Southern Tier - East of Binghamton

I know there are several threads regarding this on the Pan Am Southern forum.

K4Pacific wrote:Again, the east end will come alive. Let's remember that the 1958 consolidation of routings between Binghamton and Corning was in negotiations beginning in 1955. Perry Shoemaker. Then the EL east end traffic flow patterns begun by White took 3 years to enact in the 60s.

Buffalo Bison is set and ready. The biggest piece is Mechanicsville. Until that comes on line, traffic flows will not be in effect. The first set of trainees from December are out on the rail. Can someone look into the delays at Mechanicsville?

Since Bison is ready, can you tell us if this will allow NS to run symbol freights east of Bingo soon?

If you can't tell us, I understand. Welcome back.

When the bids go out, then I'll let 'er out unless Sam beats me to it.

For once, I am glad that I was wrong. Good to see cooler heads prevailing. Welcome back, K4.

Poppyl

As I understand it, getting Mechanicville up and running is important for the new container traffic out of Philly, through Reading, and up the Sunbury Sub, as well.

Poppyl

It is indeed very nice to see cool heads prevail! Most of the time when a forum goes into a tail spin as it did a few days ago, it never gets backs on its feet! I'm glad to see that everyone on here are good people that can put things behind them! Anyway back to the trains!!!

Poppyl I believe you are right, NS had plans on the table for Philly to Mickey (and I heard maybe even philly to Bison) stacks via Harrisburg but the sticking point was Mechanicville for that. The CP/D&H and the Southern Tier are going to get quite busy in the next few years I believe!

K4 I have been told that the sticking point on Mechancville Intermodal has been some NYS EPA and DEC permitting. Although all reports indicate that work has been progressing on the facility. I believe the rerouting of the CP main has already been completed along with associated signal work. I have also been told that the yard complex has been completely leveled and cleaned out. The time frame of Late Fall/Early Winter 2011 is being thrown around for the opening of the new Mickey Facility, but don't quote me on that.

Finally, I am going to create a CP/D&H New York State Post that any information pertaining to the CP/D&H can be posted without going off topic on here. The D&H is going to play a big role in what happens on the Southern Tier and in New York State in the future and I believe its worth having a place to discuss items such as CP hiring crews (which is big news). I have tried once to start a Post to discuss the D&H, but it failed! I shall try again! Look for it in both the New York State and PA forums if I am successful at getting it through.

Jim Cerulli
cprsunburysub yahoo group Moderator

So, with much pressure from shipping companies and the urging of Gov. Christie, it looks like the PANYNJ will, indeed, be able to raise the Bayonne Bridge in time for the 2014 expansion of the Panama Canal. This, combined with the new port facility near Greenville and expansion of NYCT, should make the region a "slam dunk" for much greater amounts of cargo in the next 3-4 years. PANYNJ has done a great job laying the groundwork for for a rail boom in the region as well as the area to be a great place if companies want to relocate to get very cheap efficient transportation. Now the only question is if our friends at NS and CSX will be able to handle the extra load. CSX has taken the first step by opening North Baltimore, OH yard for shipments to the OH/IN/IL area. Now NS needs to get on the ball and expand their infrastructure. Their Heartland Corridor was a good start from Virginia, but without using the Tier as a true overflow route (not just inland port) from NJ, I don't think they can fully take advantage of the opportunity they have. NY/NJ is still the largest port on the East Coast and currently, NS only has a dismal 17% rail market share. Larger ships will flock to this port as it is right in the middle of the largest consumer market in the country so it would behoove them to try to make some sort of dent in this percentage as well as focus on expanded container shipments in the future. Time will only tell if they will accomplish this, or if NJ will be looking for a lot more truck drivers in the next few years.......

http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/bayonne ... xml&coll=3

Yes, I believe NS does have their work cut out for them... And only 17% of the market share into NJ?? If that is true then no wonder CSX is kicking butt in terms of traffic through NJ....So much for competition!!

