Looking bad for coal
#1
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#2
It's like the 1960's /70's again. The loss of coal traffic is one of the factors that put the anthracite lines on the chopping block and lead to the formation of Conrail.
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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#3
The power companies in our region are asking for rate increases too. I miss seeing the coal trains, and there are not as many oil trains now either. I have been watching trains for over 50 years and never seen the traffic volume so low as it is now. I know the economy is booming, but it sure isn't in our area. we have 10.5% unemployment as of last month.
Charlie
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#4
I can't be sure which of the following trains are the "longest- wait-at-the-grade-crossing-as-they-pass", because it's just about a three way tie. Container trains, Tank Car trains, or Coal Hopper trains ( empty, or fully loaded ). I can be sure that these do exist here in northeastern Illinois . . . . I have had to sit there and wait until they pass, for what seems to be half the day, for each. Confusedhock: Confusedhock: Icon_twisted Wink Wink 357
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#5
Around here you see 10,000 foot freight trains,coal,tank trains,stacks and grain trains. Its almost impossible to make a round trip across town without having to wait for a train.

The majority of the coal unit trains has BNSF power and comes from the PRB.

BTW. NS downsize Conway yard months ago.
Larry
Engineman

Summerset Ry

Make Safety your first thought, Not your last!  Safety First!
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#6
NS downsized Conway about 10 years ago, but since that time they have done a lot of major work rebuilding tracks and a new engine service facility.
I used to see one BNSF PRB coal train a day but they are rare here because we have so many coal fired power plants either shutting down or converting to natural gas.
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#7
Well,coal will be needed for steel mills and coke plants but,for how much longer is anybody's guess.

Charlie,How time flies! I thought it was in the past 2 years.. Its been 10 years and they closed Buckeye Yard around 8 years ago. The pains of a aging mind. :o Tongue
Larry
Engineman

Summerset Ry

Make Safety your first thought, Not your last!  Safety First!
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#8
Brakie Wrote:Well,coal will be needed for steel mills and coke plants but,for how much longer is anybody's guess.

Charlie,How time flies! I thought it was in the past 2 years.. Its been 10 years and they closed Buckeye Yard around 8 years ago. The pains of a aging mind. :o Tongue
Larry, tell me about it. I just retired the first of the year and it has suddenly been 6 years ago. When I look back at the pictures I have taken (family, trains, dogs) I wonder where the time has gone. Even if I try to bore myself the time still flies.

We just had a major coke plant announce they were closing. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/9650422-74/shenango-employees-coke">http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/9650 ... oyees-coke</a><!-- m -->
The steel industry is hurting too, but to be truthful it isn't only foreign steel hurting them but the use of other materials such as carbon fibers and plastics that are stronger and weigh less. Another thing, the steel plant we serviced would only ship scrap by rail. One of their major customers that even had their own fleet of trucks wanted their product shipped to them by rail. It would have given us more than 30 carloads a month more business (we were doing 16 to 20 cars a month) but the mill refused to load railcars because they would be responsible for securing the loads.
Another thing hurting the railroads IMHO is the low fuel prices. Trucking companies appear to be quicker to adjust prices where the railroad was fast to raise but slow to lower, kind of like gas stations. Goldth
Charlie
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#9
So somebody at the mill only NOW just discovered that they were responsible for securing loads in the gondolas. What has changed there? Nothing, absolutely nothing, just peoples interpretation of the rules. Why do I get the vibe that someone in the mill's legal department only recently read the AAR loading regs and realised just who was responsible. No doubt they instructed management that it was better to have the client come pick items up with their trucks as that passed the responsibility over to them. Watch what happens when some locals start complaining about all the heavy trucks loaded with steel products tearing up the roads, then wait for the knee jerk reaction, some management, pfffft.
Sometimes all you can do is Wallbang

Mark
Fake It till you Make It, then Fake It some More
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#10
Watch what happens when some locals start complaining about all the heavy trucks loaded with steel products tearing up the roads, then wait for the knee jerk reaction, some management, pfffft.
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Reminds me of the lady that ask why ship oil by train when it can be shipped by truck? This was after NS started running tank trains on the CF&E (PRR old Ft. Wayne Line) through town.


I asked her how she would like thousands of tank trucks on the road? She didn't like that idea either nor did she like the idea of a pipe line..
Larry
Engineman

Summerset Ry

Make Safety your first thought, Not your last!  Safety First!
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#11
She didnt quite realise the multiplication involved did she, given that each tank car hold @ three tanker trucks worth of oil.
Um, yeah, thinking about it myself, it would make for a lot of oil tank trucks now wouldnt it. What a CONVOY! 2285_
Mark
Fake It till you Make It, then Fake It some More
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#12
Mr Fixit Wrote:So somebody at the mill only NOW just discovered that they were responsible for securing loads in the gondolas. What has changed there? Nothing, absolutely nothing, just peoples interpretation of the rules. Why do I get the vibe that someone in the mill's legal department only recently read the AAR loading regs and realised just who was responsible. No doubt they instructed management that it was better to have the client come pick items up with their trucks as that passed the responsibility over to them. Watch what happens when some locals start complaining about all the heavy trucks loaded with steel products tearing up the roads, then wait for the knee jerk reaction, some management, pfffft.
Sometimes all you can do is Wallbang

Mark
No Mark, they have known all along it was their responsibility. This company has been trucking the steel for 20 years, they were trying to save some money by using rail. I understand now that this company is getting their steel by rail, just not from this company. Nope
Charlie
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#13
I wonder if the person responsible for loosing that business will or has lost their job. One would hope so, but sometimes those sorts of people are well connected and well protected, well till at least the whole business goes belly up.
Mark
Fake It till you Make It, then Fake It some More
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