Except for that siding in Brunswick, the line seems to be in pretty good condition. Shame there isn't more traffic. I had planned to visit this line in May but it may be gone by then.
Great production as always Harrison! Always finding a way to keep us updated on what’s goin on up there. It’s a shame that they lost the concrete business, but keep an open mind for the future!
Dash-7's? Wow, I didn't think there were any around anymore. Great show as always Harrison! And don't you just HATE those electronic crossing bells? Yuck!
Me sitting here just rooting for an L/A area connection to Portland lol I believe there were federal funds moved just recently to fund passenger service to Rockland, extending the Downeaster.
Awesome. So it was official. I heard things with the FGLK, I didn’t follow up on it. FGLK majority all units are NYC but they do have an original Conrail paint livery and Lehigh Valley as well.
I remember chasing FGLK 2310 on the Finger Lakes when she was still here. Honestly I didnt know she got moved up north, nor that FGLK had another operation off site. The combination of the canadian E Bell and the Nathan P3 was a favorite of mine out of their fleet.
Another fantastic production Harrison! Thats so cool you get to see the NYC units in maine! Its cool to see the Finger Lakes Compamy growing, always rooted for them, another cool regional railroad. I hear ya on that light thing, sometimes we just got to make the most of what we are dealt. NRFF is very similar NB with light issues. Take care! Fantastic Bridge scenes!
The final cement cars shipped out on Monday. Only outbound loads from now on will be scrap loads, where dragon is cutting up abandoned equipment and the whale belly hoppers.
The closure of the Dragon plant made sense because Dragon Cement was forced to pay fines for air quality violations and safety violations in recent years and the plant became too expensive to run. And before CP and CMQ, Maine Eastern, Safe Handling, and Mass Coastal operated the Rockland Branch. Fallen flag Maine Eastern operated the Rockland Branch from 2005 until its contract with the state of Maine expired in 2015. Mass Coastal operated the Rockland Branch from 1990 to 2000. Safe Handling operated the branch in the early 2000s. Like predecessors Mass Coastal and Maine Eastern, Midcoast operates the Rockland Branch under a 10-year contract transferred from CMQ and CPKC. Currently, Midcoast's contract expires at the end of 2025.
@@CSXfan618 Sadly Midcoast/FGLK has pulled out, all the equipment is back in New York. There’s been bids for a new operator but nothing has been announced yet
Nice chase, just a few things. CMQ tried to grow business, however the remaining cement contracts either went to barges or trucks shortly after they took over. Which wasn't because of CMQ, but more so poor track conditions on BCLR in Mass, a interchange rate battle between CSX and Pan Am, and Lafarge switching to Ciment Quebec as their new supplier. Also LO77 is still technically PO-3.
@@SouthCoastRailVideos It did, CSX didn't want to interchange with them because the interchange tracks were in poor condition. Ryan Ratledge worked to try and smooth things over between CSX and Pan Am, but with the issues on BCLR it was all for nothing.
I’m very sad that my title turned out to be the right prediction. I had high hopes for Midcoast and genuinely thought they would succeed despite the odds.
A sad ending to a to a promising endeavor. The foreign owners pulled the plug on the main revenue stream for this line. The cement plant. For economic reasons, so they reported. I suspect they went GREEN! Coke and natural gas fueled production process. Only a theory though.
Not really. The cement powder is now being shipped in by bulk freighter from their opewrations in Spain to Bucksport, and the Dragon plant is only being used for inventory storage. An effort was made to purchase the Dragon plant in Thomaston, owners were offered $50 million and turned it down. The reason is that the owners do not want to have competition to their established markets. Shutting down Dragon kept that supply off the market and improves the profit margins for the material from Spain. What is happening here is a function of currency exchange rates; a stronger dollar against the Euro makes importing from Spain cheaper than Maine production. The real problem will be the tax revenue to the town of Thomaston, which is likely to be driven down as the plant will be argued to have little value when not running. The Governor in Augusta is upset by all this as now there is no secure supply of cement for Miane roadbuilding projects. Such is life. The line itself is now up for bid by Maine DOT for a new operator. With only three to ten carloads a month it does not look promising without subsidies. Another problem is that there are culverts etc with 10-mph speed restrictions, and those would have to be rebuilt for serious rail operations. I am planning to put in a bid to operate the line for passenger commuter service Rockland-Portland, and provide free haulage for the remaining freight customers, not enough money there to bother with the billing. We shall see how it all works out.
@@jvaneck8991 Thanks for this update. Local info reporting is lacking (Wiscasset area). One of my property lines is the RR right of way. WE do miss the traffic. WE wish you well in your bidding!
Except for that siding in Brunswick, the line seems to be in pretty good condition. Shame there isn't more traffic. I had planned to visit this line in May but it may be gone by then.
The B23-7's look great in the NYC colours.
Great production as always Harrison! Always finding a way to keep us updated on what’s goin on up there. It’s a shame that they lost the concrete business, but keep an open mind for the future!
Dash-7's? Wow, I didn't think there were any around anymore.
