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* UMASS/AMHERST * 31EDt.b QEflM 35ES 7 PIONEER VALLEY RAILROAD €®[iiD[o)©0808w© /A\DO®!?[jDG]i?Bw© DOCU Prepared by: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission 26 Central St. West Springfield, Mass. 01089 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and the Pioneer Valley Railroad gratefully acknowledge the Strathmore Paper Company's contribution of the paper used in printing this report. Assistance was also provided by the Westfield Chamber of Commerce and the Holyoke Office of Industrial Affairs. The preparation of this report was financed in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Commerce and Development. THE PIONEER VALLEY RAILROAD is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Pinsly Railroad Company. Corporate office: Operating office: P.O. Box 1368 One Depot Street Westfield, Massachusetts 01086 Westfield, Massachusetts 01085 (413) 568-6426 (413) 568-3331 President: Marjorie P. Silver General Manager: Marc R. Levine Vice President: John P. Levine July 1986 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/pioneervalleyraiOOpion_0 INTRODUCING THE PIONEER VALLEY RAILROAD The Pioneer Valley Railroad, based in Westfield, Massachusetts, links some of the most desirable industrial sites in New England with a competitive nationwide transportation system, deregulated in 1980. Over a thousand acres of industrial land are still available on two completely rehabilitated, professionally managed rail lines. Working in cooperation with long-haul operators, the Pioneer Valley Railroad (PVRR) provides competitive service five days a week and offers free consultant services to obtain the best possible service package at the lowest rate. Small shipments are welcome and off-line intermodal transfers can be accommodated at either end of the route. This report, prepared by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, outlines the benefits of locating a business in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts and taking advantage of economical shipping on the PVRR. The report includes a listing of 40 rail -served industrial sites and buildings in the four municipalities that make up the PVRR's primary service area. Information is provided for prospective Pioneer Valley firms as well as for those area firms considering increased use of rail. The PVRR was created in 1982. Formerly part of the Conrail system, the short lines were taken over by the Pinsly Railroad Company of Boston, an established short line operator since 1938. The Pinsly Company has invested close to one million dollars in capital improvements to make the PVRR the success it is today. The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) is the regional planning agency serving 43 municipalities in Hampshire and Hampden counties. The PVPC and its member communities maintain a strong local commitment to the rail freight alternative as an important element in the regional economy. CONTENTS INTRODUCING THE PIONEER VALLEY RAILROAD Page 1. Deregulation and Rail Freight Prices l 2. Deregulation and Intermodal Opportunities 2 3. What Explains the PVRR'S Success? 4 4. How to Purchase Freight Service from PVRR 6 5. Industrial Development Opportunities on the PVRR 9 INDUSTRIAL SITES ON THE PIONEER VALLEY RAILROAD Westfield 13 Easthampton 25 Hoi yoke 29 1. Deregulation Means Lower Rail Freight Prices How can your company afford rail freight service? At last, the answer is easy: cost-based pricing. Since deregulation in 1980, railroads can write their own rates to compete in a changing market. Railroads are offering many new service features and pricing options that may surprise you. Short line service, once an add-on charge, is now a bargain for many users: surcharges have been eliminated . Your costs will' be less than you think, even for smaller shipments. How is this possible? With deregulation, the long-haul railroads were able to disinvest in low volume branch lines, selling the best ones to experienced short line operators. The result: short lines with more responsive, on-site management, lower overhead, and greater sensitivity to the marketplace. And lower costs for the long-haul operators, which improved their net and let them concentrate on the long distance portion that they do best. It's a division of labor that works for the customer. Ampad Corporation of Holyoke, Massachusetts illustrates the savings available to Pioneer Valley Railroad shippers. With one Holyoke plant on a Class I railroad (B&M) and a second on the PVRR, Ampad chose to locate its third multimillion dollar facility on the PVRR's Westfield line. By dedicating all future corporate growth to Westfield, Ampad reduced its monthly freight bill by thousands of dollars. US. Railroads Have Rolled "Little Railroad That Could" With the Punches Is Living Up To Its Reputation 'Shorts' add personal touch The PVRR, which employs 14 workers, is one of 350 shortline The smaller railroads, the railroads that account for 5 per- "shorts" in railroadese, have cent of railroad freight revenue become specialized, customer- in the United States. Last year, oriented and efficient, finding a segment on a CBS-TV