What do all of you think? While I generally support the merger I am concerned about both Pam Am Southern and the Vermont Rail System. The Surf Board should force CSX to sell their 50% in PAS as a condition of the merger to maintain competition and prevent a near-monopoly. The next video will either be on the BNSF strike or the weird autonomous intermodal car concept. I'm leaning towards the former.

As someone who lives in Central Maine, I hope the CSX acquisition of Pan Am Railways will be beneficial to Maine. I've seen Maine Central go broke and Guilford/PAR move in. Pan Am Railways did fine, but I hated the fact that they abandoned the Calais Branch and the former Maine Central Lower Road when the company acquired MEC in 1981. PAR over the years did minimal upkeep on the former Maine Central tracks they acquired and that allowed the condition of the tracks to deteriorate. It's my hopes that CSX will invest in Maine's railroads to repair them as well as improve them. Improving the former Maine Central routes would allow CSX to ship more freight through Maine from Canada and it would be in their best interest to do so if they want to benefit from the PAR acquisition.

Bangin video bro, look forward to more ones

Dude really intersting stuff! I have liked and subscribed so I can absorb some of your knowledge about railroads!

Great video. Love seeing videos with commentary. Worth a sub. The lines from Bangor north to Mattawamkeag junction will need a lot of attention. Trains only run once a week with I think only 4 customers(super fund clean upside in orrington , old town mill that doesn't move much stock, tie chipping facility at Mattawamkeag junction, and new finished lumber customer in Enfield. With end of the papermill era a lot of these lines are hanging around on life support. With the closing of the Bucksport mill and the SFCS in orrington coming to completion the Bucksport line will likely be abandoned. There was also abandonment talk about the line north previously mentioned. Most traffic flows noth via cp from NMJ to Brownsville Junction and then goes east passing the Mattawamkeag junction via EMR, west on cp, or north via NMR. Easport and Calais branch are another whole book of tears.

In addition to its forestry resources, Maine has VAST mineral resources which, in years to come, are going to be extremely valuable to anyone that can gain access to them. There is currently an environmental restriction inhibiting large-scale mineral development in the State of Maine (something like 12 acres maximum). That can change, however. Additionally, seasonal agricultural traffic lost decades ago is starting to return to the rails. With the increases in fuel costs, I can only foresee that trend accelerating. We just came back (yesterday) from the Maritimes and I decided to cross the border at McAdam/Vanceboro rather than the usual Calais or Houlton. St. Croix/Vanceboro is a fairly quiet road crossing, but the NBS/CP crosses there on the line from Brownville Jct. to Saint John and it appeared that it was noticeably busier. Indeed, McAdam itself looked busier and in better shape than I'd ever seen it (in the past 40 years). I saw that they are constructing a new Customs compound adjacent to the old Vanceboro Depot for clearing trains through US Customs. The Agent we spoke with said that they've been informed that there is going to be a "huge" increase in intermodal traffic going to both Saint John and the new terminal in McAdam. Saint John is undergoing a massive expansion of its port. I'm not sure what the plan is for McAdam, however, since it's pretty isolated from the larger highway networks (it's 60 miles from I-95 in Maine over a twisty and narrow Maine Rte. 6, and 35 miles or so from Trans-Canada 2 over a twisty (but really, really beautiful NB Rte. 3. Only time will tell I suppose. One thing is for sure though; Irving has a habit of building business and making money just about everywhere they go. This CSX thing allows them the possibility/option of playing CSX and CP against each other. Irving is pretty well capitalized and exercises a HUGE amount of political and financial sway in Eastern Canada with a growing presence in Northern New England.

