Sam Richards Wrote:
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> DSOR may be one customer at the moment, but maybe
> Mr. Patterson sees opportunities for achievable
> business on the rail west from Mitchell. I know
> Mr. Patterson visits this board periodically ...
> if it isn't too much of a proprietary secret,
> maybe he could share at least a general idea of
> what he hopes for DSOR. In any case, best of luck,
> sir!

Initially, the Dakota Southern was required to only interchange with the BNSF in Mitchell SD. So they were totally dependent upon BNSF. In the early years, the DS had a substantial grain business, but as [offline] BNSF unit grain train operations increased, DS suffered declining grain business, eventually being reduced to just serving the box plant.

In 2004, the state of SD (owner of the trackage), and DK filed with the STB to get trackage rights to also interchange with the CN and UP at Sioux City. The BNSF opposed this and no relief was granted at that time. Here's the filing:

[www.thefederalregister.com]

However, the state kept up the pressure on BNSF, and those interchange rights were eventually acquired as part of a larger transaction where BNSF purchased certain state owned trackage that BNSF coveted.

[www.redorbit.com]

So now the DS is in a better position to have competitive interchange with 3 carriers (instead of just one).

It sounds like Stan recognizes this as an opportunity for growth.