At the merger, NS got a great piece of railroad through Pennsylvania west to Chicago, but got the short end of the stick when it came to access to NJ. The evening factor should have been their ownership of the Tier which was seen as a spill route out of Croxton. When they decided to cut back and only use one route out of NJ, it saved them some money, but also affected their ability to run in and out of NJ. Trains on the Pennsy were cut back to Harrisburg and most traffic from the ports went to CSX or the highway. A lot of NJ traffic from the west seemed to end up on I-78. Up to very recently, NS seemed fine with this scenario. Hopefully (and keep your fingers crossed), their more recent plans for greater traffic out of NJ and inland port service come to fruition and they can grow their rail percentage to actually compete with CSX head to head. That would bode very well for the Eastern leg of the Tier. I do think that their Railroader of the Year over there has been very good for the organization. I, for one, hope this new growth strategy is successful and continues.

why did NS stop sending the roadrailer train to NJ? What happened to 25K? Former tier train was moved to the lehigh line and now does not operate into nj?

Someone said the roadrailers were a union problem. I'm not sure the exact reason though. NS symbols have changed over time. 25K is still around on the Lehigh, maybe once a week or so. I'm not sure if it is the same traffic that was handled on the Tier or not. The 24Z symbol, which used to occasionally take the Tier around 2000, took a hiatus for a few years but now runs daily on the Lehigh as well.

The RoadRailer terminates in Bethlehem due to labor costs, NS not wanting to pay people a decent wage to work in the RoadRailer terminal, and due to congestion on the Lehigh Line.

A truck can make it across Interstate 78 in an hour. The trains were taking many times longer than that.

The last I checked, the RoadRailer terminal in Bethlehem was using minimum security prison laborers to assemble and break down the trains. A lot cheaper than paying a unionized worker who isn't afraid of losing their job for speaking up.

By the by, I don't think NS really got the "short end of the stick" when it came to routes into and out of New Jersey. They have at their disposal the Southern Tier line, the Lehigh Valley Line, an out-of-service alternative to the Lehigh Line by way of High Bridge, and the combined alternative routes of the Morris and Essex and Boonton Lines (before the bridges were taken out of service).

Sure, the High Bridge alternative would be a pretty big investment as would be operating through trains on the Morris and Essex and/or Boonton Lines, but the alternatives are there. CSX, by comparison got the River Line to the North and the line to West Trenton to the south.

That's 2 active routes for CSX and 1 active route for NS, with the other (the Southern Tier) that they could be using today if they wanted.

The real imbalance is CSX's footprints atop the Marcellus Shale compared to NS'. NS practically has a monopoly on that industry, and they treat people like they do.

Yes, I would agree. I was speaking specifically of the Lehigh Line. For almost a decade, they had to share a single track route with CSX east of Bound Brook. Like I said, the Southern Tier was there to even things up and help NS add to competition but up to this date, it has not been a real factor.

No one would love to see them use the High Bridge or Washington Secondary routes more than me, but I don't think it was considered by NS for use at merger time. In the future, when traffic levels warrant, and only after the Lehigh Line and Southern Tier are exhausted, I think there is potential for thinking outside the box and spending money to make things happen. I always thought that the Morris & Essex/Boonton Line would make a great bypass for Allentown to Croxton traffic... though that would probably require going through a lot of red tape and have NIMBY's coming out of the woodwork. Clearances might also be an issue.

By the way, I also read recently that NS is starting some sort of new "Premium Intermodal" service. I don't know any details, but if that service makes it to NJ, they will need to keep the Lehigh Line very fluid.

Why my friend, former Gang Mills Trainmaster J. Ryan Jenkins, is one of them spearheading the "Premium Service". He came from the trucking industry to NS. Oh it's going to be wonderful. I got a taste of a busy ST Line only on the west end out here. But boy what a busy day on the Tier. I need water.