Mellon is just trying to make some fast cash before he goes into the forever box, pan am wouldn't be in disrepair if Mellon wasn't milking it for every penny. At least it will be in better hands with csx but it will be sad not seeing those blue dip c40's run when they finally take over

Having seen how traffic moves in Maine, CSX isn't going to make any profit off the sale. Most of the Irving products that go CP or CN go to either Chicago or the west coast. CSX would have to offer better rates, but that would reduce the amount of return they are getting from the Pan Am property. CSX is paying roughly $800 Million for Pan Am on top of the $100 Million in upgrades ($80 Million of which was already going to be done under Pan Am in the form of grants). CSX claims to be focusing on oil traffic to and from Saint John. Which is a traffic source which doesn't exist since Irving built a fleet of ships to haul oil from the gulf of Mexico to Saint John. I think CSX is actually trying to compete with CP for intermodal business from Saint John, although CP has significantly less invested and they have a shorter route and better track than what CSX will have. Having known people who rode the CP OCS, Keith Creel was disappointed by how much traffic had been created at the port, considering that CP has advertised the service for 3 years and has yet to land a contract besides a few domestic contracts and some detour traffic when the port of Montreal gets too full. Since CSX is in full PSR mode, I doubt that many of the customers will see better service under CSX, since many of them are the type of shipper that CSX likes to jerk around because they don't ship more than a few hundred cars a year. At the end of the day, for how many jobs will be lost from closing the two shop facilities (which will happen despite CSX's promises), the loss of smaller shippers, and the lack of traffic that CSX is aiming to cater to, the sale has virtually no benefits.

With this merger coming up I think CSX is gonna abandon the Peabody industrial line. Pan Am maintained it so poorly they couldn’t even replace damaged crossbucks. I think the line only serves one or two customers once per week so it isn’t worth the repair. The line is the last industrial branchline in the county, and it’s right in my backyard, so it’d be sad if it went

The PAN AM logo in Year 2001, was certainly emblazoned on a conveyance not as futuristic, and much slower, than depicted in Stanly Kubrick's 1968 motion picture.

I oppose the CSX pan am merger because the MBTA needs to extend the Fitchburg passenger commuter rail line to greenfield Massachusetts

I am surprised that NS didn’t demand full control of Pan Am Southern and Maine trackage rights.

Very informative video. Thanks for sharing.

Really did wish that Amtrak was talked about in a bit more. Considering multiples projects on the B&A line and on Pan Am between Ballardvalle and Brunswick would also shape how CSX has to arrange this deal.

CSX just needs to re- double the Boston line where it's single track and problem solved

I'm hoping they develop the seacoast N.H. region to be better than it is. I've watched as this area went from having a decent rail population to mostly through traffic with a little action in dover and portsmouth

Jd Irving owns Cavendish farms which has a huge french fry factory in Jamestown north Dakota. I think 🤔

CSX wants all in their vision. I liked Chessie the Cat when it was tame.

I didn't watch all of this just yet but I really wanna know what they will do with pan ams locomotive, specifically the guilford painted ones, considering I haven't seen one yet I really want to see those old guilfords before they're no longer a thing

This is super niche, way too wonky for me, even though I like trains a lot. But, there's a pan am railway line directly behind my house. So, I'm curious. Also absolutely wild that a random class II railroad in New England bought the branding rights for one of the most iconic airlines in history and now I see Pan Am box cars running behind my house.

Maine has some very active ports and up until recently didn’t have any Class1’s operating in the state. CP just purchased The Central Maine & Quebec and CSX with the Pan Am is just a smaller part of the plan for these carriers to build their transcontinental railroads. Also when the big mergers start to happen it will be easier for them to pitch it to the STB for competition reasons, given two Class1’s operating in New England instead of only one. Just my opinion..

Norfolk Southern will file a lawsuit big time!!!!

Good video however please skip the background music it is distracting . I have been a railfan of the B&A since NYC last year on that line. IMO the B&A could easily handle traffic from the patriot corridor if another issue with the tunnel occurs . I watched all 16 hours of the STB video and IMO I believe it will be approved.

Pan Am is already pretty screwed...it will be interesting to see this name finally be a fallen flag

very informative ...i was wondering what the deal was there but i still don't think we know the entire reason...

