CSX Considering Selling Some of its Lines

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Re: CSX Considering Selling Some of its Lines

Post by freebrickproductions » Tue Sep 11, 2018 11:57 pm

NathanFromEngland wrote:
freebrickproductions wrote:Apparently CSX has recently sold their Decatur Subdivision and their Danville Secondary Subdivision to Watco, who is now operating it as the Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad, starting on September 9th.

Last train from CSX over the Decatur Sub:


First D&EI trains:

Is there any news on any other of the lines that CSX has up for grabs?

Also, is this one of the lines that have been sold to a new railroad, or is it still abandoned?
No, and the Illinois Sub is still closed, AFAIK.
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Re: CSX Considering Selling Some of its Lines

Post by Ethan the Railfanner » Wed Sep 12, 2018 7:13 am

Well that's one line down. I wonder what line CSX will retire next to another railroad?
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Re: CSX Considering Selling Some of its Lines

Post by NathanFromEngland » Wed Sep 12, 2018 10:41 am

So is the Illinois Sub up for sale? or does CSX want to keep it abandoned until the time is right.

Also, sorry to be an attention seeker, what is the average train traffic on the CSX lines up for sale, i know Amtrak runs on the Auburndale sub, IIRC.
Last edited by NathanFromEngland on Wed Sep 12, 2018 11:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: CSX Considering Selling Some of its Lines

Post by freebrickproductions » Wed Sep 12, 2018 11:23 am

NathanFromEngland wrote:So is the Illinois Sub up for sale?
I honestly have no idea.
Ethan the Railfanner wrote:Well that's one line down. I wonder what line CSX will retire next to another railroad?
Probably either the P&A/Tallahassee Subs or one of the branch lines they've put up for sale.
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Re: CSX Considering Selling Some of its Lines

Post by Gametrain54321 » Sat Nov 10, 2018 1:29 pm

The majority of the Illinois Sub is in use for storage, some being out of service. The crossing signals along the line had their lights turned and the gates removed but the crossings still have power and still work, though the detection is very bad.
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Re: CSX Considering Selling Some of its Lines

Post by freebrickproductions » Sat Nov 10, 2018 10:59 pm

Well, sounds like the P&A and Tallahassee Subs are getting bought up. From the Gulf Coast Rail Lines Facebook group:
Ben Carroll wrote: Bainbridge sub from milepost 52.00 to 79.00(Tallahassee - Attapulgus) will be acquired by the FGAR, milepost 79.00 to 91.00 (Attapulgus - Bainbridge) will remain CSX trackage to Bainbridge.

Tallahassee sub from milepost SP653.3 to 842.5 (Baldwin to Chattahoochee) will be acquired by FGAR.

P&A sub from milepost OOK810.7 to OOK651.0 (Chattahoochee to Pensacola) will be acquired by FGAR.

37 employees will be estimated for the operation of 373 miles of track and the majority of positions will be hired out by or near Tallahassee, FL. This is from the STB filling.
Ben Carroll wrote: Cut over is January 11th, so better hurry. CSX will retain trackage rights, but I have a feeling CSX will a once in a bluemoon thing now.
https://www.stb.gov/filings/all.nsf/ba7 ... enDocument

There's also an article about this on BizJournals, but it's currently behind a paywall, so I can't read it. Though this might be what it says:
CSX to sell over 300 miles of track in Florida.

Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad LLC (FGAR) has filed a notice of intent to acquire 373 miles of CSX track, the largest segment of track to be sold since CSX announced in March its intent to sell $800 million of surplus track and real estate by 2020.

FGAR, a division of Boca Raton-based RailUSA, intends to acquire the Tallahassee Subdivision between Baldwin and Chattahoochee, FL; the P&A Subdivision between Chattahoochee and Pensacola, FL; and three portions of the Bainbridge Subdivision between Tallahassee, FL and Attapulgus, GA, according to a notice shared with CSX union employees, sent to the Business Journal. FGAR has not yet filed notice with the Surface Transportation Board, the regulator that would have to give the sale authorization to proceed

FGAR posted notice for 33 positions to staff the segments it intends to acquire, ranging from conductors to salespeople.

The 373-mile acquisition would bring the total amount of track CSX Corp. (Nasdaq: CSX) has begun selling, abandoning or discontinuing to almost 1,500 miles since March 2017, when CSX adopted an asset-maximizing operating model. At the railroad's Investor Day in March, Mark Wallace, executive vice president and chief administrative officer, forecasted $500 million from selling rail lines, plus $300 million in real estate sales, over the next three years.

"If we don't need it, let's get rid of it," Wallace said during the conference. "Our team has been unleashed to generate revenue wherever we can find it."
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Re: CSX Considering Selling Some of its Lines

Post by freebrickproductions » Mon Nov 12, 2018 5:34 pm

Well, a buyer for CSX's lines in the Florida Panhandle between Jacksonville and Pensacola has been confirmed, with the railroad likely starting up in mid-January. From Trainz Magazine:
https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2 ... uWxJ6bXk9w
Trainz Magazine wrote: CSX Transportation finds a buyer for Florida panhandle route
By Bill Stephens | November 12, 2018

Image
CSX line sales in Florida
CSX Transportation's line sales are highlighted in yellow on the map.
TRAINS: Rick Johnson/Steve Sweeney

WASHINGTON — Shortline holding company RailUSA will acquire nearly 375 miles of CSX Transportation main line across the Florida Panhandle.

