CSX Acquisition of Pan Am Railways

A215 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 28, 2023 7:17 pm They may be in service, I haven't been out there as of late but the last time a train split in the tunnel that I can remember (within 2 years) they couldn't get a hold of the dispatcher.

First, quote printed in its entirety as it appears on a preceding page.

Mr. A215, I must wonder how that one played out. Did the crew walk out of what could have been half the Tunnel's length or 2.4mi where their radios would work or did the Train Dispatcher "start wondering" and send out a "posse"?

Well, at least in the instance you note, human life was apparently not in jeopardy (unless some winged, four legged, or slithering critters decided to "stand their ground" as their "home" was being intruded upon).

No in the event of something like that you headpin the power and get out of the tunnel then make contact.

Thanks. Mr. Newpy .

While your hypothesis presumes the engines can be cut (mid train break, no issue), what counts is that the jeopardy to human life is avoided.

CSX ACSES-equipped CW44AC #480 got rebuilt by Wabtec in Erie, PA into CM44AC #7380, and from this video it looks like #481 is at Erie, PA and in line for a conversion next.

I'd assume these still have ACSES (and they got renumbered into the #7300-series instead of the #7200 series as expected), and would be able to lead M426/M427 as a result . Notably, from the video the locomotive has a DP sticker on the nose, and might be the first DP-capable ACSES locomotive, which might mean that M426 and M427 might finally be able to have DPUs in the future.

Pretty sure only the leader needs to have PTC cut in.

PAS service to Connecticut and Vermont will not improve despite promises made in the surface transportation board filing

Speculation?
Or is there a development of some kind that you know about?

Firetiger58 wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2023 12:05 pm PAS service to Connecticut and Vermont will not improve despite promises made in the surface transportation board filing

No such promises were made. The transaction was crafted with the intent of maintaining existing levels of service (and keeping all gateways open at reasonable rates).

B&E is going to be crew shy off the bat so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that service levels are not going to improve day 1. They likely will be worse before they get better.

Fact.
To many Conrail Era restrictive paper agreements.

Dunno if it's fact or fiction but the word on the street is that CSX is offering better packages to PAS/ST folks than BE. And you know what they say, money talks and ...... ......

Firetiger58 wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2023 8:19 pm Fact.
To many Conrail Era restrictive paper agreements.

If you were referring to gateways currently not open (due to paper barriers), it would have been helpful to say that off the bat. Your statement implied that something was promised (and will not be fulfilled) for existing service, which is not the case.

Safetee wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2023 7:23 am Dunno if it's fact or fiction but the word on the street is that CSX is offering better packages to PAS/ST folks than BE. And you know what they say, money talks and ...... ......

Employees on CSX are still operating under the current ST agreement and no new negotiations have begun to replace those yet. The labor agreements with B&E are essentially the same as those minus territory changes. For employees it is going to come down to where they live and rolling the dice on which side they feel will provide better job security. Benefits are similar at this time.

A look at today's jobs posting board at CSX shows 4 positions being recruited for Maine: Signal Maintainer (ST Agreement) at Waterville, General Track Supervisor at Waterville, Bridge Inspector at S Portland, and Bridge Supervisor at S Portland. The last 3 positions do not indicate ST agreement in effect. For Massachusetts, only one ex-Pan Am territory position is sought: Engineering track worker at Lawrence MA (ST Agreement). Interestingly, while conductor openings are posted for Framingham and W Springfield, there are no conductor positions posted for ex-Pan Am territory.

Meanwhile G&W continues to seek non-operating positions at N BIllerica, Ayer, and East Deerfield.

2 of those positions have “supervisor” in the title, so good bet they are not collectively bargained jobs

Correct, and neither is a bridge inspector. Fact of the matter if they can't hire someone on the ex-PAR system for a craft position at this point and not fall under the ST agreements. That should be clear by now to folks.