The CCET gains more business on the Peavine

[heypal6878]

Just when everyone thought the Peavine was dead (even me) according to the newspaper in Mt. Orb in April the CCET is picking up more business. They just landed the Ag in Windchester and have a potential for four more business to that wants rail transportation, Looks like the Ag will give the CCET at least three trips a week up there maybe more when summer season comes along. NS didn't want the business up there but the CCET has taken the bull by the horns and picked up some key accounts. Of course the old Ford plant is a key account and rumor has it a plant expansion my be underway by the end of the year. More good news for the CCET

[redside20]

Mt. Orb

Can I buy an A? Kudos to the CCET, to the prospects of new business. Indeed they have come back from the brink, baby steps.

[heypal6878]

Maybe baby steps yet they are trying and that is more than NS did. NS could have had business on the line but they decided to move on and lease the line out. Hopefully the CCET lands more business on the line in the future.

[AARR]

Of course the old Ford plant is a key account and rumor has it a plant expansion my be underway by the end of the year. More good news for the CCET

Is the old Ford plant an active shipper? I take it it's not Ford anymore?

[redside20]

that is more than NS did. NS could have had business on the line but they decided to move on and lease the line out

Theres a reason for everything, try not sound so bitter about NS everytime you mention them with the Peavine lol... Right now the CCET is the word, and they are the best thing to come along and hopefully with the right people in charge, bring business savvy growth to the west end of the Peavine. God Speed CCET.

[redside20]

Is the old Ford plant an active shipper? I take it it's not Ford anymore

No and No....Ford and NS are like two peas in a pod. and when the Batavia Ford Plant closed in 2009, NS wanted off the line in the worst possible way after that. Fast Forward three or four years later and in comes Finlands Huhtamaki Packaging..They must've liked what they saw in the Old Ford Plant and set up shop there. Huhtamaki North America is a global multinational competitor specializing in paper and plastic goods. They already had a presence in Ohio with a plastics plant in New Vienna Ohio 40 miles to the NE and set there paper plant at Batavia.

http://www2.us.huhtamaki.com/#sthash.Ob5lVYhy.dpbs

[AARR]

Fast Forward three or four years later and in comes Finlands Huhtamaki Packaging..They must've liked what they saw in the Old Ford Plant and set up shop there. Huhtamaki North America is a global multinational competitor specializing in paper and plastic goods. They already had a presence in Ohio with a plastics plant in New Vienna Ohio 40 miles to the NE and set there paper plant at Batavia.

Sounds like a potential customer for CCET

[heypal6878]

Time out redside! I own NS stock not never down on the company or for CSX in that matter but you're true about the Ford plant. As soon as Ford moved out NS wanted to dump the Peavine. Ford was there bread and butter and the smaller companies on the line that didn't produce much revenue didn't interest the multi billion dollar company. Thus they wanted to lease the rail out.

Congrads to the CCET. They picked up Ag and the do service Huhtamaki who may expand at the end of this year. Both companies will fair well with the CCET. More business may come forth soon. NS looks for massive freight service, double stacks, coal, tankers, 175 plus axles trains. The Peavine no longer fits their business model. Yet the Peavine isn't dead and the CCET can turn a profit there. They will pick up some more business this year. Rumor has it several companies looking at the industrial site east of Seaman. If that is the case you can bet NS is keeping a close eye on that deal. It all depends on who it is and how big they may develop.

[howeld]

The over used saying: win win applies. NS will still get a majority of the traffic and if CCET grows the traffic and prospers that's just more for NS to add to the bottom line without all the hassle of the switching.

[heypal6878]

Agreed there! Here is another possibility. The Panama Canal expansion will bring more traffic to NS. Currently it appears that they have more traffic than they can handle with more coming on the horizon. I would bet that NS doesn't want to open the Peavine from Portsmouth and run their power but when the time comes then will need to rethink and this is how it might play out. The NS brings up freight to Portsmouth from points south and east. Freight will sit in the yard in Portsmouth. Double stacks will go north yet other freight smaller loads will be transported by the CCET on the Peavine. The CCET will need to get money to fix the line and the bridge to haul freight to Cincinnati.

NS doesn't want to spend the money for repairs to the Peavine but if the CCET works out it with the State they could get the funding to fix the line thus NS still get their big cut, and the CCET gets a some of the pie as well. Could be a win win for both rail companies while NS sits back and collects.