Great show as always Harrison! And don't you just HATE those electronic crossing bells? Yuck!
Got lucky with that! Double header, Downeaster, and PO-3, nice chase!
Me sitting here just rooting for an L/A area connection to Portland lol I believe there were federal funds moved just recently to fund passenger service to Rockland, extending the Downeaster.
Absolutely beautiful photography
Awesome. So it was official. I heard things with the FGLK, I didn’t follow up on it. FGLK majority all units are NYC but they do have an original Conrail paint livery and Lehigh Valley as well.
I remember chasing FGLK 2310 on the Finger Lakes when she was still here. Honestly I didnt know she got moved up north, nor that FGLK had another operation off site. The combination of the canadian E Bell and the Nathan P3 was a favorite of mine out of their fleet.
Another fantastic production Harrison! Thats so cool you get to see the NYC units in maine! Its cool to see the Finger Lakes Compamy growing, always rooted for them, another cool regional railroad. I hear ya on that light thing, sometimes we just got to make the most of what we are dealt. NRFF is very similar NB with light issues. Take care! Fantastic Bridge scenes!
The final cement cars shipped out on Monday. Only outbound loads from now on will be scrap loads, where dragon is cutting up abandoned equipment and the whale belly hoppers.
guess the old equipment will be interesting. Is there any hope for it not being a trail?
Remember me North country trains I was the one there with you recording as well that kid that you saw that was me
Yes! Nice to meet you that day!
Hi how are you doing
Great Video as Always!
NYC had a good paint scheme. No wonder why shorelines and other small railroads choose to replicate it.
Very cool👍🏻
The closure of the Dragon plant made sense because Dragon Cement was forced to pay fines for air quality violations and safety violations in recent years and the plant became too expensive to run. And before CP and CMQ, Maine Eastern, Safe Handling, and Mass Coastal operated the Rockland Branch. Fallen flag Maine Eastern operated the Rockland Branch from 2005 until its contract with the state of Maine expired in 2015. Mass Coastal operated the Rockland Branch from 1990 to 2000. Safe Handling operated the branch in the early 2000s. Like predecessors Mass Coastal and Maine Eastern, Midcoast operates the Rockland Branch under a 10-year contract transferred from CMQ and CPKC. Currently, Midcoast's contract expires at the end of 2025.
@@CSXfan618 Sadly Midcoast/FGLK has pulled out, all the equipment is back in New York. There’s been bids for a new operator but nothing has been announced yet
Nice chase, just a few things. CMQ tried to grow business, however the remaining cement contracts either went to barges or trucks shortly after they took over. Which wasn't because of CMQ, but more so poor track conditions on BCLR in Mass, a interchange rate battle between CSX and Pan Am, and Lafarge switching to Ciment Quebec as their new supplier. Also LO77 is still technically PO-3.
Thanks for the info!
I can say with 100% certainty that it had nothing to do with BCLR track conditions.
@@SouthCoastRailVideos It did, CSX didn't want to interchange with them because the interchange tracks were in poor condition. Ryan Ratledge worked to try and smooth things over between CSX and Pan Am, but with the issues on BCLR it was all for nothing.
what is fglk 2310 b32-7? it should be b23-7 instaed
Good catch- that was a typo
They ran their last train with One perlite car last Thursday, after 2 years, it’s over.
I’m very sad that my title turned out to be the right prediction. I had high hopes for Midcoast and genuinely thought they would succeed despite the odds.
@@NorthCountryTrains yeah I did too, but at least I saw them last year at their peak (got them with both locos and 20 cars)
A sad ending to a to a promising endeavor. The foreign owners pulled the plug on the main revenue stream for this line. The cement plant. For economic reasons, so they reported. I suspect they went GREEN! Coke and natural gas fueled production process. Only a theory though.
Not really. The cement powder is now being shipped in by bulk freighter from their opewrations in Spain to Bucksport, and the Dragon plant is only being used for inventory storage. An effort was made to purchase the Dragon plant in Thomaston, owners were offered $50 million and turned it down. The reason is that the owners do not want to have competition to their established markets. Shutting down Dragon kept that supply off the market and improves the profit margins for the material from Spain. What is happening here is a function of currency exchange rates; a stronger dollar against the Euro makes importing from Spain cheaper than Maine production. The real problem will be the tax revenue to the town of Thomaston, which is likely to be driven down as the plant will be argued to have little value when not running. The Governor in Augusta is upset by all this as now there is no secure supply of cement for Miane roadbuilding projects. Such is life.
The line itself is now up for bid by Maine DOT for a new operator. With only three to ten carloads a month it does not look promising without subsidies. Another problem is that there are culverts etc with 10-mph speed restrictions, and those would have to be rebuilt for serious rail operations. I am planning to put in a bid to operate the line for passenger commuter service Rockland-Portland, and provide free haulage for the remaining freight customers, not enough money there to bother with the billing. We shall see how it all works out.
@@jvaneck8991 Thanks for this update. Local info reporting is lacking (Wiscasset area). One of my property lines is the RR right of way. WE do miss the traffic. WE wish you well in your bidding!