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Originally Posted by ColSJ
There is a lot happening on the supply coming in and out of Saint John so I think it deserves some recognition.
CSX recently acquired the Pan-Am Railway running from Boston to Mattawamkeag where the lines connect with NBSR. They are investing over $100 million to upgrade the track.
The executive vice president of operation for CSX cited Port Saint John as the business case for the acquisition.
In a recent article, CN Rail says they expect to grow their intermodal shipments by 450,000 over the next three years.
I think we are all very familiar with the activity CP Rail has brought to the city thus far. I noticed they were testing picking up containers on the new cranes the other day.
I'm curious to see what comes on the Port's plans to get into the roll-on roll-off. Dever Road is very busy with automobile shipments. Would automobile ships start calling on the port?
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I monitor the CPKC trains through Maine on a daily basis and the autoracks (car/truck/SUV carriers) have been growing slowly but surely. They are a part of every train every day. Within the last few weeks one eastbound train had 29 autoracks on it. I believe the NBSR Ponderosa (Dever) yard has capacity for 18 autoracks. At least the auto ditribution portion of the yard. It is common for the trains to have 12-16 and is becoming more common to see 20+.
RE: the CSX/NBSR connection - Here is a link that shows the entire process of upgrading from sectional (clic-clac) track to continuous welded rail. It is way beyond just replacing old rail with new.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3qbsmFmnuQ
That process is being done on the entire CSX mainline from Bangor east, and the rest of Maine/New England mainline that doesn't already have CWR. There has been no/very little direct interchange traffic between NBSR and US railroads for years. It will be very interesting to see how traffic will change once that interchange is rebuilt.
I expect CSX will run a train from Mattawamkeag to Waterville, ME initially. CSX currently runs a daily train (M426 east/M427 west) from Waterville to Selkirk, NY, which is one of CSX's main yards. From the Selkirk, NY hump yard, trains get remade and sent to their end destinations. Eventually, as traffic is established, CSX would run a dedicated train from Selkirk to Mattawamkeag. CSX wants all of Irving's business to the eastern US and beyond so they have been talking to each other for awhile. That is how I see it, but CSX, NBSR, DP World and Port Saint John may have a totally different plan.
Port Saint John is also now classified as a foreign trade zone. That has only been in effect for a relatively short time. I am not aware of ALL the implications of that, but as I understand it, it allows movement of goods in and out of the port and the country without having to pay tariffs up front - as long as it is within a certain time period. Under certain conditions, that time period is quite long. It encourages bringing in unfinished goods or raw materials, and adding value through converting the raw materials to finished products. All without having to pay tariffs until the finished item is shipped to the end user. And if that user is foreign, they only pay their own local tariffs. So a business could manufacture products in Saint John for the US market, or anywhere else, using imported foreign materials, with no added Canadian tariffs. If I am understanding that correctly, that should encourage all kinds of businesses to set up shop locally. The foreign trade zone designation possibly has more meaning internationally than within Canada.
Finally, it appears that the cover over the in-filled portion of the new pier may be being removed. Is that really happening or am I just seeing things?
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) My parents could remember the "boat trains" coming from Montreal and delivering passengers right onto the westside piers. Passengers would walk off the train and right up the liner's gangway. 
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