Woodland Spur

Does anyone know if the state or someone else is going to repair the washout(s) which still exist from Calais to Woodland? Spoke with a couple of NBSR people and they said the Irvings "expect" to be named operator of the mma lines in northern Maine. They also said Irving plans to ship woodchips to the Woodland mill once that happens. Hard to do if the tracks are stikll washed out. That being said there are at least 20 cars od sodium chlorate, etc in the McAdam yard destined for Woodland.

This comment from The Fallen Flags Board.....Boston and Maine / Maine Central.

Re: Maine Central / Pulp and Paper Mills
by RRBUFF » Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:40 pm

" Since the Mill reopened a couple of years ago NBSR has been operating the Calais to Woodland branch. They keep a engine at the mill for switching and runs to Calais. GRS is responsible for the upkeep and security of the ROW,and are paid by the mill for this service. This was part of the old agreement when GRS operated the trains.RRBUFF "

.............So, I would assume PanAm is responsible for repairs ?

The Calais to Woodland line is still down with no work being done to restore service. NBSR engine and about a dozen cars and the snow plow are sitting in the Woodland Yard at the mill. All chemicals and oil are coming in by truck. The major washout is on the Canadian side of the river.

Trains are now running to the mill at Woodland again. The washouts have finally been fixed. NBSR picked up their switcher last week, took it to Saint John to be serviced and have returned it to Woodland. According to NBSR personel they plan on shipping both logs and woodchips from northern Maine to Woodland shortly. On another note NBSR sent much of their new MoW equipment across the border into Maine last week to start work on the eastern Maine portion of their line from Vanceboro to Brownville. Word is they also have been given the contract for the work on the line to northern Maine from Millinocket.

Great info, thank you carchecker! Do you by chance have any idea when NBSR's operation on the former MMA trackage is going to begin?

Heard the date is July 01, but thats all I hear.

Thank you, sir! More than I've heard, so it's appreciated.

From what I am hearing on the New Brunswick side of the border NBSR hopes to be running it by July 1st. They are also planning on hiring up to 30 new employees and according to a couple of engineers I spoke with NBSR will purchase locomotives as well as cars to supply customers on the line.

Sounds good, thank you for the added info, carchecker. I look forward to seeing how all of this plays out for the NBSR.

It was my understanding PAR was still operating their Woodland branch, just using a NBSR loco. Can you confirm that NBSR is actually the one running?

Upon checking in the yard in Woodland, The NBSR engine is leased by the Woodland Mill and is operated by Pan Am crew. Pan Am is also responsible for the Maintenance of Way.

Was there much railcar traffic/activity in the yard? Thanks!

There has been a new service. NBSR is shipping in logs for the mill in 20 to 25 car lots. There is very little outbound traffic as all of the pulp is now being trucked to Eastport for export.. Chemicals are still arriving but the mill is changing to Natural Gas from the pipeline approx 4 miles away. That will put the oil business out of Woodland. The Woodland Mill is looking into using the old Lousiana Pacific OSB mill which has rail service so we don't know what the future will be there. They won't be making OSB

There is a substancial amount of log cars coming from the new Maine Northern line. One night last week the NBSR westbound picked up 40 empties from McAdam yard and they also have an eastbound on Sundays out of Brownville to make connections with the logs coming down from northern Maine. There is also a rumour that chips may be in the future. As far as I know there isn't any oil that goes to Woodland by rail anyway. The chemicals used in the paper making process, ie cautic soda, calcium carbonate, etc are the loads travelling by rail. The "south freight" out of McAdam runs about four days a week now. NBSR has also picked up new customers in St Stephen as well.

Sodium Chlorate ships to Woodland in those UNPX aluminum hoppers, from EKA Chemie in Magog QC on the MMA.

JAJ