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  • Official Maine Eastern Thread

  • Discussion about the M&E, RVRR and SIRR lines of New Jersey, and also the Maine Eastern operation in Maine. Official web site can be found here: www.merail.com.
Discussion about the M&E, RVRR and SIRR lines of New Jersey, and also the Maine Eastern operation in Maine. Official web site can be found here: www.merail.com.

Moderators: GOLDEN-ARM, cjl330, mikec

 #1322400  by BandA
 
If it's the interchange tracks, I would think ME would aks PanAM for permission to clear PanAM's track, with some arrangement to recover all or part of the cost from PanAM
 #1322448  by Watchman318
 
Conditions at Brunswick must have improved, because it looked like 764 made a round trip Friday, WB through Waldoboro around noon, EB around 16:20. They went WB a little after 11:00 this morning, too. There was a covered hopper on the head pin EB yesterday that sorta looked like a BNSF (perlite). The grey LO this morning might have been a cement car.

Production at Dragon Cement might go back up next week. They were only loading trucks for awhile, maybe from stored product. Electric power costs affected production. I imagine the lovely weather the past few months has had an effect on the demand for cement. "Concrete can be placed in cold weather conditions provided adequate precautions are taken to alleviate the negative impacts of low ambient temperatures. The current American Concrete Institute (ACI) definition of cold-weather concreting, as stated in ACI 306 is, “a period when for more than three successive days the average daily air temperature drops below 40 degrees Fahrenheit and stays below 50 degrees Fahrenheit for more than one-half of any 24 hour period.” Yup, we had that. (<http://www.cement.org/for-concrete-book ... concreting>)
 #1336300  by MEC407
 
From the Bangor Daily News:
Bangor Daily News wrote:The state is seeking proposals from companies to operate the railroad line that runs from Brunswick to Rockland.

The proposals are to include bids on possible year-round passenger service from Rockland to Brunswick to connect to the Amtrak trains.
. . .
Nathan Moulton, director of the rail program for the Maine Department of Transportation, said the requests for proposals are intended to determine what interest there is in continuing freight transportation and perhaps expanding passenger service.
. . .
Proposals must be submitted to the transportation department by Aug. 13.

Maine Eastern Railroad has not responded to an email request for comment sent late Thursday. The company earlier had indicated that it wanted to continue operating the line.
Read the rest of the article at: http://bangordailynews.com/2015/06/19/b ... -rockland/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1336555  by kilroy
 
I would love to have Maine Eastern keep the contract as several m&e employes are personal friends of mine, I would like to see more service. Right now there is no subsidy so they only run what makes money. A subsidy to operate year round connecting service would've great.
 #1346933  by MEC407
 
Effective January 1, 2016, Maine Eastern Railroad will no longer operate the ex-MEC Rockland Branch. MaineDOT has awarded the contract to Central Maine & Quebec Railway.

From the Portland Press Herald:
Portland Press Herald wrote:Central Maine & Quebec Railway on Wednesday won the right to lease the state-owned rail line between Brunswick and Rockland and operate freight service on it.
. . .
Central Maine & Quebec will take over the rail line Jan. 1. The company has no plans to offer passenger service, said Ted Talbot, spokesman for the transportation department.
. . .
Central Maine & Quebec Railway and the state will now negotiate the financial terms of the lease agreement, Talbot said.
Read the rest of the article at: http://www.pressherald.com/2015/09/02/r ... imperiled/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1346986  by kilroy
 
Sorry to hear the passenger trains won't be running any more. What is Rockland going to do about the "Labstafest" masses?
 #1347003  by Watchman318
 
kilroy wrote:Sorry to hear the passenger trains won't be running any more.
That's conjecture; it's way too early to tell.
"While the new contract is only for freight, Talbot said CMQR did agree to 'accommodate and prioritize a passenger rail operation' and could conceivably coordinate continued passenger service with Maine Eastern Railroad."
http://www.freepressonline.com/Content/ ... 2/78/40991

"[Chuck Jensen, the vice president and chief operating officer for Maine Eastern Railroad] said nine employees of Maine Eastern will lose their jobs because of the decision."
http://bangordailynews.com/2015/09/03/b ... -rail-line
 #1347007  by MEC407
 
Hard to imagine Maine Eastern sticking around just to do passenger trains only, on a line they no longer control...
 #1347335  by BandA
 
MEC407 wrote:Hard to imagine Maine Eastern sticking around just to do passenger trains only, on a line they no longer control...
Not without a subsidy. Note there is a thread here & another under New England
 #1348805  by SemperFidelis
 
Though I've had no business dealings with CM&Q, I'm certain existing and potential freight customers will be hard pressed to find customer service levels anywhere near as good as the standard M&E and its subsidiaries tend to set.

What sort of customers were alive along the line? I know paper has taken a HUGE hit in the region and, along with it, certain sorts of timber. Be nice if there were a solid economic sector upowhich to build, but I'd imagine that's wishful thinking.
 #1349104  by Watchman318
 
SemperFidelis wrote:What sort of customers were alive along the line? I know paper has taken a HUGE hit in the region and, along with it, certain sorts of timber.
Something that has been mentioned multiple times, if not in this thread, then the other MERR thread: Cement. Lots of Dragon Cement, in two directions. (To the Rockland waterfront for transfer to barge, and to Brunswick for interchange with Pan Am. Some of that traffic went/goes to Canada.) The cement shipments were probably the main reason MDOT acquired the line when MEC abandoned it. There is also plate steel going to a Bath Iron Works plant in Brunswick, and perlite to a customer in Thomaston. No paper, no timber on the Rockland Branch, at least not for 20+ years.
 #1349410  by SemperFidelis
 
Thanks, Watchman. Sorry, I probably should have remembered about the cement. An old employer of mine actually had me investigate rail shipment of cement from there to one of our plants south of Boston. Unsurprisingly, it's still shipped by truck.
 #1363300  by Dick H
 
Maine Eastern Equipment is on the way to New Jersey.
Was in Ayer MA earlier today.
Thanks to Michael Cummins for this photo.
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo ... ate&page=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks to Bob Sprague for this photo.
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo ... ate&page=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks to Bob Sprague for this ME Caboose on the rear of PAR POSE train yesterday
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo ... ate&page=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Train is reportedly parked at Burncoat Street in Worcester MA tonight waiting for CSX to take it west.
ME locos 764 and 3573 are reported to still be in Rockland, as the date of turnover to CMQ
is not until January 1st. The ME snow plow is reported in PAR Rigby Portland yard, possible BO issues.
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