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Pan Am Railways

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Pan Am Railways
Overview
HeadquartersNorth Billerica, Massachusetts
Reporting markBM, MEC, PTM, ST
LocaleNew England
Dates of operation1981–

Pan Am Railways (PAR), known as Guilford Rail System (GRS) before March 2006, is a holding company that owns and operates Class II regional railroads covering northern New England from Mattawamkeag, Maine to Rotterdam Junction, New York. The primary subsidiaries of Pan Am Railways are Boston and Maine Corporation (reporting mark BM), Maine Central Railroad Company (reporting mark MEC), Portland Terminal Company (reporting mark PTM), and Springfield Terminal Railway Company (reporting mark ST); BM and MEC are operated under lease by ST.

Pan Am Railways is headquartered in North Billerica, Massachusetts (a village within the town of Billerica).[1][2] It is a subsidiary of Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based Pan Am Systems, formerly known as Guilford Transportation Industries (GTI). Guilford bought the name, colors and logo of Pan American World Airways in 1998.

History

Early years

Pan Am Railways headquarters.
Guilford logo.

Guilford Transportation Industries was formed in 1977.[3] The company entered the railroad business in 1981 with its purchase of the Maine Central Railroad Company from U.S. Filter Corporation. This was followed by its 1983 purchase of the Boston and Maine Corporation, and in 1984 it purchased the Delaware and Hudson Railway (DH). The combined MEC-BM-DH network sprawled from the border between Maine and New Brunswick to Boston, west to Albany, north to Montreal, and south (via trackage rights) to New York, Philadelphia, and Washington.

The passage of the Staggers Rail Act allowed Guilford 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.

Following the purchases of MEC, BM, and DH, Guilford 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 in Waterville, Maine, resulting in repainting of locomotives from the predecessor companies into Guilford corporate colors.

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

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; 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. In spite of the fact that new labor agreements had removed the requirement to use a caboose at the end of each train, and crew size had been reduced from as many as five employees to just two, Guilford leased the operation of the remaining portions of the Calais branch to its tiny Springfield Terminal Railway Company subsidiary, which had much more advantageous labor agreements.

Springfield Terminal Railway

Springfield Terminal locomotive #621 at Westford, Massachusetts, 2007.

The Springfield Terminal Railway Company was a 6-mile (10 km) shortline connection from Springfield, Vermont, to Charlestown, New Hampshire,[4] that was owned by the Boston and Maine Corporation.

From 1897 to 1921, it was known as the Springfield Electric,[5] and was converted from electric to diesel power in 1956. Passenger service lasted until 1947, and freight service was discontinued in 1984.[6]

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.

Expansion attempt

In 1985, Guilford entered into an agreement with Norfolk Southern Railway 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.[7] Norfolk Southern did not prevail in its attempt to purchase Conrail in 1985, and the Guilford plan was dropped.

Labor disputes and contraction

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

In the years that followed, Guilford forced many management and salary changes, resulting in other strikes over wages and work rules.[citation needed]

Pan Am

A Maine Central boxcar in Pan Am livery at Rigby Yard in South Portland, Maine, 2006.

In 1998, Guilford bought the name, colors and logo of Pan American World Airways.

In March 2006, Guilford Transportation Industries changed its name to Pan Am Systems, and Guilford Rail System was rebranded as Pan Am Railways.

Recent history

Maine Central locomotive #603 passing through Portland, Maine, 2010.

The paper industry provides the largest source of business, both inbound chemicals, clay and pulp (although Pan Am has lost a lot of that business to trucks), and outbound paper. Rail had[when?] a slightly more than 50% market share for outbound paper shipments from Maine, most of which used Pan Am (truck and boat carry the balance).[citation needed] By comparison, rail has a better than 80% market share from mills in Wisconsin (primarily served by Wisconsin Central Transportation).[citation needed] A 2008 report issued by the American Society of Civil Engineers rated Maine at 48th of the 50 states in volume of freight traffic that moves by rail.[8] The Maine Motor Transport Association web page reports that trucks transport 94% of total manufactured tonnage in Maine.[9]

