On September 30, the STB approved the purchase of the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern regional by Canadian Pacific. If CP builds into the Powder River Basin, would they be able to rival UP and BNSF immediately or would it take them a few years to build up that standard?
If they even build the PRB line. If you recall in the application, that was up in the air. Also, no matter if CP has deep pockets, the project cost will take some time to break even, so I doubt they can compete with the discounting UP can offer. With the DME it was a very long shot, with CP it is still a crapshoot.
I live along the DM&E and they say it will take 3 years to build, and that the plan was to slowly increase the train traffic over a period of years. They also said there would be a large number (over 100) 3 mile long sidings along the line.
I think the deciding factor will be the upcoming election. There are groups out there who HATE coal, and want it completely out of the picture ASAP.
For those coal hate groups out there:
Unless you put up some billion dollar nuclear plants soon, or build a few hundred fields of wind turbines, you will have to live with the fact that we are going to be using coal for quite some time, and there is really nothing that you could do about it.
I was talking to the security guard at the local coal fired power plant in Portage, WI, and he was telling me that they are going to be expanding the plant soon…either building another unit on the site, or building a brand new plant site. And no, it ain’t nuclear…[:D]
For the Portage plant, they are on the CP. Now, if CP could offer the plant the coal directly at a lower cost, they would have just killed the BNSF contract, and got some business.
Phil
Prediction:
In a matter of a few months, the mayo clinic will suddenly find a new evil corporation that is out to eat children and rape the environment with a crazy manipulative CEO that loves nothing more than to bulldoze houses while they are occupied…CP Rail.
Good luck guys, wish you success.
You are going to need it.
My thinking is that the current economic situation will put the PRB project on hold for a little while but it’ll eventually get done in 3-6 years.
In all honesty, I have to think that we’ll be #3 behind the BNSF and UP in coal volumes out of that place. Those guys just take it freaking everywhere. Still, it’ll be a very nice revenue source for CPRS along with grain and the ethanol thing.
I do not think the PRB project will be held up. The demand for coal is high and they are pulling tremendous amounts of coal out the PRB.
Right now big loans are hard to get no matter what your credit rating. And second if CP waits on building into the PRB they don’t have to pay as much money to the former owners of the DM&E.
Well they might also get more popular support if they are showing that the new line will create jobs (even if it is only 3-6 years). This is not even including the potential economic benefit, obviously during that time period to the local economies of the town along the line. Granted it will decline as the number of people to build the line will most likely be smaller than the number needed to build it… but it is a potential influence. That is not counting other potential associated facilities like for locomotive maintenance, car repair, etc… that need people.
Re: anti-coal fringe.
I think reality will sink into the new administration, if it hasn’t already. I am so sick of hearing about “alternative” energy, e.g. wind and solar farms. Wind is something like 25-35% efficient at best, solar about the same. Both need backup sources of power for when it’s not windy, it’s cloudy or dark. Neither can power a grid reliably - without a traditional, backup plant to cover the non-producing hours you just have brownouts or worse.
I’m glad there’s folks on both sides of the aisle that have some common sense, and understand that we will need carbon-based sources of energy for some time into the future. The rest base their idealism on lofty goals that aren’t backed by fact and reality. If we go ban coal and nuclear, go all solar and wind, where are we going to get the “clean” backup power? That’s right, natural gas-fired plants. There goes your home heating costs thru the roof as a result.
I’m hopeful that proven sources of energy like coal, coal-to-liquid (fuel), ethanol and bio-diesel are exploited fully, before we go off on a wind, solar and hydrogen boondoggle and waste billions on unrefined and inefficient new technology, billions we don’t have (especially now post-bailout).
They are talking as many as 500 permanent jobs in Huron, SD (population 13,000) which will be a crew change point. DM&E has already purchased land for a 5 mile long 28 track yard just west of Huron. Rural homeowners have been bought out, gravel roads closed, and a paved road running south from Broadland, SD will be closed and replaced by another paved road running east. There is little, if any, local opposition.
The C&NW was a major employer in Huron back in the steam days. The only opposition is coming from Brookings, SD and Rochester.
When the project was first proposed, their was some talk of running the line south over the Missouri river south of Blunt and running it on the old Milwaukee Road, now Dakota Southern line from Vivian to east of Rapid City.
When this idea came out, the mayor of Phillip, SD, currently on the DM&E between Pierre and Rapid City was strongly opposed to the proposal, because they didn’t want to lose out on the economic benefits of being on the line. And this is from the mayor of a town of 1200 people, the largest town on the stretch from Pierre to Rapid City.
Ten years ago a cousin of mine who managed a large farming operation in the Pierre area said the wheat farmers in that area paid for a study on the feasability of build a plant to turn the wheat into flour locally, rather than just shipping it out. They were told it work pencil out u
According to SD’s Office of Railroads along the DM&E in 2006 there were 11 facilities that could accept 25 cars at a time, 3 that could accept 50, 2 that could accept 110 and 2 ethanol plants in operation. I assume that as the DM&E track gets upgraded various elevators will take another look at upgrading their loading operations or building new ones.
Two and a half years ago USA Today ran an article on ethanol and they listed the largest plants in order of size. The one at Aurora is the 2nd largest in the country, but it’s only 20% of the size of the largest plant, in Decatur, Illinois.
West of Huron, the sidings are already long. There’s one long siding at St. Lawrence/Miller that services both towns (which are 2 miles apart) and Highmore’s siding is so long that they have their own locomotive. Lots of tracks at Blunt, too. Nothing on that scale east of Huron except the unit train siding at Aurora (not part of the ethanol operation.) There’s also a unit train facility 3 miles north of Wolsey on the BNSF. DM&E has trackage rights on that line too, but I believe BNSF handles it.