Shuttle Trains and Inland Ports

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I read the last issue of Trains Magazine on shuttle trains and found it very interesting. These are unit trains that operate over a very short distance, some as short a 50 miles. They are usually a link in a much longer transportation chain.

Here are a few examples of shuttle trains:

CSX operates a train that carries wood pellets from a Georgia Biomass plant in Waycross, GA to the Port of Savannah, where they are loaded onto ships bound for Europe.

RJ Corman operates a 51-mile shuttle train from a coal mine in Clearfield, PA to a Coal processing facility that refines the coal and ships it abroad.

Norfolk Southern operates an autorack train from the BMW plant in Greer, SC to the Port of Charleston. The new automobiles are shipped abroad.

Something else happening in my area is the construction of an “Inland Port.” The idea here is to unload shipping containers in the Port of Charleston, where space is limited and move them to a site inland for further processing. One such facility is being considered for Greer, SC.

These both seem like they could make for interesting operations on a modern-era layout. What do you guys think?

2

These both seem like they could make for interesting operations on a modern-era layout.

That type of operation doesn’t have to be modern era…Shuttle trains isn’t new.

C&O ran a shuttle train between Sement Solvay(a coke plant) in Catlettsburg(Ky) to Ashland Steel (Ashland Ky) about 10 miles.

Chessie ran a coal shuttle train from Russell Ky to a rail to barge load out at South Shore Ky.

The list is endless…

3

Depens on the railroad. On the UP a “shuttle train” is a grain train that loads and unloads within 24 hours of being spotted. So it could be hauled 1000 miles, but if it loads within 24 hours and unloads within 24 hours its a shuttle.