an option to purchase the section from Yarmouth Jct. to Danville Jct. within the next four years. SLR retains freight rights.

Cool, thanks for letting us know.

Brooks

Based on the description in the article, I believe this land is directly across the street from Yard 8. Correct me if I'm wrong.

From Mainebiz:

Mainebiz wrote:Portland development company J.B. Brown & Sons is buying 10.5 acres from a railway company on West Commercial Street with plans to develop into a mixed-use area, including offices and residences.

The parcel -- owned by Portland Terminal Co., which operates Pan Am Systems -- lies between Benny's Famous Fried Clams and the Star Match Co. complex, and is upland of Commercial Street with no waterfront footage on the Fore River. J.B. Brown is asking the city to rezone about 8.5 acres of the property between 113 and 201 West Commercial Street to allow mixed-use development. It's currently zoned for marine industrial uses. A portion is also zoned for residential use higher up on the hill, according to Bill Needelman, Portland's senior planner.

Needelman says historically, the land has been industrial, and that the most recent user, the railroad, has been inactive for years.

Read more at: http://www.mainebiz.biz/news48704.html

You are right....Behind the clam shack there is/was a rail line that went all the way done commercial st..There were switches
that ran off the main track and would come across commercial to different coustomers along the warf....The track also extended from Yard 8 down commercial right down the street....I belive that Becky's Diner on commercial st. has pictures
framed and hanging on the walls of what area looked like when they had a fully working railroad in that area.

Thanks, Tim!

From The Forecaster:

The Forecaster wrote:PORTLAND — A local development company hopes to build a three-story office building on a vacant stretch of Commercial Street west of the Casco Bay Bridge.

Vincent Veroneau, president and chief executive officer of J.B. Brown & Sons, on Monday said the proposal is generating interest from potential tenants. It's too soon to say who might occupy the building, he said, but the company hopes to begin construction next summer.

Before that can happen, however, J.B. Brown must first finishing purchasing the 11-acre parcel from the Portland Terminal Co., which operates the Pan Am freight trains.

Read more at: http://www.theforecaster.net/content/p- ... t-portland

From The Portland Press Herald:

The Portland Press Herald wrote:Bill Needelman, Portland's senior planner, said the Portland Planning Board will review the proposed rezoning at a workshop starting at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. He said formal action would likely take place in December or January, after which the rezoning proposal would go to the City Council.

Read more at: http://www.pressherald.com/news/develop ... 11-03.html