New England Southern Railroad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| New England Southern | |
|---|---|
| Reporting marks | NEGS |
| Locale | New England |
| Dates of operation | 1982–present |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge) |
| Headquarters | Concord, NH |
The New England Southern Railroad (AAR reporting marks NEGS) operates out of Concord, New Hampshire, and serves industries in Concord and Bow. Operating out of the former interlocking tower to the Concord Rail Yard, NEGS operates one ex-Union Pacific GP39-2 number 2370 and utilizes the New Hampshire Mainline as well as parts of the former Concord & Claremont Railroad, Northern Railroad, and Suncook Valley Railroad, all of which became part of the Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M).
Contents |
[edit] Current trackage
Primarily concentrated in central New Hampshire, NEGS actively operates on 20 miles (32 km) of trackage leased from Pan Am Railways (former Guilford Rail Systems) from the former B&M yard in Manchester, New Hampshire to the Concord yard. Several customers clustered around Concord serve as the base of traffic for the railroad and are served daily. New England Southern interchanges with Pan Am Railways at Manchester, where interchanges are made on an as-needed basis.
While New England Southern generally operates in the Concord area, the railroad holds freight rights on the entire 73-mile (117 km) White Mountain Branch from Concord to Lincoln which is leased from the State of New Hampshire.
NEGS uses two-way radio for communications operating on a frequency of 160.395Mhz or Association of American Railroads Channel-19.
[edit] Customers
As of 2008 NEGS serves the following customers:
- NH Mainline
- Ciment Quebec
- Perini Corp - also new customer TBD 03/08
- Blue Seal Feeds
- Advanced Recycling
- Cohen Steel
- Fortek
- Coastal Lumber
- Northern Pacific Forest Products
- Allstate
- Concord Crop
- White Mountain Branch
- Innovative Paper Technologies
- Plymouth & Lincoln Railroad (Hobo Railroad)
[edit] Facts and figures
According to NEGS in 2008 they owned the following equipment. Broken down by specific type of car, NEGS owned:
- 1 Locomotive
- 3 Boxcars
- 3 Open-top Hoppers
- 2 Flatcars
In addition, it owns 5 different pieces of maintenance of way work equipment.
[edit] Passenger train service
New England Southern operated tourist train passenger service over its White Mountain Branch between Concord and Tilton in the 1990s under its "Granite State Railroad" name. NEGS at various times operated the following passenger trains:
- Granite State Railroad — operated over the White Mountain Branch as tourist trains until the late 1990s.
- Caboose Train — operated jointly the caboose owners at Caboose Village in Tilton. This train includes about 25 private passenger cars and cabooses that travel as part of a group between Concord, and Lincoln.
[edit] Current challenges
While NEGS has served customers on the leased line from Pan Am Railways for the last 22 years, the railroad was informed on April 27, 2007 that Pan Am Railways would be terminating their operating lease and would begin serving customers currently under NEGS control on August 1, 2007. At this point NEGS refused to file the adverse discontinuance paperwork with the STB, and PAR responded by filing a Petition for Waiver on August 7, 2007. [1]While the initial filing does not state the reason for PAR ending the contract with NEGS, an adverse discontinuance is generally done by the parent railroad because shippers are not happy with the service provided by a railroad. However, in this situation Atlantic Northeast Rails and Ports reported that shippers are actually siding with NEGS and the service the railroad provides. [2]
Around August 8, 2007, PAR began to refuse payment to NEGS for cars hauled, retaining the 23% commission on cars owed to PAR under the NEGS/PAR contract, and the 77% owed per car to NEGS. NEGS continued to operate on a small base of customers whose contracts had been worked out where payment for service was paid directly to NEGS. At this time NEG continued trying to work out receiving payments from PAR.[3] On December 14, 2007, NEGS filed a federal lawsuit stating that PAR had owed the company more than $430,000 in back payment. NEGS based their sum on monthly billing statements received from PAR, stating, "Moreover, the defendants' conduct has been oppressive, vexatious, arbitrary, capricious, or in bad faith because New England Southern has been forced to institute this suit in response to the defendants' decision not to make payments due in amounts acknowledged by the defendants' own monthly accounting statements." As a result of the lawsuit, PAR notified NEGS that PAR crews would begin serving customers on January 2, 2008. However PAR crews and equipment have yet to begin service.
While PAR still refused to issue payments to NEGS, on February 12, 2008 the STB issued their ruling on PAR's request on several adverse discontinuance procedures in order to terminate their contract with NEGS.[4] The basis of the majority of the STB's rulings were that service was not being discontinued but transferred from one company to another and did not show a major effect on industry in the area and service provided. While several of PAR's requests were granted, PAR was ordered to serve notice to shippers of the change of service and also clarify the statement that PAR owned a section of the White Mountain Branch, which the New Hampshire Department of Transportation contests.[5]
PAR had 30 days from date of service to respond to the federal lawsuit from NEGS, and did not respond until February 19, 2008, stating that the suit should be dismissed because it should have been filed state court.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ "B&M Corp - Petition for Waiver", Surface Transportation Board, 2007-08-07.
- ^ Hardenberg, Chalmers. "New England Southern", Atlantic Northeast Rails and Ports, 2008-01-01.
- ^ Davidson, Kate. "Changes on the Tracks", Concord Monitor, 2008-01-13.
- ^ "Decision STB Docket No. AB-32 Decision STB Docket No. AB-32", Surface Transportation Board, 2008-02-12.
- ^ State of New Hampshire. "NHDOT Objection to Petition of Waiver", Surface Transportation Board, 2007-08-27.
- ^ Davidson, Kate. "End of the Line?", Concord Monitor, 2008-02-24.
- New England Southern Railroad
[edit] External links
 |
This United States rail-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
