CSX Rail Removal on the CC Subdivision - Visalia to Spring Lake
Вставка
- Опубліковано 13 лип 2022
- Well this had been rumored for about a year now and it finally happened. CSX makes yet another foolish decision by removing rail from a line that is expected to get an increase in traffic. Another example of CSX cutting costs and trying to make a quick profit without thinking of the long term consequences.
Just 10 months ago, CSX replaced the searchlight signals at Visalia, installing new signals for BOTH tracks. They then proceeded to only use main 1 all the way up until they decided to pull main 2. So there is now brand new infrastructure that will either be taken out or never used. This whole thing makes absolutely no sense. To me, it seems that it would be cheaper to just leave the rails in place and not use them rather than spend time and money have them removed, as well as repave and resign all the crossings. If the rails were left in place, at least they would be there just in case there was ever a need for them. (Which by the way things are going with CSX adding trains to the line, is vey plausible.)
There have been 2 tracks between Visalia and Spring Lake for well over 100 years. This is literally is history in the making and although sad, I am grateful that I was able to witness it first hand and share it online. If you liked this video be sure to hit the like button and let me know in the comments. Check out some of my other videos as well!
UPDATE: As of September 8, 2022 (Almost 2 months after this took place,) CSX is currently laying new rails and ties at Visalia working north. They are ripping up the blacktop crossings they just paved and putting track 2 back. I'm not sure if they are putting it all back or if it's just going to be a short storage track. I will post an update when I find out more information.
Thanks for watching! - Розваги
Thanks for watching! Read the description for my thoughts on this situation.
*2023 UPDATE* This is an update video that shows what these locations look like as of August 2023 - ua-cam.com/video/pIx0rl8JlhU/v-deo.html
UPDATE: As of September 8, 2022 (Almost 2 months after this took place,) CSX is currently laying new rails and ties at Visalia working north. They are ripping up the blacktop crossings they just paved and putting track 2 back. I'm not sure if they are putting it all back or if it's just going to be a short storage track. I will post an update when I find out more information.
Check out Drag and Drop on Former Boston and Maine and let me know what you think.
On You Tube of Course.
as Heartbreaking as Donner Pass being single lined. Tearing up infrastructure for its salvage costs makes no sense in my book.
@@davesvintageequipment5319 Taxes will not have to be paid on the railroad taken up . Anything that's portable or capable of being moved is non-taxable . The railroad is looking for anything and everything that they can save paying taxes on .
@@25vrd48 Like I said, it doesn't make sense to me.
A rail removal taking place right before a traffic increase? Oh they are gonna regret that! This is some big ol’ BS.
Maybe they are going to upgrade the whole thing with concrete ties and new rail.
As much as it pains to say, this isn’t the only removal we’re going to see. The East Yard at Corbin is set to be ripped in the coming months, and then the CV is taking a punch. Loyall is being stripped down to 3 tracks, the Baxter tower will be demolished, as well as every siding on the subdivision ripped up. That also includes the removal of the Cloverfork Branch, Catrons Creek Branch and Pucketts Creek Branch. And once again, all just as traffic begins to increase.
I worked for Union Pacific as a rail train operator/supervisor for several and I picked up rail on abandon rail line projects like in this video . We did this on subdivisions that were deamed unneeded by UP when most of them were still needed . It was really sad to look behind my power cars at what used to be a railroad but trains would never be seen through there again . One thing I can say is they used a really nice sled to seperate the rail from the cross ties , we used a sled that was pulled by the rail train about 20 feet behind the rear power car and used cables that were hooked to the power cars . We would torch the rails and bolt the rails together with angle bars just like these guys did . Pull the train forward 1440 feet and cut the rail . We always had land owners asking what railroad was going to do with the land as a lot of the right of way split people property . In a lot of places the railroad would donate the property for nature trails so they wouldn't have to pay property tax . Just another way the son of a bitches could have a write off on taxes and make more money for the damn share holders . I have stock in UP but I don't like a lot of ways they do business . By the way , I was injured unloading rail and it resulted in my Total and Permanent Disability back in 1990 and I haven't been able to work since then . I had over 20 years service , but I sure would have rather gone out in years of service . Awesome video , thanks for posting .
