What is the value of a loaded coal train, commodity only. Or if you feel really frisky - the whole train - not a problem.
Is freight charged by distance and weight only or is it ever charged extra because it is hazardous material? Do they charge for high priority service as opposed to get it there in a reasonable time? (something like USPS)
Don’t need exacts - It isn’t going to affect my checkbook. Just ballpark figures and/or comments. And as usual, don’t get too technical.
Mookie-
Back in 1990 (the last time I saw the figures) a Powder River coal train to Pleasant Prairie, WI cost WEPCO (Wisconsin Electric Power Co) 1¢ per ton per mile. Doesn’t sound like much, but at 15,000 tons and a distance of just under 1000miles, that adds up to around $150,000 per train, just for transportation.
BTW–Once superconducting materials are economic to produce (perhaps just a few years away) the coal train will be a thing of the past, as all power will be generated at mine-mouth generating facilities, and sent over superconducting wires throughout the country.
I do not know any figures for any other commodities.
In general - lower prices if you have a long term contract.; higher prices if you buy on the spot market.
Prices vary also according to the kind of coal and the amount of preparation involved.
I won’t even get into shipping rates as you didn’t want to get too technical.
BTW, National Mining Association and US Geological Survey websites have lots of useful information. You can also get prices on the net pretty easily. You’ll see what I mean by variance.
I’m always amazed at the price of coal (cheap) vs. cost of transport. An electrical generating utility buying coal under contract from a mine in the Southern Powder River Basin would typically spend about $7 per short ton for the coal, which is up a couple bucks since my visit to Wyoming a few years ago. Transportation is where the value is.
The US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration’s website (http://www.eia.doe.gov) says the 2003 average delivered price for a ton of coal is $25.39. Let’s say a typical train consists of 113 cars of 100-ton hoppers (don’t hold me to those values), so the utility would be paying about $340,226 per trainload – of which only $79,100 is for the coal itself!
I’m not sure if the $25.39 figure includes the amortized cost of equipment (i.e., utility-owned hoppers). If not, there’s another expense.
Yeah - that helps! I am thinking if I hi-jacked a train - what could I sell it for on the black market. Well actually, I am pondering just how much $ is running in front of my eyes and when you multiply that by the 10 coal trains I saw last Sat and the 5 freight trains (which we haven’t even started on pricing), that is a little steep! And that was only about 2.5 hours worth - imagine 24/7…wow… wow… (can you tell, I am impressed!)
And if as Zardoz points out - coal trains cease to exist, then what becomes of the railroads?
Meanwhile back at the secret (evil) Kalmbach World HQ, Mikey snaps picture with Kalmbach/CIA female employee code named “Mookie”…a woman selected to portray a mature, yet fun loving female railfan to post on site. Operation KITTY LITTER continues…
Oh what music to one in the financial services charge business and in an earlier time in my life I built those power plants. Simply take the one train and multiply that by three and you have the average number of trains daily to a coal fired generating plant such as one that is near Macon Georgia named Scherer. One unit of 818,000 Kw burns one train a day, There are three units out of four runing 365, 24/7. Multilply that by the three other plants that are a part of the same service with the Big Black horse. It is not hard to see why the utility business is captial and expense intensive and why the Railroad loves them so much. To give both of them both credit this has made about as efficent a service as you can get for electric power this side of the nuclear or hyro-electric realm. That term ka-ching does ring well for the holders of utility and rail stocks, great Dividends and a good future.
The picture my rider took of me, with Mookie and Millie in the background, doesn’t flatter any of us (with the possible exception of Millie). But for you skeptics, this is a pretty elaborate hoax…I went to Lincoln, called a Lincoln phone number, and she was there with her entourage (Driver and Millie) in twenty minutes flat…on two separate occasions!