Official Maine Eastern Railroad Thread (ME)

I liked the follow-up comment:

Holden of Holden, Me - 10/10/07
So a guy named Denny Larson who is an activist and who is a person that is vehemently opposed to what he is supposed to be testing is believable? The guy is totally biased, I mean this would be like having a Greenpeace activist on a panel to decide what to do with the lobstermen's float lines, of course they will find against it. Furthermore, it seems like the rail company is willing to do a great deal as far as running on shore power when in station, and has already used a cleaner fuel. This article also fails to mention that Formaldehyde naturally breaks down into non-toxic components in a short time. It's not like mercury which never decays. You can dump a bucket of formaldehyde in a potato field, and eat the potatoes that come out of it in a month. I'm not kidding, the water washes it into nothing, and it mostly converts to the hydrate CH2 (OH)2 or methanediol. Formaldehyde only maintains it's potency as long as it isn't diluted. As far as people inhaling the gases who live in houses near the station.... The gases are so diluted by the time they reach any residents that only people who have a formaldehyde allergy will have any trouble, and they are very rare. If the formaldehyde-containing exhaust was so bad, then wouldn?t all of the rail employees be suffering greatly by now since they are around it all day every day, at much closer range? On a side-note, anyone concerned with carcinogens should take a long, hard look at their basements. Half the people in Rockland probably have levels of either Radon gas, escaped oil-burning furnace fumes, or asbestos-coated hot water pipes which are far worse in terms of daily exposure as compared to diesel smoke from trains, which can vary completely depending on the wind and rain on any given day. I bet Denny Larson doesn?t want to admit to Radon being a worse offender, because suddenly diesel fumes become pretty irrelevant.

What, did they hold these badges over the stacks?

Rockland City Council voted 3-2 to ban trains from the train station.

No, that's not a typo. I said ban trains from the train station.

And no, this isn't April 1.

{shakes head in disbelief}


News article:

http://knox.villagesoup.com/Government/ ... yID=102090

you have got to be kidding me!!!!!!!!!!!!! they spent all of that money to fix up that station, reinstall gates, relay track, and now the town banned them?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? those people must be full of crap to let such a good tourist opertunity pass them by. if i were maine eastern, i wouldn't run the santa trains and stick it to them. on the other hand they could use the platform on the cement branch there which they used the first year they ran... what a shame though. it just goes to show you no one wants trains around anymore. think of how much juck the same peoples hugh gas guzzling SUV's put into the air! now there's the real hazzard!!!

i appologise in advance if i have offended anyone in my post. this type of stuff just really ticks me off

Maybe the City Council should ban breathing and passing gas too!

masscoastalfan wrote:i appologise in advance if i have offended anyone in my post. this type of stuff just really ticks me off

You were a lot nicer than I would have been.

I sent an e-mail to the city councilors and the mayor, expressing (politely!) my displeasure with their decision. Some of you might wish to do the same. These folks need to hear from us.

E-mail addresses can be found here:

http://www.ci.rockland.me.us/engine_pag ... =21&menu=4

Maine Eastern to offer "shop 'til you drop" holiday shopping trains:

http://wiscassetnewspaper.maine.com/200 ... _rail.html

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story ... 5&ac=PHnws

The Rockland vs. Maine Eastern saga continues. News story with video:

http://tinyurl.com/2go5xa

According to the 10:00 news, the council voted tonight NOT to ban the Maine Eastern trains from Rockland station.
-Alan S.-

Good news!

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=74781

I for one, am very glad cooler heads prevailed on this issue. While ME could have (and should have imho) told the City of Rockland to "go pack sand", they have taken the high road and are willing to work with Rockland to find a solution to the issue.

Who knows... maybe they'll be able to find a pocket of grant money somewhere, and we'll end up seeing a brand new "genset" loco in attractive Maine Eastern paint. Stranger things have happened!

You know, the more I think about it, the more I think it's not such a radical idea after all. If all of the parties involved could get together, make a compromise or two, and most importantly, be willing to get really creative and think outside the box... it just might work.

For instance, let's say that M&E was willing to contribute one of their ex-Erie Mining RS11s as a core. Take out the 251 and all the other Alco-specific stuff (which M&E could obviously keep and re-use or sell or do whatever they want with it). Replace the innards of the RS11 with, for instance, a new 2000 HP Tier 3-compliant engine (this is what NRE is building for Pacific Harbor Line, except they're using a GP38 as a core)... or go the genset route and put in a pair or trio of 700 HP engines. The cost for the new engines, new electrical system, installation, etc., could be paid for partly by federal clean air grants, along with matching funds from the state and the city of Rockland. Could this work? On the surface, it seems like it could. An additional benefit for M&E is that the "new" loco would use a lot less fuel, which would save them some cash. That's not insignificant, in light of the way things are going with fuel prices.

Thoughts?

so what are we going to see one of these pulling the passenger trains instead of the f units? http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 501&nseq=1 also i love the us engine in the story about rockland. xD

MEC407 wrote:Who knows... maybe they'll be able to find a pocket of grant money somewhere, and we'll end up seeing a brand new "genset" loco in attractive Maine Eastern paint. Stranger things have happened!

You know, the more I think about it, the more I think it's not such a radical idea after all. If all of the parties involved could get together, make a compromise or two, and most importantly, be willing to get really creative and think outside the box... it just might work.

For instance, let's say that M&E was willing to contribute one of their ex-Erie Mining RS11s as a core. Take out the 251 and all the other Alco-specific stuff (which M&E could obviously keep and re-use or sell or do whatever they want with it). Replace the innards of the RS11 with, for instance, a new 2000 HP Tier 3-compliant engine (this is what NRE is building for Pacific Harbor Line, except they're using a GP38 as a core)... or go the genset route and put in a pair or trio of 700 HP engines. The cost for the new engines, new electrical system, installation, etc., could be paid for partly by federal clean air grants, along with matching funds from the state and the city of Rockland. Could this work? On the surface, it seems like it could. An additional benefit for M&E is that the "new" loco would use a lot less fuel, which would save them some cash. That's not insignificant, in light of the way things are going with fuel prices.

Thoughts?

I say string up the catenary and lease an ALP-46 or some Arrow IIIs from NJT

But in all seriousness, I agree on the surface it could work and I wholeheartedly agree that there should be matching funds coming from the City Of Rockland, and the state to a lesser extent. But you probably won't get one without the other in that respect. I think it would be a win-win for all parties involved, but I have a hunch those same residents would whine about that too. I agree with previous sentiments that they just want the train gone, period.