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BNSF: North Dakota traffic jam will last through 2014
Join the discussion on the following article:
BNSF: North Dakota traffic jam will last through 2014
They need another route.
Once again the short-sighted capacity reductions return to damage RR service and bottom line. Were NP and Milw. Rd. lines intact…?
As a pratical matter, what can the STB do to help this situation? BNSF did not intend for this to happen and they don’t benefit from it.Fines will only take money away from capacity expansion.
Think about this BNSF is now a private corporation and does not have to answer to a whole bunch of shareholders only Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire Hathaway is more interested in value then profits and can take a very long view. This a better situation then CP has which is now a publicly traded company.
Just think of the impact on the “Empire Builder,” particularly seasonal traffic to Glacier Park. As well, connections from Portland south and Chicago east.
We all know that even with this further schedule padding, #7 & #8 will continue to be late, missing connections everywhere. As well, the exceedingly poor schedule will hit revenues, as sleeper space will not be able to be flipped as frequently en route.
But then, when you consider Amtrak’s not so stealth attempts at unloading its national mandate to operate long distance trains, in addition to tolerating for so long the degrading track infrastructure on the BNSF line for the “Southwest Chief,” now yet another long distance train route is stabbed by the same railroad; Amtrak does nothing, but retreat.
Think this through, folks. The railraod makes extensive use of distributed power to reduce the number of train starts and increase productivity. On many of the lines involved we are dealing with a single main track with a limited number of long sidings situated in dark territory. The dark territory itself imposes a statutory speed limit which affects capacity as well. That does not cover off what class track the affected subdivisions are and what condition the track is in. Lifting class 2 track to class 3 standards costs, at a bare minimum, 600K$ per mile. Do bridges, culverts and roadbed require upgrading due to increased axle loadings? Do you need to go to 115lb or 136lb rail to handle it? There are all kind of questions that the engineering and operations folks must ask to get things done.
Add a minimum similar 600K$ cost for each siding extension to accomodate larger trains, plus the fee scales involved for environmental approval even if the railroad already owns the right-of-way and you get an idea of the cost scales involved.
There are no easy fixes. That is why we see multi-million dollar investments resulting in very modest gains. You have to target were you put the monies very precisely to optimize the results.
Railroads are and will remain capital-intensive businesses and it takes time for the return on upgrade investments to show up on the bottom line. Sometimes an act of faith is required despite shareholder concerns and market perpectives. We are starting to see some of that now but the industry needs more of it. It is what they were built on in the first place.
I think most of the Milwaukee Road mainline is abandoned.
We see the impact, here in north central Montana. BNSF is leasing a lot of big CP locos (Dash9-44CWs) for the north-south coal trains. Helper (pusher) service has returned to Shelby, MT, westbound. CP, too, is plugged. DP units are being returned east at Havre, MT, saving a 103-mile trip on the flat prairie. 2MTing the line is going to be a big project. 2d bridge at spectacular Gassman coulee, just west of Minot? BTW, the NP lines are intact as the MRL, with BNSF haulage rights. MILW lines-west were a mistake, but cool, for us ‘juice-jack’ lovers.
The Milwaukee Road’s Pacific Extension was torn out from Terry, Mont. all the way to Seattle. As for the NP line, I believe that’s still intact. The Pacific Extension east of Terry is the Mo Bridge Sub on the BNSF. Both of these lines are further south of the GN line that’s been impacted by the surge from oil traffic increase.
The question:“Were…intact?” was rhetorical and the point of the post was that IF the NP and MKE were still extant as through routes there would be capacity to absorb traffic. An emerging fact is that the USA needs another RR construction boom and, perhaps for anti-trust reasons, a breakup of the big players as they do, in reality, form a cartel.
The Bakken oil region is projected to be producing for at least the next 30-35 years. Is double tracking the entire Minnesota to North Dakota line feasible? How about reviving an abandoned ROW and having directional running?
There has got to be an answer to this. ND has a lot of track. Maybe BNSF and CP should coordinate their approach. Running to Duluth and using CN east. Better use of the Trenton ND to Glendive MT line. They could then use the Milw line from Fallon MT east. Expand from Northgate SK using old CN right of way to connect with CP and CN east through Winnipeg. Using the North Plains RR from Devils Lake east through Thief River Falls MN
BNSF and CP could run both lines directionally between Minot and Minneapolis. BNSF could route more through freight on the former NP and MILW lines across ND and eastern MT and over MRL west of there. With coal traffic down, they could also route some through freight through Lincoln. Some of these trains go via Galesburg anyway.
James Hill is rolling in his grave…
The Cowboy Line across Nebraska should be reactivated. Even though it’s a bike trail now, it could easily be reconstructed and would provide another east-west route both for Bakken oil as well as coal trains from Wyoming. Seems like all the old trackage that was so hastily ripped up during the last 30 years or so should have been left in place. Hate to say to the railroads I told you so, but…
As I understand BNSF currently plans to double track the Glasgow sub west from Minot, ND to Snowden, MT in 2014 & 2015. 60 miles in 2014, and the rest of the mainline in 2015. I doubt that includes doubling Gassman Coulee bridge or the bridge at Des Lacs, ND. The Hi Line already has 2 main tracks from Minot to Des Lacs minus the two bridges. I’m sure double tracking will help, but I think they need some help designing industrial sidings that are long enough that switching can be done without pulling out onto the mainline to switch sand cars.
As I understand BNSF currently plans to double track the Glasgow sub west from Minot, ND to Snowden, MT in 2014 & 2015. 60 miles in 2014, and the rest of the mainline in 2015. I doubt that includes doubling Gassman Coulee bridge or the bridge at Des Lacs, ND. The Hi Line already has 2 main tracks from Minot to Des Lacs minus the two bridges. I’m sure double tracking will help, but I think they need some help designing industrial sidings that are long enough that switching can be done without pulling out onto the mainline to switch sand cars.
As I understand BNSF currently plans to double track the Glasgow sub west from Minot, ND to Snowden, MT in 2014 & 2015. 60 miles in 2014, and the rest of the mainline in 2015. I doubt that includes doubling Gassman Coulee bridge or the bridge at Des Lacs, ND. The Hi Line already has 2 main tracks from Minot to Des Lacs minus the two bridges. I’m sure double tracking will help, but I think they need some help designing industrial sidings that are long enough that switching can be done without pulling out onto the mainline to switch sand cars.
As I understand BNSF currently plans to double track the Glasgow sub west from Minot, ND to Snowden, MT in 2014 & 2015. 60 miles in 2014, and the rest of the mainline in 2015. I doubt that includes doubling Gassman Coulee bridge or the bridge at Des Lacs, ND. The Hi Line already has 2 main tracks from Minot to Des Lacs minus the two bridges. I’m sure double tracking will help, but I think they need some help designing industrial sidings that are long enough that switching can be done without pulling out onto the mainline to switch sand cars.