Sorry to hear about your injury. Yeah UP abandoned two different lines where I live. One was the former SP bellaire branch but the other one, I’m not sure. The latter one ran south from Rosenberg to Victoria, TX. They pulled up the rails, signals, and everything. The lines were abandoned and the right of way was overgrown for years. Well KCS came in and wanted to buy the line from Rosenberg to Victoria so they would be able to get their trains to Mexico, as from what I understand, they had been forced to go west to San Antonio using the UP’s sunset route to get their products to Mexico but the route UP abandoned from Rosenberg to Victoria, TX would have been a significant shortcut for KCS. So since UP abandoned it and pulled up the rails KCS decided they wanted to buy it and use it. Needless to say UP threw a fit, and they fought KCS in court. UP tried to say they still had vested interest in the line, even though they pulled up the rails. KCS ended up winning and reopening the line. So it was nice to get photos of the line abandoned and then document the lines rebirth under KCS. Unfortunately I don’t know where those photos went. However it seems like UPs best skill is to abandon things and then get mad when someone else wants what they don’t want. Like a bratty kid with multiple toys that only plays with one toy but still refuses to share the other toys they aren’t playing with.
Excellent footage. Such a sad thing to see, but interesting how they do it. Thanks for sharing!
Yep, that seems about right! I work for a class one Canadian railroad and I've seen this before, somebody that doesn't know a track Hammer from a tie plate is making the decisions, but they know what temperature the oil should be in a deep fryer at McDonald's when you throw the fries in! Now the double track that they pulled up, well you guessed it it should go back in! I don't normally watch videos of track being tore up because it upsets me however good job on the video I enjoyed it thanks for posting
Sad to see Rail Ripped up.
Reminds Me of Conrail taking over in the 70's.
Call me crazy but I believe this exact same Rail is being Dropped in Massachusetts Now on the Old Boston and Maine "Worcester Main" as part of the CSX take over of Pan Am Railways.
Wow, I was there just a few weeks before you filmed this and I filmed 2 trains going through the tunnel at Lambs Ferry that is still there. I filmed the rusty track and was told by CSX that it was going to be removed but I didn't think it would be that quick. I wonder why they did that.
I went down to the tunnels last week and they removed the rails up to Lambs Ferry road. The rails still exist in and north of the tunnel. The sled they used is sitting at the Locust Pike crossing at Spring Lake. I’m not sure if they plan to remove the rest eventually or just leave it be.
@@searchlight.trains Wow, that is interesting ! Thanks for the info. I need to check that out. I feel sick seeing that tunnel close. I filmed a circus train going through it and it was the last one with elephant cars.
Fascinating documentation!!
Incidentally, 4036 is the former L&N 8012. Probably operated through here numerous times.
The primary reason this line was double tracked in the 1880s was coal traffic going north off the EK and CV. In the 1940s more coal started going south as that region expanded and industry in NE moved to other regions.
The US steel industry declined and changed (electric "mini-mills"), power plants in mid-west went coal to gas, nuke, or western coal (powder river) and KY coal reserves used up or too expensive.
20+ years ago you could spend a day at Patio Tower in Winchester and get 15 coal trains a day off EK w/some north and some south then gradually more south. Now there is literally 0 trains a day off EK.
Now with CTC control systems single track can handle current traffic on this line and probably a fair increase. Your take on wisdom of removing excess capacity has some validity, especially considering CSX/Family Line history, but at least unlike some of their previous ? calls (abandoning much of B&O main line Cincy to Parkersburg) at least this thru route still intact.
Accountants can be a curse but the cost of maintaining assets that don't generate income can be crippling to a company. Maybe somethings like the RRs not having to pay property taxes, etc on lines "out of service" would be beneficial. Hey, at least route is still intact. Look what's happening on Florida East Coast. Singled from double in the 1960s now with increased freight business and the new Brightline passenger operation they are not only putting back in double, adding some triple and even building 50 miles new line so there are always possibilities.
As one last aside hopefully you might be going to the Summerail Shows next weekend, they are well worth the weekend (check their website) in Marion. OH and we might see you there.
Thanks for the info!
I can't wait to see how dementia Joe Biden is going to replace the diesel engines of a locomotive with an electric solar powered one to haul all of that freight from coast to coast
Hi Kenneth. I really appreciate your mentioning the EK and Patio. I grew up in Winchester and visited the EK at several spots between Patio and Ravenna in the mid 70s to the mid 90s. (I’m now living in TX)
I too remember the good old days of one coal train after another, with CSX even improving sidings for extra capacity. And then the sad and steep decline began. I visited a couple of my old haunts in eastern Clark County recently on a trip to Kentucky. I wonder if the EK will survive? I appreciate your thoughts on this.