In some years,[when?] Pan Am rail traffic had trended up somewhat, following national rail industry trends.[citation needed] However, as of recent times,[when?] Pan Am rail traffic has dropped considerably.[citation needed] A report issued by the Maine Department of Transportation listed rail traffic on the Maine Central Railroad as being 162,658 loads in 1972.[10] As of 2008, Pan Am rail traffic over the remaining portions of the MEC was estimated to be no more than 69,000 loads.[11] Interestingly, in this same time period, the Association of American Railroads estimates that rail traffic in the United States has more than doubled.[12]

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, New York, and the Boston, Massachusetts area called the 'Patriot Corridor'." [13][14][15]

On March 12, 2009, the Surface Transportation Board approved the deal.[16] Each of the two companies own 50% of a new company known as Pan Am Southern (PAS). PAR's trackage between Ayer, Massachusetts and Mechanicville, New York was transferred to PAS and continues to be operated and maintained by PAR's Springfield Terminal Railway subsidiary. NS transferred 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 in Ayer, MA and Mechanicville, NY.[17]

Routes

Boston & Maine locomotive #339 at Wells, Maine, 1999.

The main line runs from Mattawamkeag, Maine, to Mechanicville, New York, via the lines of the following former companies:

Locomotive fleet

Maine Central locomotives wearing the Pan Am Railways "Phase II" paint scheme at Rigby Yard, 2009.
Maine Central locomotives wearing the Pan Am Railways "Phase I" and Guilford Rail System "Phase II" paint schemes at Rigby Yard, 2009.
Numbers Reporting
marks		 Type Total
1, 2 PAR GMD FP9A 2
12, 15 ST EMD GP7 2
45, 51, 52, 54,
62, 71, 72, 77		 ST EMD GP9 8
203-205, 207-210,
212, 214		 ST EMD GP35 9
300-303, 305-310,
312-321		 MEC EMD GP40 20
326-328, 330,
332-335, 337,
340, 342		 BM EMD GP40 11
343-354, 370, 371,
373, 374, 376-382		 MEC EMD GP40 23
500-508 MEC GMD GP40-2L(W) 9
509-519 MEC GMD GP40-2(W) 11
600-619 MEC EMD SD40-2 20
621, 643 ST EMD SD26 2
681 ST EMD SD45 1
690 BM EMD SD39 1
Fleet Total: 119
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References

  1. ^ "Billerica town, Massachusetts." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on August 27, 2009.
  2. ^ "Table of Contents Page." Pan Am Railways. Retrieved on August 27, 2009.
  3. ^ Pan Am company newsletter, January 2006
  4. ^ Springfield Terminal Railroad map
  5. ^ Springfield Electric / Terminal Railway Company
  6. ^ Springfield Electric / Terminal Railway Company 1
  7. ^ Behr, Peter. "Norfolk Southern Moves To Erase Antitrust Issue." Washington Post, September 26, 1985.
  8. ^ http://www.maineasce.org/MaineASCEInfrastructureReportCard2008.htm
  9. ^ http://www.mmta.com/public/index.cfm?fuseaction=articles.view&id=4842
  10. ^ Mountain Division Rail Study; Maine Department of Transportation, December 2007
  11. ^ Atlantic Northeast Rails and Ports, 08#02A
  12. ^ http://www.aar.org/~/media/AAR/BackgroundPapers/775.ashx
  13. ^ "Pan Am Railways and Norfolk Southern Create the Patriot Corridor to Improve Rail Service and Expand Capacity in New York and New England" (Press release). Norfolk Southern Corp. 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
  14. ^ "Introducing the Patriot Corridor" (PDF). Norfolk Southern Corp. 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2008-05-16. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ The Associated Press (2008-05-15). "2 railroad freight companies combine effort". AP Business News. Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Retrieved 2008-05-16. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  16. ^ US Board Approves Joint Ownership Of Pan Am Southern LLC, CNN Money, http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200903102012DOWJONESDJONLINE000756_FORTUNE5.htm, 3/12/09
  17. ^ "Pan Am's second takeoff". Trains Magazine. Kalmbach Publishing. January 2010.
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