Just something more to think about!

[MQT1223]

This might sound like a stupid question for sone but for someone that's not familiar with this line like myself, why do they call it The Peavine?

[jallenp7]

They call it the Peavine due to how curvy it is,

As far as haulage traffic, the I&O did not make much money on the DT&I, I think it would be best if CCET sticks to developing local traffic,

Bridge traffic requires more power, crews, dispatchers, track upgrades and maintenance, etc.

A major train derailment involving hazardous cargo could and has bankrupted railroads.

[Muleskinner]

Sad to say, the Peavine is best for just a really long spur line to & from Cincinnati.

The steep grade west of Peebles is too much for a regular size freight train of today for it to be profitable, plus the costly repairs of the bridge over the Scioto River.

Just my thoughts....

[midland sub]

Watch yourself you're making sense....

[redside20]

Watch yourself you're making sense....

+ 1

[heypal6878]

Yup that makes sense! Close the line run everything though Bellevue and have freights sit for hours on the line. Hire more crews and Bellevue is the answer. Do you guys ever look at the wait times every week. Hours! NS is not moving anything for hours. Customers are going to bail and go to trucks or other rails that will get their products there faster. NS is not having a good year. They have issues. They didn't have a vision. They cut back staff, crews, pulled rails, closed yards but now they have the greatest, most modern, largest yard with Bellevue. Yet they can't get the trains in and out of the yard. Makes sense to me!

[midland sub]

I really do appreciate your over the top fixaction of the Peavine. There's a group of us that are just as stuck on the old Ohio Div of the B&O. I'm going to assume you've never had a position at a company that required making fiduciary decisions that resulted in less than desirable results or was forced into a business plan that was focused on one major focus whether it worked or not. Nothing is going to change with the above. You're selling this to the wrong people. We understand the above and the operational challenges the Peavine holds. The old Rock Island between St Louis and Kansas City and the DRG&W in Colorado both are like the Peavine. On paper you can sit there and make all sorts of plans but there's a reason the three no longer are in use nor will ever be other than some sort of local use.

The CCET isn't a walk in the park either....

You should say days and not hours for Bellevue...

Yup that makes sense! Close the line run everything though Bellevue and have freights sit for hours on the line. Hire more crews and Bellevue is the answer. Do you guys ever look at the wait times every week. Hours! NS is not moving anything for hours. Customers are going to bail and go to trucks or other rails that will get their products there faster. NS is not having a good year. They have issues. They didn't have a vision. They cut back staff, crews, pulled rails, closed yards but now they have the greatest, most modern, largest yard with Bellevue. Yet they can't get the trains in and out of the yard. Makes sense to me!

[redside20]

Major lolz....Funny, trains were moving just fine on the Sandusky District through Marion yesterday.

[heypal6878]

On the contrary pal I do make decisions every day where I work that affect many people. I weigh all options, sometimes that cost money, time, location. When a decision is made I look at the entire picture. NS looked at one picture Bellevue! Spend millions of dollars for a State of the Art rail yard to take care of all freight cars but they forgot one thing. They only have a single rail up there, and increased business the last year. So spending millions of dollars didn't fix anything, in fact it made it worse.

So then the decision lets run everything to Bellevue and close up the old yards that is the answer. Wrong again! Now wait times are hours, and as you say days. I mean if you look at the routes NS is moving trains from the far west to Bellevue. It just doesn't make any sense at all. Maybe they should think about buying more property and building another yard, or open one that is closed.

My buddy said NS is in a state of unrest as department managers are scrambling try to get things to work. Moving routes to free up wait times. Problem is they have too much business and not enough crews or yards to place the cars. Ohio is a mess, Indiana isn't much better. Kentucky is a little better but still they have issues in eastern Kentucky. Cars from the south going north aren't going anywhere fast.

Sure the CCET is having issues with the Peavine. What they are running around 25 mph on the tracks at the most. The good thing is they are only running to Seaman and using only one engine and doing fine with that. Going any further would require two engines. Really not much business east of Seaman but if there is any industry being build east of Seaman in a few years the CCET will want more rail open. The Peavine might be not a thriving rail now but it could be in a few years. Many people counted out the Peavine when NS shut down operations over a year ago. Now the CCET is doing what it can to move some freight on the line.

[Bellevue_Guy]

They only have a single rail up there

I don't know of any monorails around here, maybe you're confusing us with Bellevue, Washington...