newscast their niche in running a few singled out the PVRR, dubbing it pieces of rolling stock on short "The Little Railroad That Could". distances along previously dis- Local businessmen echoed that carded or underused "feeder" estimation. lines. They link factories, lumberyards, cement plants, "I think they're a definite public highway salt depots and asset to the City of Holyoke" the like with the longer rail said Douglas Griffen, traffic lines, customizing service and manager for the Ampad Corp. delivery times with a flexibility "They provide a real alternative and personal touch the big, re- to trucking for the entire area. mote and bureaucratically rigid And because of their size, they lines couldn't match. can provide you with just the type of service you need." Frugally run by hands-on Holyoke Transcript Telegram managers, the shorts present shippers with the face of a local businessmen like themselves, more attuned to the community than anonymous executives in Chicago, New York or Philadelphia. Boston Globe 1 2. Deregulation and Intermodal Opportunities DEREGULATION MEANS YOUR SHIPMENT GOES BY THE FASTEST MEANS AVAILABLE—AND MAY BE HAULED BY RAIL AND TRUCK IN NEW, EFFICIENT COMBINATIONS. With deregulation, truck and rail carriers can work together, making intermodal ism the wave of the future. The Pioneer Valley Railroad now has 48-state motor carrier authority to bring your shipment by the fastest method. .even if your supplier has no rail siding. And with modified local haulage privileges, the PVRR can ship by truck up to 500 miles from the railhead. This means the opportunities for innovative transfers are nearly unlimited: --tank car to tank truck --bulk transfer from covered hopper --boxcar to truck--once prohibited, now an economical choice for many shippers. No longer restricted to piggyback service, intermodal shipping also brings new opportunities for nonmanufacturers: --wholesalers --warehousers --institutional users Even commercial and municipal trash haulage can be handled economically by short line rail. It pays to consider the rail alternative, even if you've never used rail before. 2 3 3. What Explains PVRR's Success? Three main ingredients account for the Pioneer Valley Railroad's success: competition, commitment, and free consultant services. Competition The Pioneer Valley Railroad maintains competitive Class I railroad connections with Conrail and the Boston & Maine (of the Guilford system). These competitive connections keep rates down to the benefit of industries on the PVRR lines. Another factor in PVRR's competitive position is five day a week service on the Westf ield-Holyoke line; three service days on the Easthampton line. History Repeats Itself The situation is reminiscent of the late 19th century, when the Holyoke mills launched their own rail line to escape the monopolistic rates of the Connecticut Valley Railroad. The new line, the Holyoke & Westfield, drove rates down and Holyoke industry flourished. Over the years, the operation of the Westf ield-Holyoke and Westf ield-Easthampton lines changed hands as rail companies merged or were sold, eventually resulting in quasi-public ownership by Conrail for several years and now returned to private operation through the Pioneer Valley Railroad. 4 " strength & Commitment Since its inception in 1982, the PVRR has demonstrated its strong corporate and professional commitment to customers. Hundreds of thousands have been invested in track rehabilitation. In excess of $200,000 was spent to build a locomotive maintenance shop. The PVRR owns five locomotives and recently acquired two more to handle increased traffic. Staff has been increased from eleven to fifteen, augmented each summer with contract maintenance firms for track improvements at selected locations. The Pinsly Company The PVRR is operated by the Pinsly Railroad Company, founded in 1938 by Samuel M. Pinsly of Boston. In that year, Mr. Pinsly bought his first line, the Hoosac Tunnel & Wilmington in Berkshire County of Massachusetts. He decided to see if he could turn the line around and make it profitable when the large carriers were unable to do so. Mr. Pinsly proved that it could be done, and the line was a success. Since 1977, under the guidance of Mr. Pinsly's daughter, M.P. Silver, the Pinsly Company has operated railroad companies in the eastern United States. Currently, they are the Claremont & Concord Railroad in New Hampshire, the Greenville & Northern in South Carolina and the Pioneer Valley Railroad. Although the PVRR is their newest line, the Pinsly Company considers it their flagship operation. Free Consultant Services The third ingredient in the PVRR's success is free consultant services. According to the PVRR's General Manager, "Because we understand that it's in our interest to have our customers succeed. .and garner a larger market share through lower freight costs, we provide free consultant services. If you show us your product flow, we'll do a cost analysis showing where we can save you money. Free consultant services are just one indication of the professionalism the Pinsly Company brings to its short-line rail operations.

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