I’m so happy the sale was approved! This is great for New England 🙂

Only thing CSX will be upgrade Maine railroad tracks, possibly adding double tracks that’s I heard about it!

Cycling down Lake Champlain and Hudson, I got the impression that CP isn't interested in Montreal-Whitehall, but between Whitehall and Albany, there is quite a bit of traffic. Just an impression. So does CP actually get sigificant traffic from vermont railways at Whitehall? or is it just a bit player in the area, taking cars from vermon railways and handing them to CSX/NS at Albany? Considering CP had abandonned its line to St-John and only recently bought the lie back in sad shape, (and getting Canadian government to pay to reroute around Lac Mégantic) I am curiuous if their line to New brunswick via Maine will regain business from decades of abandonment.

3:01 actually NS goes via Mechanicville, not Rotterdam Junction

Honestly id like to see NS produce a counter offer

I wonder if all the Irving traffic will go to CP, now that the CP/KCS merger has been approved?

It's Brownville (not Brownsville) Jct, ALL-bany not AL-bany and Mat-ah-WAHM (rhymes with prom) -keg

wrong. csx B&a could handle the traffic . just a little more double track some more and longer sidings and more sidings. the queston is what is cheaper fixing the tunnel or fixing up the B&A. dont for get the NYC once moved a lot more traffic then the CSX and Pan am more today

This is sick as fuck. Thank you.

You mention that CP's takeover of the CMQ and CSX's takeover of Pan Am is driven by growth of the port of Saint John, but is there a larger underlying factor which is causing Class I Railways to buy up more shortlines - often along routes which they sold off in the first place? Why did CP think it was a good idea to sell of their eastern QC, ME and NB lines in 1993, and now they think it's a good decision to buy them back? On top of those examples, CN took operations of its own Toronto-Kitchener-London line back from GEXR (G&W), after leasing it to them in 1996 citing redundancy with their Toronto-Brantford-London mainline. It all seems like a total change in mentality compared to the past 30 years where the Class 1s were skeletalizing their networks by ditching minor routes to shortline railways.

Will the Hoosic Tunnel ever be heightened for double stacks?

I appreciate the effort gone into this video. However I will say more research needed to be done before making this. You came close on some things but no cigar. There's a lot behind the scenes that will blow your mind why Mellon is doing what he's doing. Drop me a line sometime. I'd love to chat.

"ancient locomotives"? Their current roster is spot on with most other Class 2 railroads with EMD SD40-2's/GP40's and the like. They are the best, most flexible and efficient types of locomotives for just about any Class 2, I know from experience.

The B&A definitely cannot handle all that traffic. It’s already pretty saturated as it is. We always have trains that don’t make origination due to crew shortages or power shortages. Also, going up the mountain can be difficult. There are tonnage restrictions and trains stall quite often.

So, coming from the perspective of an angry NS employee who's career as a whole is in potential grave danger from this sale... all I really got out of this is that Pan Am sucks (well known fact) and CSX just wants an interchange free path to run construction material traffic to the south. But the sheer amount of money CSX is putting in alone to rehab the old Albany main from Delanson to Voorheesville (up to and including building a totally new controlled point in Voorheesvile or expanding the existing CP VO) JUST to allow NS to continue to run the 22/23K trains to (that CSX is eventually probably going to take away anyway) just to keep NS happy and quiet still isn't making any sense at all. Not attacking the poster, honestly this video is the closest thing to an answer anyone has gotten yet, but it still makes no sense. And another scary part is circumventing the Canadians and taking that business off them and running it over CSX is another detrimental blow to the former D&H lines because that traffic anymore since PSR makes up a solid 40% of what runs there. I just can't see the big picture I guess. If they wanted to take over Pan Am just for the sake of finally erasing Pan Am from the history books and renewing, growing and continuing what they do now, that might make some level of sense.

Seen some pretty ugly junk from Pan Am in Worcester county Ma. Probably should have gotten a tetanus shot..

Matt-a-wam-kegg

CSX does not maintane track to well