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Well here is some updates on flint, Well #1 Lockhart chemical has changed hands and is now Industrial Additives LLC. And i am not happy to report they have stopped using rail. The shipping and receiving clerk told me so. This was on CSX just south of McGrew yard, On the old belt line, And also talked to some demolition crews that were survaying what's left of buick city and in about 22 month's, It will be a giant parking lot. This is not a good time for that town, Of course in the last 29 years the industrial base of that town has been going south, Oh yea US Fence has changed names again it is now Barrete Outdoor Living, Most of the sign's on the building haven't changed becuse they are still a division of US Fence. I was there last week they had nine cars spotted in there siding.

dont forget the new cn fLint innermodul yard witch will host one hundred and 50 traens per day

Where is the intermodal yard located or is it built i want to know some information about it.

There is no yard. Just talk. If it comes, and that is very unlikely, it is supposed to be at the old Buick City site.

sd70accsxt700 wrote:There is no yard. Just talk. If it comes, and that is very unlikely, it is supposed to be at the old Buick City site.

It is just a stupid rumor. Who would build a yard in michigan right now? Not even CN is that dumb.

sd70accsxt700 wrote:
There is no yard. Just talk. If it comes, and that is very unlikely, it is supposed to be at the old Buick City site.
It is just a stupid rumor. Who would build a yard in michigan right now? Not even CN is that dumb.

Exisiting intermodal yards, like CN's Moterm, are under untilized so I don't foresee new ones anytime soon.

Well guys here is a couple more updates, I was inside the buick city complex yesterday and the man on the forktruck told me july of next year it will be totaly shut down, And by the way CSX only has three active customers in flint now what a shame. Conrad Yelvington, Barrette outdoor living, and the auto-truck- transload at the north end of McGrew yard, ACI plastics no longer uses rail, And part of the Clean Harbors siding has been ripped out. And American Additives LLC no longer uses rail, Oh and by the way they are still talking about the intermodel yard in flint at the site of buick city, The major hangup tho is who is going to clean up the site, I was reading in the flint journel there is over 400 hundred acres to be cleaned up that is one heck of a cleanup bill.

The problem with the clean up process is who will end up being liable, either GM or the new owner of the property if someone decides to buy it.

The assets of the site are currently owned by Motors Liquidation, the arm of GM that took over what was left of the company after its Chapter 11 reorganization. I would think most investors who would be interested in the property would hold off until the cleanup is finished.

ACI plastics no longer uses rail, And part of the Clean Harbors siding has been ripped out. And American Additives LLC no longer uses rail,

There's an articvle in Trains Mag how CSX has done one of the better jobs weathering the economic problems. When you see customers switching from rail to truck cause CSX has reduced service it makes me wonder if the operating statsitic and average trains spped is really a good way to measure railroad performance.

Flint was, long ago, the center point of General Motors. GM has long since forsaken the city and most of Michigan.

Very sad to see such an important corporation desert it's roots.

Sounds like it is just a matter of time until CSX abandons everything north of Plymouth to some new shortline.

hobojim wrote:Sounds like it is just a matter of time until CSX abandons everything north of Plymouth to some new shortline.

Doubt it. While Flint itself has little traffic, interchange to the SBS, Port Huron traffic, Essexville and St Clair trains will keep CSX around for the near future. If this windmill park at Wixom pans out, Plymouth might turn into a hot spot once again........

Seems like CSX could just as easily run up the Mt. Clemens sub to Port Huron as opposed to going to Flint and then heading east.....and they still would get the traffic coming off the SBS at Plymouth.

Norm wrote:Flint was, long ago, the center point of General Motors. GM has long since forsaken the city and most of Michigan.

Very sad to see such an important corporation desert it's roots.

Don't count them out yet, there's still 4 GM facilities in Flint.

There getting ready to replace the south Kearsley diamonds, There is a brand new set of four diamonds setting right next to the court street grade crossing on CSX, There all put together just need to be set in place. Not sure when that will happen tho.

Don Simon wrote:

ACI plastics no longer uses rail, And part of the Clean Harbors siding has been ripped out. And American Additives LLC no longer uses rail,

There's an articvle in Trains Mag how CSX has done one of the better jobs weathering the economic problems. When you see customers switching from rail to truck cause CSX has reduced service it makes me wonder if the operating statsitic and average trains spped is really a good way to measure railroad performance.

I happened to check out stock last week as I was looking into transportation stocks and CN actually seemed to have the best stock performance all year.

