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Re: Wheat Farmers Finally Get Their Due
Author: Dave Smith
Date: 12-18-2007 - 17:09
My impression of WATCO is that they find more value in the scrap potential rather than the business potential of any particular branch line. It's kind of ironic that BG&CM seems to have more moxey to reopen the Camas Prairie lines, et al, given that they are owned by a scrap dealer.
I guess as long as those 80 ton hoppers are able to roll, we'll continue to see shorthaul grain traffic on the ex-CPR 1st sub. Still not sure on the 2nd sub due to all the trestles and such, but a former CPR guy on the Camas Prairie newsgroup says the track itself is in suprisingly good shape.
While things are going well for the grain trade, UP needs to think about building a shuttle loader at Hooper Junction, one in which 164k cars off the Thornton and Mockanama lines can transload directly into 286k hoppers. The infrastructure for such a facility is already partially in place with the required grade separations, just need to build the necessary loops off each line!
I guess as long as those 80 ton hoppers are able to roll, we'll continue to see shorthaul grain traffic on the ex-CPR 1st sub. Still not sure on the 2nd sub due to all the trestles and such, but a former CPR guy on the Camas Prairie newsgroup says the track itself is in suprisingly good shape.
While things are going well for the grain trade, UP needs to think about building a shuttle loader at Hooper Junction, one in which 164k cars off the Thornton and Mockanama lines can transload directly into 286k hoppers. The infrastructure for such a facility is already partially in place with the required grade separations, just need to build the necessary loops off each line!
