Pan Am Railways

Infobox SG rail
railroad_name=Pan Am Railways
logo_filename=Pan_am_railways_herald_hq.pnglogo_size=315
marks=BM, MEC, ST
locale=New England
start_year=1981
end_year=present
old_gauge=
hq_city=North Billerica, Massachusetts

airline in 1998.

History

GTI developed as a child of railroad deregulation in the United States. The passage of the "Staggers Rail Act" allowed GTI to execute a business plan unlike those of earlier railroads in New England. It revolved around the idea of buying up as many local railroads as possible, to create full “horizontal integration” over New England and the northern Mid-Atlantic states, gaining efficiencies of scale.

GTI started by purchasing the MEC in 1981 from U.S. Filter Corporation. This was followed by its 1983 purchase of the BM and in 1984, it purchased the Delaware and Hudson Railway (DH). Its network sprawled from the border between Maine and New Brunswick to Boston, and west to Albany, north to Montreal, and south (via trackage rights) to New York, Philadelphia, and Washington.

Following the purchases of MEC, BM and DH, GTI began several major changes to the operations of these railroads and their workforces. One of the first changes took place with new management, followed by consolidation of locomotive repair work at the MEC shops at Waterville, Maine, resulting in repainting of locomotives from the predecessor companies into GTI corporate colors.

In the mid-1980s, GTI began to eliminate marginal low-density routes, particularly in Maine. Fully one-third of MEC trackage was eliminated, including the “Mountain Division” from Portland, Maine to St. Johnsbury, Vermont; the “Rockland Branch” from Brunswick, Maine, to Rockland, Maine; the “Calais Branch” from Bangor, Maine, to Calais, Maine; and the “Lower Road” from Augusta, Maine, to Brunswick, Maine.

When the Calais Branch was cut, service was kept on a now-orphaned section of trackage running between Calais and a pulp mill in nearby Woodland, Maine; these tracks ran for several miles through New Brunswick, Canada, and their only remaining connection to the North American rail network was with Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) at St. Stephen, New Brunswick. Following the Calais Branch abandonment, CPR agreed to haul MEC traffic from the interchange at Calais to an interchange with MEC at Mattawamkeag, Maine. To avoid costly labor union agreements, which would make the Calais-Woodland service uneconomic, GTI leased the operation of this route to its tiny Springfield Terminal subsidiary, which had much more advantageous labor agreements.

Springfield Terminal Railway

The Springfield Terminal Railway was a 6-mile shortline connection from Springfield, Vermont, to Charlestown, New Hampshire, [ [http://www.vuhs.org/erails/strc/strmap.html Springfield Terminal Railroad map] ] that was owned by the Boston and Maine Railroad.

From 1897 to 1921, it was known as the Springfield Electric, [ [http://www.vuhs.org/erails/strc/index.html Springfield Electric / Terminal Railway Company ] ] and was converted from electric to diesel power in 1956. Passenger service lasted until 1947, and freight service was discontinued in 1984. [ [http://www.vuhs.org/erails/strc/strc1.html Springfield Electric / Terminal Railway Company 1 ] ]

The ST had once been an interurban, and following typical interurban and shortline practice, it had a union agreement that allowed fewer crew members per train and operation without cabooses. By the time Guilford took over, the operation had been cut back to a stub of a few hundred yards serving one customer and operating infrequently. The tracks have since been removed and the route is now a rails to trails bike/walking path.

Labor disputes and recent history

More branch lines were subsequently leased to the Springfield Terminal, and eventually all of the B&M and MEC were operated by ST. This saved GTI money, but angered labor. In 1986, GTI endured a lengthy and extremely bitter strike by its workforce, which required the intervention of President Ronald Reagan's administration. In 1988, GTI declared the D&H bankrupt and the employees of the railroad took it over, with Susquehanna managing it. The employees then sold out in 1991 to the Canadian Pacific Railway.

In the years that followed, GTI forced many management and salary changes, resulting in other strikes over wages and work rules.Fact|date=May 2008

The paper industry provides the largest source of business, both inbound chemicals, clay and pulp (although PAR has lost a lot of that business to truck) and outbound paper. Rail has a slightly more than 50% market share for outbound paper shipments from Maine, most of which must use PAR (truck and boat carry the balance). By comparison, rail has a better than 80% market share from mills in Wisconsin (primarily served by the Wisconsin Central Railroad).

