CSX Acquisition of Pan Am Railways

I grew up close by to that area, and was in high school when they were planning the "new" I-190 highway which cuts through part of the watershed. I remember that there was a lot of engineering done to capture the storm water from the road surface and direct it to detention facilities that would remove or somehow mitigate the salt and other pollutants. Pretty smart, and I imagine that if traffic on the rail line picks up there will eventually be some type of containment system built.

BandA wrote: ↑Sat Jan 08, 2022 12:14 am I don't think CSX should agree to a 25mph speed limit in the Reservoir segment. Perhaps for trains with 1 or more hazmat cars. Why limit a hirail truck to 25? Even if a locomotive went in the drink the diesel spill would be contained before it became a drink.

I believe they've already agreed to it in the settlement agreement they made with MWRA. Keep in mind that the 25 MPH limit is only for the 7-mile stretch through the reservoir watershed. Outside of that, they'll be able to go up to 40 (remember - the entire line will be maintained at Class 3.).

Also, the entire route between Worcester and Ayer is only 28 miles, including the first 2 3/4 miles that are in P&W yard limits. Even if they maintain an average of 25 MPH the whole way, the trip will only be an hour in each direction. Unlike how the line is maintained right now, they'll actually be able to DO 25 MPH - it won't be a case of "if you can't maintain 25, drop to 10 to avoid harmonic rocking".

newpylong wrote: ↑Sat Jan 08, 2022 6:48 am Nor that they can simply look at the easements/deeds on their property to see who owns the tracks on top of the land in regards to maintenance. In most cases, yes the railroad does.

The other condition seems reasonable.

In this particular case, it's actually not so simple. I took a look at Waterbury's property assessment GIS maps, and the siding to Albert Brothers actually branches off of the Naugatuck, not off of Pan Am. No property owner is listed for the parcel with the tracks and bridge at all (unlike the Pan Am track, which shows "Boston & Maine" as the owner). According to the most recent Connecticut State Rail Plan, the line is owned by the state, and is maintained to Class 1 and Class 2 standards, with service provided by the Naugatuck.

You are right that the state owns the Naugatuck Branch that the Naugy RR runs on. Pan Am does switch the spur to Albert Bros. from the Highland Junction switch. Back in the New Haven & Penn Central days that spur was actually part of the Watertown branch that continued on through Oakville to Watertown. When I worked for PC as a brakeman in the early 70's on the Naugatuck Roster I would occasionally get the Waterbury "jitter bug" yard job and we would make a run up to Watertown with some lumber loads.

So I guess it could be a bit ambiguous now on who owns or maintains the bridge and track into Albert Bros. yard. My guess would be any maintenance would be done by whomever services that siding.

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Sat Jan 08, 2022 7:50 am Regarding the Reservoir; what would have happened "back in my day", i.e. 70 years ago, when riding the Camp Special (Pullmans added to the State of Maine) up to Meredith NH, if I, or one of my "camper colleagues", had to "take a tinkle" while passing through this watershed?

Riding same in line space to Portland, circa '59, I do not recall the Porter saying not to use the "facility" in a 14-4 "--Point" until, say, a half hour after leaving Worcester.

Unlike most surface reservoirs, MWRA water is not filtered at all. So sunlight & dilution are the only protections against giardia & cryptosporidium, which I don't think were endemic before the 1980s. A little urea ain't enough to cause an algae bloom, though it's bad form to tinkle directly into the drinking water. Human feces should at least be buried so that animals can't eat it, and probably at least 50 feet from bodies of water & above the water table. Rail trails or hiking trails pose a much greater risk of organic pollution than railroads do!

I think the bigger issue is the railroad crosses a chokepoint in the system. The 3 major contributors are crossed by the railroad. The Stillwater, Quinnipoxit and the pipe from Quabbin. There is no bypass for Quabbin water. And since just about everyone inside 128 is in the MWRA district, they are protecting their resource. And rightly so water supply trumps an investor owned railroad.

Also water standards have risen since a choo choo went to summer camp. No one wants anything close to another Civil Action in the Commonwealth.

For a reasonable fee, I’m sure CSX is happy to ship down more of that Maine water

Red Wing wrote: ↑Mon Jan 10, 2022 8:33 am Also water standards have risen since a choo choo went to summer camp.

Mr. Red Wing, I think a B&M E-7 was more to the point. However I distinctly recall one year from Meredith, there was a BL-2 on the head.

