CSX: What in the world happened?

Coming into 2017, CSX, like most class one railroads, were looking for a bright future. The election of Donald Trump would hopefully help bring back the coal business and help the railroads out. Things were looking up, and then a major curveball was thrown into the paths of the Jacksonville, FL railroads' employees, and the railfans.

On March 6, 2017, CSX named E. Hunter Harrison the new CEO of the railroad. He replaced Michael Ward, who had retired in February 2017. From an article posted on CSX's website, Harrison said that he was "...proud to join the dedicated and talented railroaders at CSX. Together, we will implement Precision Scheduling Railroading - a model proven to improve safety, create better service for customers, produce a proud and winning culture for employees, and generate exceptional, lasting value for shareholders."

Flash forward to May 15th, 2017 (the day this article was written). A lot has happened in a short two month span. On March 30th, Harrison closed their Osborn Yard hump near Louisville, KY. It was the third yard in two weeks, joining Stanley Yard in Toledo, OH on April 1st, 2017 (it was reopened two weeks later) and Tilford Yard in Atlanta, GA on March 22nd, 2017.

In mid-April, Harrison announced that the giant yard in Hamlet, NC was going to be closed as a hump yard, and, like the others, converted to flat switching.

On May 15th, it was announced that Selkirk Yard in Selkirk, NY, a suburb of Albany, would also be closing. This move came as a shock, as Selkirk was the largest yard that the New York Central had. To add to that, the yard is the meeting point of at least four or five subdivisions that CSX operates on. Reportedly, these jobs will possibly be moved to the Conrail Shared Assets Operations in Oak Island, NJ, Syracuse, NY, Rochester, NY, or Buffalo, NY. Selkirk will remain open as a flat switching yard, however.

So with the closure of these yards, this begs the question: What more will Harrison do? Will all CSX Hump Yards be closed (Waycross, Willard, Barr (Chicago))? We'll stay tuned on this story as it unfolds.

Transformation: Part 1

Ever since I was maybe four or five years old, I have been railfanning in Westfield, NY all my life. Whether it was with my grandparents, my mom or dad, my friends, we always enjoyed making the 45 minute drive from Jamestown.

For years the iconic former New York Central Union Switch & Signal tri-lights mounted on a bracket would welcome you to the crossing at North Gale Street. They governed CSX’s Erie West Subdivision, and was known as CP 58. The signals have been up for a while, and have seen a lot in their years of service.

With Positive Train Control forcing out many of the old signals, the old bracket was soon to be replaced. All of the signal bridges in the Buffalo area were falling. I was expecting that they would go down the Erie West from Buffalo all in succession. I was wrong.

My dad and I drove up to Westfield on January 22, 2017. After catching NS 309 in downtown, we mosied over the bridge that traverses CSX, hung a left, then turned onto North Gale and drove to the tracks. I looked to the west, and saw a silver box. Uh oh.

We parked in our usual spot and saw more signs of changes - a pile of ballast, another silver relay box, and a base for the new signal. I was distraught - CP 58 was bound to be replaced SOON. I have plenty of pictures to share of CP 58, and those will be posted as an album on “Worldwide Railfan Productions” on Facebook, including the progress of the replacements.

I hope to cover the transformation of this life-long memory of mine. It will look different from now on, and even myself am not quite ready for this change to come. Progress always has to happen, whether we like it or not.

The new relay box next to the crossing.

Fiber optic cable.

CP 58 lined for a westbound train.

The "A" box for CP 58.

Ballast used to lay foundation for the relay boxes and the signal bracket.

The signals from our parking spot.

The signals from the side.

Rear view of the signal.

Overall rear view of the signal.

The box and the base.

CP 58 "A"

The new signal will go here.

Things I Trust More Than E.H.H: Part 2

Part two of things I trust more than E. Hunter Harrison running a railroad:

1. Mexican Tap Water
2. A porcupine with a “pet me” sign
3. Donald Trump’s spray tan
4. Obamacare
5. Elevator rides with Ray Rice
6. A relationship with Taylor Swift
7. Doodlebob with the Magic Pencil
8. NS Dash 9’s not catching on fire
9. Any GE not catching on fire
10. Timothy White (Wimothy Thite?)
11. The guy from that John Cena prank call thing
12. CSX not wrecking a train
13. A foamer
14. Floyd Wall
15. A boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.

Things I Would Trust More Than Hunter Harrison Running A Railroad

Article  by Ian Cole

Hunter  Harrison  has developed  a bad rap as a railroad  executive. On paper he may look ok, but three failed mergers, a bitterness  towards hump yards and a lack of appreciation  towards employees doesn't  help his case at all. Today at RPJ we made a list  of all the things we'd  trust more than Harrison running  a railroad.

1. Helen  Keller taking my family pictures.
2. OJ Simpson driving  a white ford bronco.
3. Hillary  Clinton  handling  emails.
4. Brock Osweiler throwing  a football..
5. Gas station  sushi
6. A two year old driving a car
7. Bill Cosby as a bartender
8. Casey Anthony  babysitting  my children
9. Myself driving around through the hood of detroit at night
10. Flint tap water
11. Milk thats been out of date for two years.
12. Amtrak making sure they get to me on time.
13. A rex ryan promise
14. Bill bellichick  and a video camera
15. Those annoying  ads that say "singles are 8 miles away waiting  to meet you"
16.  A white van that says free candy in spray paint  on the side
17. Russian  hackers
18. A sex offender as my urologist
19. A moving  company ran by two ex cons that were arrested  for burglary.
20. The crap that comes out of Donald Trumps mouth.
21. Dinner with a cannibal
22. Hiring  slipknot to perform at a three year olds birthday party.
23. And pretty  much anything  but Hunter  Harrison  running or helping to run a railroad....