In recent years, PAR rail traffic has trended up somewhat, following national rail industry trends. PAR posted $150M in sales during 2005.Fact|date=February 2007

Routes

The main line runs from Mattawamkeag, Maine, to Mechanicville, New York, via the lines of the following former companies:
*Maine Central Railroad: European and North American Railway, Maine Central Railroad main line
*Boston and Maine Railroad: B&M main line, Lowell and Andover Railroad
*Boston and Lowell Railroad (B&M subsidiary): Nashua and Lowell Railroad, Stony Brook Railroad
*Fitchburg Railroad (B&M subsidiary): Fitchburg Railroad main line, Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad, Troy and Greenfield Railroad, Southern Vermont Railroad, Troy and Boston Railroad, Boston, Hoosac Tunnel and Western Railway

Proposed expansion

In 1985, the company, then known as Guilford Transportation Industries, entered into an agreement with Norfolk Southern to run trains to St. Louis. Norfolk Southern was attempting to win approval of a plan to purchase Conrail from the United States government and proposed allowing Guilford to lease Conrail lines to St. Louis in order to restore competition that would be lost in the merger. The plan would have allowed Guilford to use the Conrail mainline from Toledo to Ridgeway, Ohio and from Crestline, Ohio to St. Louis. Guilford would also purchase other Conrail track for $35 million. [Behr, Peter. "Norfolk Southern Moves To Erase Antitrust Issue." "Washington Post," September 26, 1985.] Norfolk Southern did not prevail in its attempt to purchase Conrail in 1985, and the Guilford plan was dropped.

Partnership with Norfolk Southern

On May 15, 2008, Norfolk Southern Corp. announced that it had come to an agreement with Pan Am Railways to "create an improved rail route between Albany, N.Y., and the greater Boston, Mass., area called the 'Patriot Corridor'." [cite press release |title= Pan Am Railways and Norfolk Southern Create the Patriot Corridor to Improve Rail Service and Expand Capacity in New York and New England |publisher= Norfolk Southern Corp. |date= 2008-05-15 |url= http://www.nscorp.com/nscportal/nscorp/Media/News%20Releases/2008/news051508_2.html |format= |language= |accessdate= 2008-05-15 |quote= ] [cite web |url= http://www.nscorp.com/nscportal/nscorp/pdf/patriot_corridor.pdf |title= Introducing the Patriot Corridor |accessdate=2008-05-16 |coauthors= Norfolk Southern Railway and Pan Am Railways |date= 2008-05-16 |format= PDF |publisher= Norfolk Southern Corp.] [cite news |author= The Associated Press |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= 2 railroad freight companies combine effort |url=http://www.telegram.com/article/20080515/APF/805151408 |work= AP Business News |publisher= Worcester Telegram & Gazette |date=2008-05-15 |accessdate=2008-05-16 ]

Pending STB approval of the deal, each of the two companies will own 50% of a new company to be known as Pan Am Southern (PAS). PAR's trackage between Ayer, Massachusetts and Mechanicville, New York will be transferred to PAS and will continue to be operated and maintained by PAR's Springfield Terminal Railway subsidiary. NS will transfer to PAS cash and property valued at $140 million.

Planned improvements to the route include track and signal upgrades, and expansion of terminals, including construction of new automotive and intermodal terminals.

External links

* [http://www.panamrailways.com/ Pan Am Railways] "official website"
* [http://www.rrnne.net/GRSLoco.htm PAR/GRS active locomotive roster] "Railroads of Northern New England"
* [http://naphotos.nerail.org/show/?order=byrail&page=1&key=Guilford GRS photographs] "NERAIL Photo Archive"
* [http://naphotos.nerail.org/show/?order=byrail&page=1&key=Pan%20Am%20Railways PAR photographs] "NERAIL Photo Archive"
* [http://home.comcast.net/~petlick/grs.htm PAR/GRS railfan information] "Northern New England Railfan Site"

References