Last week RailUSA notified rail labor on the affected routes that it would be acquiring the lines from CSX, according to a Nov. 6 filing with the Surface Transportation Board.

The Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad will acquire 373 miles of CSX routes, including the Tallahassee Subdivision between Baldwin and Chattahoochee, Fla., the P&A Subdivision between Chattahoochee and Pensacola, Fla., and portions of the Bainbridge Subdivision between Tallahassee and Attapulgus, Ga.

No startup date was given, but people familiar with the matter say the railroad was likely to begin operations in mid-January.

Florida Gulf & Atlantic will hire 37 people in Tallahassee to run the railroad.

Rail labor was notified that the railroad will seek a superintendent, two trainmasters, nine conductors, nine engineers, one track inspector, one roadmaster, two brakemen, five maintenance-of-way crew members, one sales and marketing staff member, one controller, one accounting clerk, three bridge tenders, and one office manager.

The new railroad will roster up to 20 locomotives, mostly GP38s and GP40s, that will wear a red, white, and blue paint scheme, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The route once hosted Amtrak’s Sunset Limited, which ran between Orlando and Los Angeles. It was cut back to a New Orleans-Los Angeles routing after Hurricane Katrina damaged Gulf Coast trackage east of New Orleans in 2005.

The line, which carries a pair of through trains to perform local work, is maintained to Class 4 track standards with maximum speeds of 60 mph for freight trains. CSX has rerouted most through traffic off the Panhandle line to its parallel route via Waycross, Ga., and Montgomery, Ala.

Florida Gulf & Atlantic will be the second acquisition for RailUSA, a new company headed by Gary Marino, who founded shortline holding companies RailAmerica and Patriot Rail. RailUSA is a subsidiary of International Rail Partners. Both companies are based in Boca Raton, Fla.

RailUSA operates the Grenada Railroad, the 180-mile former Illinois Central Grenada Subdivision between Jackson, Miss., and Memphis. RailUSA acquired the operating rights on the route from Iowa Pacific Holdings in August.

The sale of the Jacksonville-Tallahassee route is CSX’s largest to date since it began a line rationalization program under former CEO E. Hunter Harrison.

CSX has been reviewing up to 8,000 miles of lines as it looks to shed low-density and redundant routes that are no longer considered core parts of the network. Management does not expect that many miles of track to ultimately go on the block.

The Florida Panhandle route was put up for sale in January, along with 126.7 miles of lines in Illinois and Indiana that became the Watco-owned Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad in September.

In June, CSX put 650 miles of lines up for bid. Among them:
  • The Massena Line linking Syracuse, N.Y., with Montreal.
  • The Baldwinsville Subdivision in the Syracuse area.
  • The West Albany and Rensselaer branches in the Albany, N.Y., area.
  • Cumberland Valley feeder lines east of Corbin, Ky.
  • Eastern North Carolina branch lines terminating in Grangers and Plymouth, N.C.
  • The Marietta Subdivision running north of Parkersburg, W.Va.
Separately, CSX sold 176 miles of lines in Alabama and Georgia to OmniTrax short lines in July. Those short lines were already leasing and operating the routes as the Alabama & Tennessee Railway and the Fulton County Railway.
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Re: CSX Considering Selling Some of its Lines

Post by Ethan the Railfanner » Mon Nov 12, 2018 7:59 pm

I really have to wonder... since those CSX Tallahassee and P&A Subdivisons are now going to be listed as a new railroad, I wonder if that means those subdivisons are getting less train traffic by the time the new railroad company buys it?
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Re: CSX Considering Selling Some of its Lines

Post by ZachL » Wed Nov 14, 2018 4:58 pm

Ethan the Railfanner wrote:I really have to wonder... since those CSX Tallahassee and P&A Subdivisons are now going to be listed as a new railroad, I wonder if that means those subdivisons are getting less train traffic by the time the new railroad company buys it?
Kinda makes you wonder how low its rail traffic already is, considering it was on the line of sale from CSX.
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Re: CSX Considering Selling Some of its Lines

Post by freebrickproductions » Wed Nov 14, 2018 5:20 pm

ZachL wrote:
Ethan the Railfanner wrote:I really have to wonder... since those CSX Tallahassee and P&A Subdivisons are now going to be listed as a new railroad, I wonder if that means those subdivisons are getting less train traffic by the time the new railroad company buys it?
Kinda makes you wonder how low its rail traffic already is, considering it was on the line of sale from CSX.
Wasn't too busy, don't think it saw any intermodal traffic, mostly just a couple of mixed freights and coal trains (along with the occasional rock train). Currently, the line has a couple of mixed freights/long-distance locals operating over it, plus any through-run empty coal trains.
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