BandA wrote: ↑Sun Jan 09, 2022 8:51 pm

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Sat Jan 08, 2022 7:50 am Regarding the Reservoir; what would have happened "back in my day", i.e. 70 years ago, when riding the Camp Special (Pullmans added to the State of Maine) up to Meredith NH, if I, or one of my "camper colleagues", had to "take a tinkle" while passing through this watershed?

Riding same in line space to Portland, circa '59, I do not recall the Porter saying not to use the "facility" in a 14-4 "--Point" until, say, a half hour after leaving Worcester.

Unlike most surface reservoirs, MWRA water is not filtered at all. So sunlight & dilution are the only protections against giardia & cryptosporidium, which I don't think were endemic before the 1980s. A little urea ain't enough to cause an algae bloom, though it's bad form to tinkle directly into the drinking water. Human feces should at least be buried so that animals can't eat it, and probably at least 50 feet from bodies of water & above the water table. Rail trails or hiking trails pose a much greater risk of organic pollution than railroads do!

The MWRA has a large water treatment plant down the line in Marlborough (within sight of CSXT's Fitchburg Running Track) which treats the water for the downstream, customers: https://www.mwra.com/04water/html/carrollwtp.html

Since 2005, the Carroll Water Treatment Plant has used ozone as a primary disinfectant. Ozone provides better disinfection than chlorine alone. It also reduces the amount of potentially harmful disinfection by-products. Since the plant has been on-line, it has exceeded current regulatory requirements for inactivation of Giardia, provided
Cryptosporidium inactivation in advance of future regulations and reduced the formation of disinfection by-products.

In April 2014, ultraviolet ("UV") light treatment was added. UV enables MWRA to inactivate the most difficult to kill pathogens. UV light damages the DNA of bacteria, viruses and other pathogens, making it a strong disinfectant.

BandA wrote: ↑Sun Jan 09, 2022 8:51 pm

Unlike most surface reservoirs, MWRA water is not filtered at all.
[/quote]


Band A Please provide a source for this information that MWRA water is not filtered, I believe it is not true.

The more I think about it, the more I wonder why VRS would agree to these conditions, with CP up north very little traffic if any is being interchanged through White River Junction to Bellows Falls any more, VRS has a bigger fish to fry than what little traffic is being handled on the WACR, and as far as the trackage rights between East Deerfield BellowsFalls, they’re basically for emergencies only and offer no real availability of building any business. Really doesn’t seem like they got much out of it. I’m scratching my head…

Well the truth is in actuality the sale doesn't really effect them so they milked it for what it's worth and improved their standing. They could have kept their opposition and got nothing except rate guarantees.

I think between the two types of trackage rights that VRS is getting, you'll see them running to East Deerfield a lot more often than you think... potentially even a couple of times/week.

The more I think about it, the more I wonder why VRS would agree to these conditions...

It's probably as good as they were going to get and getting to/from E. Deerfield was the real concern to protect alternatives to CP.

I do also wonder if it is possible that some other post-sale arrangement was made that was unrelated to the specific objections raised by VRS and VTDOT? I'm thinking something like an agreement regarding Nashua north or planned gravel trains in NH, or something along those lines. VRS drops objections now and once the sale closes, enters into a new agreement w/CSX. Probably just wishful thinking on my part that VRS would be more inclined to drum up new business in NH than CSX.

neman2 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 11, 2022 8:42 pm

BandA wrote: ↑Sun Jan 09, 2022 8:51 pm Unlike most surface reservoirs, MWRA water is not filtered at all.

Band A Please provide a source for this information that MWRA water is not filtered, I believe it is not true.

It's right here in the MWRA's FAQ: https://www.mwra.com/04water/html/qual4concerns.htm

MWRA’s drinking water is unfiltered, so [your home] filters may not last as long as they would in a filtered water system. This is due to the natural organic matter that is in the water supply. This organic matter is not a health concern. Also, in the late winter and early spring, there are natural increases in algae levels that can clog [your water] filters. Some years are higher than others, depending on weather conditions.

I wasn't aware that their new ozone and UV disinfection fixed the parasite problems. But we are getting off-topic.

The point I was trying to make was that human activity is a risk of point source and non point source contamination of our drinking water, and risk from railroad can be managed to reduce risk. The fact is the railroad was there first and the reservoir was built knowing about some of the risks. And the alternative is trucks which can spill too.