CN_Okemos wrote:

Don Simon wrote:

ACI plastics no longer uses rail, And part of the Clean Harbors siding has been ripped out. And American Additives LLC no longer uses rail,

There's an articvle in Trains Mag how CSX has done one of the better jobs weathering the economic problems. When you see customers switching from rail to truck cause CSX has reduced service it makes me wonder if the operating statsitic and average trains spped is really a good way to measure railroad performance.

I happened to check out stock last week as I was looking into transportation stocks and CN actually seemed to have the best stock performance all year.

I would be very leery of judging performance by the stock performance. Often in the recent past we have seen that stock performance is more often the result of public relations and advertising. Think Bank and Insurance stocks in 2008, tech stocks in 2000, Enron, Madoff et al.

I read the same article , Don, and it appeared to me that CSX took the short range approach of "screw the worker, save the books " , whereas the NS took the longer range approach of using the time to retrain and upgrade emplyee skills and improve the railroad plant. As the article said at the end, time will tell who managed the slowdown the best. My money will be on NS, history does repeat itself, often many times over.

hobojim wrote:
I would be very leery of judging performance by the stock performance. Often in the recent past we have seen that stock performance is more often the result of public relations and advertising. Think Bank and Insurance stocks in 2008, tech stocks in 2000, Enron, Madoff et al.

I read the same article , Don, and it appeared to me that CSX took the short range approach of "screw the worker, save the books " , whereas the NS took the longer range approach of using the time to retrain and upgrade emplyee skills and improve the railroad plant. As the article said at the end, time will tell who managed the slowdown the best. My money will be on NS, history does repeat itself, often many times over.

http://www.railwayage.com/in-this-issue ... trong.html

CSX spent far more on capital spending than the NS did in 2009..... Many experts have said that the NS was too slow in reacting to our economic situtaion, that they didn't cut fast/deep enough. I think that management underestimated the economic situation and that was the cause, not some noble "don't screw the worker" campaign was why the NS had fewer lay offs than CSX, CN, CP, UP or the BNSF.

As for stocks, while you have pointed out the high profile examples of some things on Wall Street gone wrong, truth be told that is the exception rather than the rule. Stock prices are still a very good way to judge a company's heath.

Typhoon wrote:

hobojim wrote:
I would be very leery of judging performance by the stock performance. Often in the recent past we have seen that stock performance is more often the result of public relations and advertising. Think Bank and Insurance stocks in 2008, tech stocks in 2000, Enron, Madoff et al.

I read the same article , Don, and it appeared to me that CSX took the short range approach of "screw the worker, save the books " , whereas the NS took the longer range approach of using the time to retrain and upgrade emplyee skills and improve the railroad plant. As the article said at the end, time will tell who managed the slowdown the best. My money will be on NS, history does repeat itself, often many times over.

http://www.railwayage.com/in-this-issue ... trong.html

CSX spent far more on capital spending than the NS did in 2009..... Many experts have said that the NS was too slow in reacting to our economic situtaion, that they didn't cut fast/deep enough. I think that management underestimated the economic situation and that was the cause, not some noble "don't screw the worker" campaign was why the NS had fewer lay offs than CSX, CN, CP, UP or the BNSF.

As for stocks, while you have pointed out the high profile examples of some things on Wall Street gone wrong, truth be told that is the exception rather than the rule. Stock prices are still a very good way to judge a company's heath.

Apparently you have not read the same article that Don and I read. I don't know who the many experts are that you quote but on pg 15, Trains Nov issue, 2nd column 2nd paragraph, CEo Moorman is quoted as saying that he and Manion made the conscious decision not to lay off and to train when others were laying off but eventually they had to lly off. It was calculated business decision on their part and not a noble cause of not screwing the worker.

As for using stock prices to judge the health of a company , basically one is following the latest greatest stock of the week as decided by analist. Also known as the herd mentality . There are a lot of better ways to judge stocks, ask any do it yourself contrarian investor.

As for stocks, while you have pointed out the high profile examples of some things on Wall Street gone wrong, truth be told that is the exception rather than the rule. Stock prices are still a very good way to judge a company's heath.

I hope you don't seriously believe this. Because if you do, you are going to lose a lot of money.
Wall street has never had the interest of the investor as its foremost concern, its first priority is getting as much from you as possible legally and then more illegally if they think they can get away with it.
Just think of it this way. Where does the money come from that they pay themselves their huge salaries and bonuses from??? When you find the answer you will then become less trusting.