Eastern Railroad Discussion > Precision Sceduled Railroading (PSR) and Shortline Connections

Good Evening:

With CSXT having fully implemented PSR and NS implementing parts of it by using a much slower approach, are shortlines seeing improved service with their class one railroad connections or are there still major disruptions?

Thank you in advance.

Well, if you follow Trainorders, you should know there is a small RR in Washington that does not care about PSR at all.  It has screwed them several times.

tomstp Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, if you follow Trainorders, you should know
> there is a small RR in Washington that does not
> care about PSR at all.  It has screwed them
> several times.

Not to be confused with the one in Oregon too!

Dick Samuels
Oregon Pacific Railroad

You are correct. However, I was looking more for how eastern shortlines are doing with regard to PSR and interchanges. I should have clarified that.


tomstp Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, if you follow Trainorders, you should know
> there is a small RR in Washington that does not
> care about PSR at all.  It has screwed them
> several times.

As long as you don't put improved service and PSR in the same paragraph I will likely agree to what anyone says about precision scheduled railroading.
Dick Eisfeller

My appology to Dick Samuels, I meant Oregon, not Washington.  Sometimes me brain does not follow my fingers!

I was told this wisdom by a now-retired class 1 marketing exec:

"For about 80% of the customers, it's been OK or even good.   For about 20% it's been awful.   The decision that had to be made was if improving 80 was worth loosing 20, and you can see how that's turned out".

My shortline friends have had more issues with chronically missed interchanges due to lack of power, crews, etc. than about anything else.   It may make terminal-to-terminal more efficient but it still has to get out of town on the local.  It seems to have stabilized on CSX, almost there on NS, and is still in the throes at UP.

I've worked for non-rail companies that for the lack of in-depth cost or operational analysis, made a practice of shutting something down just to see what would happen, and be ready to react when it went south, and apologize for the fallout later and backtrack as needed.   That seems to also be part of the PSR approach as well.

randgust Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> "For about 80% of the customers, it's been OK or
> even good.   For about 20% it's been awful.  
> The decision that had to be made was if improving
> 80 was worth loosing 20, and you can see how
> that's turned out".

That has been a repeated pattern for a long time. Find the bottom 20%, get rid of it. Nope, not done yet. Find the bottom 20%. Get rid of it. Nope, not done yet....

> That seems to also be
> part of the PSR approach as well.

...or PSR is part of that approach.

TAW