St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad (SLR/SLQ)

Hello,
Being back on their regular schedule, this morning's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0743 with the following:

GP40-2 3007
QG GP40-2L 3014
GP40 3004
4 centerbeam flats
3 hi-cube boxcars
10 tank cars

That's only 17 cars total, including 4 loads and 13 empties. Definitely a short train, but they did run the previous night as well, so this is the third train this week, which seems to be the new "normal".
Have a great day,
Fritz

NHV 669 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 05, 2023 6:58 am SLR is still supposed to get some ex BNSF units, from the same batch QGRY got theirs from at some point. One unit is already at St. Albans for paint and QGRY lettering.

4022/4023/4024 headed to SLR at some point, all former SD70MACs.

Hello,
On this rather warm and sunny day, this morning's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0732 with the following:

GP40-2 3007
QG GP40-2L 3014
GP40-3 3806
RM-1 806
3 centerbeam flats
5 hi-cube boxcars
20 tank cars

That's 28 cars total, including 4 loads and 23 empties.
Have a great day,
Fritz

Was digging around the internet recently, looking at documents related to the upgrade of the St. Lawrence and Atlantic's tracks through VT, NH, and ME (the final funding of which got an approved CRISI grant a few months back). Of note was a pdf file submitted by the White Mountain Paper Company in Gorham, NH. I will attach the link below but I am unsure if it will post properly. It should be noted that this was submitted a little over a year ago, but it still applies.

https://www.maine.gov/mdot/grants/crisi ... r%20Co.pdf

For those who want a TL:DR version, the company is supportive of the rail grant and is hopeful that its approval, the one that already went through, will allow them to restart rail service to their paper mill.

Wouldn't they be on the hook for some of that? The spur into the mill crosses a busy section of Route 16, so they would have to reactivate/fix those signals that haven't seen a train in 15+? years.

The switch would also have to be reinstalled to the mainline, as it was straight railed through there quite some time ago.

Most likely on both fronts there, though I’m not sure if the short portion between the mainline and the mill is state-owned railbanked tracks or owned by another entity, since that used to be ex-SLR trackage until they stopped serving the mill. Regardless, I’d hope that they would be aware of the costs of resuming rail service to their property.

393 west through South Paris about 1900; I think this is the first time they have run this week. Tuesday
and Wednesday news reports said there was no access to Bethel by road and I suspect the impoundment
at Shelbourne may have been a problem as well.

Greg,
I heard that there were washouts in both West Bethel and Berlin. SLQ ran a turn from Richmond to Island Pond and back on (I think) Wednesday night. First through trains ran Friday night, and Saturday's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0759 with the following:

RM-1 804
GP40-3 3804
RLHH SD40-2 3403
3 centerbeam flats
2 hi-sided gondolas
1 covered hopper
13 hi-cube boxcars
54 tank cars

That's 73 cars total, including 11 loads and 62 empties.
Happy Holidays!
Fritz

Happy holidays and best wishes for the new year, everyone!

Hi everybody!
I live near the Sherbrooke subdivision of the SLR, and I would like to know approximately how long does the 393 take to travel from Island Pond to Sherbrooke?
Also, what are the scanner frequency in Vermont for tge SLR?
Little news for everyone: the 3 new SLR SD70MACs are currently on their way to Selkirk, NY.
Happy Holidays to everyone!
Victor
https://www.flickr.com/photos/188950455@N06/

NHV 669 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 10, 2023 7:41 pm

NHV 669 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 05, 2023 6:58 am SLR is still supposed to get some ex BNSF units, from the same batch QGRY got theirs from at some point. One unit is already at St. Albans for paint and QGRY lettering.

4022/4023/4024 headed to SLR at some point, all former SD70MACs.

All three presently enroute on CSXT M364, departed Collinwood Yard in Cleveland about a half hour ago.

Hello,
This morning's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0725 with the following:

QG GP40-2L 3014
GP40-3 3806
RM-1 806
10 centerbeam flats
2 hi-cube boxcars
41 tank cars

That's 53 cars total, all empties.

I noticed that the two MEC wreck train cars are no longer in the yard at Island Pond, but there were at least 15 loads of lumber waiting to be unloaded at RCP once the many trucks were loaded and sent on their way (post-holiday rush I guess).
Best,
Fritz

A look at the three units bound for SLR, seen trailing east on M364 through Fairport, NY, earlier today.

The 3 new (used bnsf) units for slr were heading east (north) through worcester today on the worcester route main

Clear of Lowell at 14:41, they should hit Rigby later tonight.