Radio communications between the locomotive and the walkie-talkies at the rear of the train goes dead and they can't hear each other . Exhaust fumes gets really bad in the tunnel for the operator on the power cars too . Been there done that a bunch of times . The two 6-71 Detroits put out a lot of exhaust fumes as well . They sure are slow , I could load 12 strings a day , speed the train up and get it done . Stand back and watch the spikes shoot out of the ties . Still a very good video . They must be planning to skip the rail from the crossing to the tunnel .
This is the result of accountants running railroads instead of railroad people.
Actually more than anything is the decline in coal traffic off the EK (Eastern KY) in Winchester and the CV (Cumberland Valley) from Corbin.
From the 1880's most coal of those divisions, dozens of trains per day, went north to steel mills, power plants, etc necessitating the double tracking this line Corbin to Cincy. In the 1940s gradually more coal went to the southeast and then much heavy steel industry, etc around great lakes declined. In last 10-15 years many northern power plants going gas or nuke and cheaper Powder River coal from the west has finished most coal traffic north.
I recall you could spend day at Patio Tower in Winchester and get 15+ coal trains a day off EK with 50/50 split north/south then gradually most all south. Now there is literally 0 trains a day off the EK in ANY direction.
With modern CTC control single track on this line can currently do the job. You are right in it is an "accounting decision" but the basis is the tonnage traffic is no longer there.
Great video. Thanks for your efforts. Looking at the signals, it appears that they removed the main and left the siding which is kind of odd. Now you say they are putting the rail back in. Will need to figure this out. I have read elsewhere that this rail is heading to Massachusetts but there must be more efficient ways of doing things. If they put main #2 back in this becomes rather confusing.
I haven’t been down there, but I’ve heard they’re only putting a short section of track back for mow equipment.
Why in the world would you purposefully LOWER capacity??
I hope I can get more updates about the tunnels since track 2 is gone, I wanna see what it looks like without the 2nd track
Great I never seen rail removed like is its fantastic thanks
Odd they are removing the main and not the siding. I assume they will realign the track so its direct. Also I believe RR should be exempt from local property taxes as the localities provide no benefit. And trucks use tax payer supplied roads and don't pay property taxes...so the system is backwards.
Question after the abandoned railroad tracks got removed. Did they make a bicycle path?
No, as they only removed one track. The other track is still in service.
This is why CSX should have NOT taken over. TTI Railroad had rebuilt the X L&N line from Maysville to Paris KY and for a short time they ran Steam X-READER 2-6-2 number 11 on the line. But in 2015 CSX can both Steam and Coal trains on this line and after all that Money spent on upgrading crossing signals , New rail and bridge work.This is the same thing that has happen to our N&W Peavine line, NS was ready to up grade all the old signals and new crossing lights but as of 2003 right after the 1999 Conrail split they said Forget it and so marked the end of this line. Thanks for the post.
The CC Sub was once one of the busiest subs on the system,. And one of only three subdivisions that had its own dedicated dispatcher who didn’t control any other mainline anywhere. More Precision Scheduled Bullshit at work.
This reminds me of a place that I used to work the bosses son and his friend though that everything should be shipped by truck.
In the 1980s the local school district closed an elementary school in a township that was going to at least triple in population in the next ten years. Needless to say they reopened the school a few years later at extra cost. And then doubled the size of the school with an expensive building project. Closing the school made absolutely no sense right from the beginning. This project brings back memories of that very poor decision.
Fun to watch ut sad to se those rails gone
The total opposite of precision railroading. What does it actually cost to leave in it in tact for possible car storage, and leaving options open for increased traffic to materialize? It really does not make any sense unless CSX is now operating the railroad like the U.S. Government where common sense, and accountability is ignored.
They probably have to pay taxes on it so they pay less if it is unimproved. It’s like removing half of your house.
Perhaps CSX is just trying to take rail where it can be spared to use on Pan Am while new steel prices are inflated. I believe they have since replaced some of this.
A lot of that rail cane to collinwood yard in Cleveland in a rail renewal project they did.
You'd THINK the bean counters who gave the orders to rip up the rails would have said, "maybe it would be cheaper to abandon the rails in place and pay relatively small premium on a liability policy" than to spend the money to rip the tracks
Maybe you don't understand everything that goes on and what projects may be planned in the future in other areas.
I think I figured out why they are keeping the "siding" and removing the "main". Looking at other videos about this, the tunnel on the "main" isn't as
big as the tunnel on the "siding". It's a clearance issue.
