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  • -= Frequently Asked Questions about Pan Am =-

  • Guilford Rail System changed its name to Pan Am Railways in 2006. Discussion relating to the current operations of the Boston & Maine, the Maine Central, and the Springfield Terminal railroads (as well as the Delaware & Hudson while it was under Guilford control until 1988). Official site can be found here: PANAMRAILWAYS.COM.
Guilford Rail System changed its name to Pan Am Railways in 2006. Discussion relating to the current operations of the Boston & Maine, the Maine Central, and the Springfield Terminal railroads (as well as the Delaware & Hudson while it was under Guilford control until 1988). Official site can be found here: PANAMRAILWAYS.COM.

Moderator: MEC407

 #728175  by MEC407
 
Frequently Asked Questions about Pan Am Railways
(formerly known as Guilford Rail System)



Q: Where can I find a list of their scanner frequencies?

A: PAR scanner frequencies can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/cz7hug" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (compiled by Chuck Petlick)


Q: Where can I find a milepost listing?

A:
District 1 mileposts: http://tinyurl.com/yz24cf4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
District 2 mileposts: http://tinyurl.com/yznxng7" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
District 3 mileposts: http://tinyurl.com/yzxhy6d" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
District 4 mileposts: http://tinyurl.com/ygsuvqk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Conn River Line mileposts: http://tinyurl.com/yhyq8t6" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(Milepost listings compiled by Chuck Petlick)


Q: Will Pan Am ever purchase brand new locomotives? I heard a rumor that they were going to purchase some.

A: Probably not, unless the company ownership changes. In the 35+ years that the company has been in the railroad business, they have never purchased brand new locomotives.


Q: Where did the name "Guilford" come from? Why was it sometimes referred to as Guilford Transportation Industries, and other times referred to as Guilford Rail System?

A: Guilford Transportation Industries was established in 1977 by Timothy Mellon. Mr. Mellon has never been one to do a lot of talking with the media or the public, but the popularly-held belief is that he named the company after his hometown of Guilford, Connecticut. A 1983 NBC Nightly News story about the railroad division of GTI can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmoH1uZaBb8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Guilford Transportation Industries continued to utilize the names of its individual railroads up until the mid-1990s, at which time they transitioned to the name Guilford Rail System to encompass the entire rail division of the company. The individual railroads still existed on paper, but Guilford Rail System was a "doing business as" (DBA) name for the railroads. The name of the parent company was still Guilford Transportation Industries.


Q: Why did they change their name to Pan Am? I thought Pan Am was an airline.

A: Guilford Transportation Industries acquired the remains of the bankrupt Pan American World Airways in 1998. It has been reported that Mr. Mellon is an aviation enthusiast, as well as a licensed pilot. GTI attempted to operate the airline as a low-cost/charter carrier, but due to financial troubles and changes in the industry, GTI's air division was shut down in February 2008.

In March 2006, GTI changed its name to Pan Am Systems. The name of the rail division was changed to Pan Am Railways shortly thereafter.

In addition to the rail division and the defunct air division, Pan Am also owns Perma Treat Corp., a manufacturer of railroad ties and pressure-treated wood products; Aroostook & Bangor Resources, Inc., a company that recycles used railroad ties to generate electricity; and Guilford Motor Express, which operates the railroad's intermodal freight terminals. Perma Treat and Aroostook & Bangor Resources were the two companies that made up Guilford Transportation Industries before the company's first railroad acquisition in 1981. Other Pan Am companies include Pan Am Brands, which sells consumer goods bearing the Pan Am logo and licenses the brand to other companies; Pan Am Services, a dealer of aircraft spare parts; and NorthPoint, a mixed-use real estate development in Cambridge, Massachusetts.


More questions and answers will be added in the future. :-)

Updated 01-25-2016