VRS/NECR: Middlebury Tunnel Detour Launched
PAR: Not For Sale
Individual Rail Operating Units Boston & Maine (B&M), Springfield Terminal, (ST), Maine Central (MEC), Portland Terminal (PTM), and Half Of Pan Am Southern (PAS) are What’s For Sale; The “PAN AM” Name And Branded Entities are Not.
Pan Am Systems, evoking the once-glamorous international air carrier, replaced the Guilford Transportation Industries’ moniker in 2006. GTI acquired the Pan Am name out of bankruptcy in 1998, with the rest of the airline’s remaining, meagre assets. Headquartered in Portsmouth NH, PAST controls Pan Am Railways, (ex-Guilford Rail Systems), the railroad crosstie businesses, and other […]
CSX/CN: Massena Sale Lingers In Limbo
No Response Yet from STB on CSX and CN Petitions to Reconsider Pro-Competition Decision #4.
15.July, Washington DC — The STB remains inscrutable regarding the principals’ 05.June Petitions seeking that the Board back down from its 04.April Decision #4 conditional approval. That Decision approves the sale IF the Class Is rewrite Sec. 5.14(b) of the PSA to maintain the prospect of future competition at the Syracuse area interchange. On 06.May CSX […]
PAR: Deal Rolls Along In Office Car Special
Par Sale Takes Shape on "Where's Waldo?" OCS Run. BOD and Changing Cast of Rival Rail Execs Pull Out of XO; Empty Train Pulls into ED.
This report is based on live sightings by R&P staff, and reports from R&P exclusive sources. 14.July, Ayer MA – The Pan Am Office Car Special (OCS-14) departed Ayer at 0930 hrs headed west. Consist was MEC 1 (a/k/a “PAR 1”), MEC 2 (“PAR 2”), ST 103 (“Syd Culliford”), ST 102 (“Bluebird”), ST 101, ST […]
CP/CMQ: Lac-Megantic Bypass To Be Completed In 2022
Governments of Canada and Quebec Announce Construction Dates for Mainline Northern Bypass, New Connection to Industrial Park.
05 July, Montreal QC – Construction on the 12.8-km railway bypass around the town of Lac-Mégantic QC will begin in 2021, and should be completed by the fall of 2022. Project cost is estimated at CDN$133 million. The Government of Canada will fund 60% of the construction costs, and the Government of Quebec will fund the […]
USA: In The Course Of Human Events
Our Nation is at a Junction. We have the Choice on Which Direction to Go, Because That's Exactly What the Founders Envisioned for Us, and for What Millions have Fought and Toiled on Our Behalf. Unity is the Faith that has Inspired Those Ideas and Sacrifices. Our Choice Today is Whether to Honor Them, or Cast Them Aside.
04 July, Regionwide – MAINE, NEW HAMPSHIRE, VERMONT, MASSACHUSETTS, RHODE ISLAND, CONNECTICUT, NEW YORK and PENNSYLVANIA constitute a majority of the thirteen States comprising the United States of America at its birth. Shaking off the yoke of colony-hood had required these states to struggle – together against the British, apart between one another, and separately within themselves – to […]
MCR: System-Wide 286k Capacity Declared
MCR Declares 286k Capability Throughout Entire System. Capacity Integration with National Rail Network May Bring Traffic Boost
03.July, Carver MA – The Mass Coastal Railroad issued a System-Wide declaration that the lines support 286,000 Lb Gross Weight (286K) on rail. The final piece of the puzzle was the verification and official declaration of the North East Corridor between Mansfield and Attleboro MA. This project has been over 5 years in the making and […]
PAR: Up For Sale – To Whom? – How Much? – Why Now?
Pan Am Systems Engages Bank of Montreal (BMO) to Find a Buyer for its Railroad Business. Many Bidders Expected to Make Offers for All or Parts of the ~1700 Miles of Track and Related Assets Ranging from Mattawamkeag ME to Derby CT to Rotterdam Jct. NY.
28 June, Billerica MA – Pan Am Southern (PAS)/Patriot Corridor partner Norfolk Southern has often been touted as an imminent buyer. WATCO reportedly reached an agreement to purchase PAR several years ago, only for the prospect to whither away. Canadian Pacific’s primordial interest in (PAR’s formative lines) Boston & Maine (B&M) and Maine Central (MEC) has […]
CN: Ocean Carriers And Terminals Urge STB To Ok Massena
Eight Major Shipping Lines and PANYNJ Terminal Operators Request STB to Reconsider the Competition Condition Imposed on the Massena Sale.
23.June, Washington DC – American Container Lines (ACL), Hapag-Lloyd, Evergreen Shipping, CMA-CGM, Maersk shipping lines, and Holt Logistics, Maher Terminals, General Container Terminals (GCT) port operators sent Letters of Support for the CN/CSX Massena Lines sale to proceed, without the approval condition imposed by the STB in its 06.April Decision of Conditional Approval. The letters urge […]
MCR: Spirited Auction Ends With Coastal Rail Ownership
Incumbent Operator Coastal Rail Wins 61-Round Bidding War Over (G&U Owner) First Colony
19.June, Denver CO — The Mass Coastal Railroad property was acquired by an affiliate of its current operator, following a 61-round bidding war. The gavel was dropped after First Colony Development and Rail Holdings Company declined to counter Coastal Rail LLC’s final $2 million bid. First Colony’s final bid was $1,985,000. On 17.June, William A. […]