The tunnel on main 2 does appear to be shorter than the other tunnel, but I have doubts as to this is why they removed the rails. There was a period of time in 2020 when they were only using main 2. My first video shows a train during this time period. I would think if clearance was an issue, this wouldn’t have been possible. But hey, what do I know?
ooh snap on truck at @1:02
More EHH followers at work. But with the fall of coal, I shouldn't be surprised. Most through traffic between Atlanta and Cincinnati I think runs via Nashville now. That track 2 being added could be a signalled siding being put in to help for the loss of double track. How long was that stretch of double track?
@milepost4846 This double track section was about 6.8 miles in length with a crossover in the middle. If you are referring to my update comment, the rail being reinstalled is just a storage track extending about 1,000 ft to the north for maintenance equipment. They have since removed all the rails and ties for the entirety of track 2, including in the tunnel.
Is *CSX paying taxes* on the unused track? What if a problem or derailment on the remaining track which would have lefhe removed track usable?
Or do they have another suitable track for such problems? Thank you.
Maybe we should rethink taxes for rail. Highways don't have to pay these taxes so why should rail?
I seriously didn’t believe rail companies had this kind of equipment, I assumed it was the work of the city.
Yeah most railroads do all of their own maintenance work. Although in this case, CSX had another contractor come and remove the ties.
Must've been a change sometime with upper management!
mark my words in the next 10 years there won't be any railroads anywhere in the US because everyone thinks we can do it all with planes and cars
I read the first 38 comments, are they going to abandoned the sub or just track 2?
Only track 2 was removed. Track 1 will remain in service.
Wow … nothing they do surprises me anymore
If it's there, they have to maintain it. Now they don't.
I wonder what the curve restrictions there are with a train loaded like this.
Continuous welded rail is pretty flexible so I'm not sure if there are any. Not 100% sure though.
@@searchlight.trainsI think it’s 45 on NS
No one said Class 1’s were smart.
They are not--- watch as shortline RR's add track to get a customer.
Idk why the train didn't set the signals off at Lambs Ferry
They probably cut the crossing circuit in preparation for the track removal. Either that or rusty rails caused it. However track maintenance equipment set the crossing off earlier so I’m not sure.
I was wondering the same thing. Thanks for bringing that up. :)
Is this just ripping up the line or rail replacement
They completely removed track 2 with no intent on replacing it, although you never know what the future holds…
I hate seeing rail ripped up you can't tell me it not cheaper getting thing by rail.
They ripped up damn near everything in Hamlet terminal nc
What is left in Hamlet Terminal now?
@@milepost4846it's still operational but it looks dead a majority of the time ( boneyard )
I've seen too many pencil pushers making decisions about abandoning track when they haven't got a clue, pull up double main track and lo and behold couple years later they're going oh shit we shouldn't have done that, that's what happens when you hire fry Cooks McDonald's to run a Railroad, most of them wouldn't know a tie plate from a track hammer but they can tell you what temperature the oil should be in the deep fryer when they throw the fries in LOL
Есть такая причина когда путь сам ложиться так как не нужно он называется выброс пути рельсы и это очень смертельно опасно может человека убить или устроить крушение поезда не важно какого.
Why don't they save money and leave that track as is?
Actually it is somewhat more complicated. The RR must pay property taxes on all Infrastructure, do at least basic maintenance and inspections, etc if trackage kept in service, plus this material could be used on other parts of the system saving substantial outlays for new product.
Unfortunately this double track layout was to handle the tidal waves of coal traffic off the East KY line to Hazard and the Cumberland Valley Div to Harlan, etc which from 1900 until 2000 or so often put up to 30 coal trains alone a day toward Cincy now there are not even 5.
With ctc this single track w/ sidings can easy handle the 8 trains a day here and probably another 6-8 in the foreseeable future.
Taxes. Depending on the state, they may pay millions to just allow the track to lay there. A line that they had up in NY State got leased to a commuter agency, with trackage rights for their 1 train per day. Result? Because the state commuter agency now controlled the track, EVERY little city that was along the track had taxed the line to run 2-3 agencies in their area... Schools, police, and so on...all paid for by CSX before. When the transfer took place, all the cities got to actually tax their 500-800 residents for the hundreds of thousands that they got from CSX. Naturally, that did not go over well. That was (as I seem to remember) a single track line... and depending on which state this is in, they probably cut the taxes on that route in half.
Can anyone read those damn captions in yellow on the top of the screen against the sky? Christ.... editing....
Thanks for the feedback. I have added subtitles to the video that may be easier to read. You can access them by clicking the "cc" button.
Says the expert with two videos to his name! Both of which look like they were done on a cellphone.
Sad to see, no matter the reason, right or wrong, I agree it makes no sense.🥲