Eastern Railroad Discussion > CP to acquire Central Maine & Quebec Railway

20 years later, they are buying their line back: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cp-to-acquire-central-maine--quebec-railway-from-ftai-300962506.html?fbclid=IwAR3qU_jOtIbri0n07WDZmBzvzq1P6TlnP2Z3xKtybHx2cYjkNo4VYJp4E8k

And things come full circle.

Some very good people at CMQ; hopefully they’ll be retained by CP.

Posted from iPhone

Wonder what CP is going to do with CMQ's operation of the Rockland Branch.

Z

Oh Jeez.  To all those who think that big business knows what they are doing.......guess again.... 

Any bets on when they will want to sell it again?

I work in a large consumer products company, and I've made money installing equipment and made money taking it out.  This happened as quickly as two years.  Business conditions change.  Decisions are based on internal financial criteria at the time.  The assumptions going into the analysis are just that--assumptions based on the best available information.  The things that screw things up are "best available information".  Are these WAGS, SWAGS, or based on sound data?

CP made money when they sold the Atlantic lines, and they think they will make even more buying them back.  There's nothing stupid or wrong about this.  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/19 16:23 by SOUCF25.

Yea.  And i've worked at big companies, and seen decisions made based on fear, whim, hunch, and just personal preference of the chairman.
I've just seen so much money wasted, and mostly, peoples lives thrown into chaos totally unnecessarily.
I'm not gonna bore ppl with the stories, but they are not hearsay.
There's this constant ebb and flow..."lets decentralize....let's focus on our core...no we need to expand....but no...we need to contract......"  and back and forth it goes.

Like someone else here said....I hope all the CMQ ppl  get offered jobs, and dont have to move across the countryside..
And I have no axe to grind here.... I moved a lot when I was young, but then spent the last 25 years in one spot with one job.
Ive just seen others go thru a lot of crap.

Was this line spun off during E. Hunter Harrison's tenure on the CPR?  If so, perhaps the PSR nightmare, at least on the CPR, may be coming to an end. 

Also, will they not then be responsible for the restoration of Lac Megantic, QC and the relocation of the line around the town?

zars Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Was this line spun off during E. Hunter Harrison's
> tenure on the CPR?  If so, perhaps the PSR
> nightmare, at least on the CPR, may be coming to
> an end. 
>
> Also, will they not then be responsible for the
> restoration of Lac Megantic, QC and the relocation
> of the line around the town?

CP sold this line to Iron Road in 1995 - years before Hunter’s shadow descended on CP.

Insofar as the Lac Megantic line relocation; CMQ people told me earlier this year that IF that ever occurs; the Federal and provincial governments were covering most of the cost.

Posted from iPhone

Some outstanding questions: Will CP be able to market single line service to Saint John via some kind of trackage rights agreement over the NBSR?  When is Irving's contract with CN up and could that be motivation for the purchase?  How does the Port of Searsport, ME work into the network if at all?  Will Springfield Terminal find it necessary to re-build their now embargoed Bangor to Mattawamkeag segment of their network?  This could be a new beginning for St. Luc Yard in Montreal, one wonders if CP will consider the Chemins de fer Québec-Gatineau next?   

I spent quite a bit of time back in the early-90's photographing the CP International of Maine Division (then called Canadian Atlantic, a wholly owned subsidiary of CP Rail) and the Bangor & Aroostook.  Incredibly scenic railroads and some of the nicest employees I've ever met anywhere.

Here is a little gallery of the former CP line.  I hope to scan and get my Bangor & Aroostook photos online soon.  https://flic.kr/s/aHsktCr6J4

Northern Wrote:
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>Will Springfield Terminal find it
> necessary to re-build their now embargoed Bangor
> to Mattawamkeag segment of their network? 

I was thinking the same thing. It would only make sense that CP would want a connection to the port of Portland either thru trackage rights or just buying Pan Am outright. I know buying Pan Am outright is far fetched, but with the future outlook on Maine’s paper industry looking worse every year, maybe the time is finally right. At the least, I could see CP going after trackage rights, which Pan Am would prolly grant for some infastructure improvement.

The Port of Portland ME was a holy grail for the Grand Trunk, and CN.

It will be interesting to see where CP is going with this purchase.

Posted from Android

Wildest news story of the year, IMO.  Unless CP and Irving have something up there sleeve, it almost just seems like the history book was burned and they forgot why they sold the line in the first place.  But it does get CP back to being a true transcontinental player.  If they are willing to write down losses to be able to say that, go for it!
 

Hardly the first.
BNSF and UP have both repurchased lines.
Now that I think of it, not the first time for CP either - IMRL.

prrmpup Wrote:
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> Hardly the first.
> BNSF and UP have both repurchased lines.
> Now that I think of it, not the first time for CP
> either - IMRL.

And CN, as merger successor to Illinois Central, reacquired the Chicago Central & Pacific.

CP's reacquisition of the former I&M Rail Link as part of DM&E/IC&E was a little more understandable, in light of the talk at that time about entering the Powder River Basin coal business (although their decision not to pursue that is proving to have been wise). The motive for acquiring CM&Q isn't nearly as clear, although if CN was bidding for it that might have been enough for CP to compete. It would have been interesting to see what CN would have done with it had they won the bidding, however; CP's initial spinoff to Canadian Atlantic clearly was set up to exclude creation of any interchange with or connection to CN near St.-Jean-sur-Richelieu, which could have allowed Montreal-area interchange to be siphoned away from CP.

CP is getting back the KIA contract in 2020 and the Port of Saint John is undergoing a major upgrade for intermodal.  I have read that CP is also greatly interested in expaning the facilites at Searsport.  This will be interesting to watch. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/19 09:11 by FloridaTrainGuy.

Searsport is an interesting situation.

I could see a lot of federal taxpayer money coming into help Susan Collins. That's already a battleground.

Posted from Android

FloridaTrainGuy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> CP is getting back the KIA contract in 2020 and
> the Port of St. John is undergoing a major upgrade
> for intermodal.  I have read that CP is also
> greatly interested in expaning the facilites at
> Searsport.  This will be interesting to watch. 

What is the "KIA Contract" may I ask? Is it autos?

RiverLineProductions Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> FloridaTrainGuy Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > CP is getting back the KIA contract in 2020 and
> > the Port of St. John is undergoing a major
> upgrade
> > for intermodal.  I have read that CP is also
> > greatly interested in expaning the facilites at
> > Searsport.  This will be interesting to
> watch. 
>
> What is the "KIA Contract" may I ask? Is it autos?

Yes.  I have read on other sites that CP won a contract from CN to haul new KIAs out of Saint John starting in 2020.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/19 09:12 by FloridaTrainGuy.