It began in 1982 when Timothy Mellon purchased the Maine Central, Boston & Maine and the Delaware & Hudson railroads creating a major northeast system. Unfortunately, the potential was never realized when labor/management conflicts led to bankruptcy on the D&H. The MEC and the B&M continued on as Guilford Transportation Industries under the labor rules of the tiny Springfield Terminal railroad. For several reasons, traffic was diverted to Conrail and the Guilford tracks west of Ayer, MA, carried little traffic. When Conrail was split between NS and CSX, with CSX getting Conrail's Boston line, NS backed Guilford in the upgrading of clearances in the Hoosac Tunnel to allow competition to Boston. Traffic returned to the line between Rotterdam Junction and Ayer.