Honda is planning to build a new assembly plant, reportedly in the midwest.
Any guess as to where and what rail line(s) will serve it?
Does Triple Crown do business with Honda?
I am guessing Glendale, Kentucky on CSX. [;)]
I’m guessing wherever they get the best tax breaks.
I know they were looking around Lima,Ohio.
They’re looking at Van Wert, OH, and Greensburg, IN, both on RailAmerica lines.
Triple Crown does no business with Honda that I’m personally aware of, CSX serves the Honda plant in Marysville, OH.
Believe it or not, Walworth County, WI has made a pitch. (Look for Geneva Lake on your map.) A plant located here would be served by the famed Wisconsin & Southern Railroad. I don’t think specific sites were offered, but according to the local press, the letter sent to Honda assured them that it would be a great location to build a plant.
If the letter told the whole story there would be a postscript that said “Don’t count on any financial incentives from the cheapskates on the county board, but we have a fine county sheriff’s department that will herd the NIMBYs off the construction site.”
I figure this will happen sometime after I win the lottery jackpot, and I don’t even buy a ticket.
Would it be important for Honda to locate their plant where there was access to 2 railroads? Or, isn’t that as big an issue in this case?
Isn’t as important as possibly getting a good Tax Break.
I’d guess it all depends on the the views of their top logistics managers. I know that the Toyota plant in Georgetown, KY is “captive” to the NS. Of course locating on a short line with connections to competing class ones gets the access deal.
Fascinating. Manufacturing coming into the coutry.
I am told Indiana and Ohio are the two frontrunners. And, Manufacturing has been coming to America for some time. You would be surprised by the number of Japanese Auto plants in Indiana alone.
Gabe
I would think it would be on a class 1 route, as any long distance movement currently involves 2 class ones and if located on a short line you would end up with 3 carriers splitting the revenue. The rail america line in Greensburg Indiana would need a significant amount of investment to handle much traffic. This line has big rail (used to be NYC’s mainline) but tie condition is very poor.
Soo6049
Oh, Walworth would be nice. But you can count on Wisconsin to do some stupid thing to chase them away… [:(!]
I second that one in a big way.
Unless it is a casino interest our leaders are adverse to anything that may actually provide real jobs. That goes for both parties.
It would be great if Walworth got it though. I certainly give the credit for trying!
Pleasant Prairie or Sturtevant WI would give them access to both UP and CP.
Janesville would give them UP and W&S.
Ah yes, a big auto plant on the shores of Geneva Lake. [}:)][}:)][}:)] (Not really, the railroad to the City of Lake Geneva is long gone.)
There are many people who live here, both long time residents and new comers, who want to preserve the “rural character” of the county, and they would be out in force if there was even the slightest hint that somebody from Honda was coming in to just take a look.
Of course these are the same folks that are in denial concerning population growth and that the very perception that Walworth County has a rural character will attract people who will convert even more former farm land into residential property. Interestingly, these are the very same people who get up in arms if anybody seeks to impose any further restrictions on the use of THEIR property. Oh well.
In consideration of the fact that this is a railroad forum, a coment on the WSOR. Upgrading the Janesville-Fox Line to handle auto plant traffic could be done and with the rights over Metra into Chicago, the WSOR does have a connection to everybody. The obvious problem would be the single track Metra line between Fox Lake and Roundout. The one short passing siding-Round Lake?- works for the Metra trains, but I think the current single train in and out of Chicago can only move on that segment during the nightime window when the Metra service is down.
By the way, I don’t think the issue of foriegn ownership would be a big deal here. Japanese company Kikkoman Foods has their soy sauce plant over near the village of Walworth. Some of the best paying jobs in the county.
Jay
Doesn’t the WSOR have a curfew east of Fox Lake where they can only operate at night? A new auto plant would probably generate about one dedicated train a day (except Sundays). (I’m using the Belvidere, IL Chrysler plant as a source for that theory.) Maybe it was a different story, but I do remember hearing something about Danville, IL. Not exactly sure if that was Honda, but the location does make sense.
CC
Another site under consideration is Fithian, Illinois, which is near Danville. Considerations in this area include cheap land, experienced but desperate labor (a GM foundry in Danville closed recently) and the aforementioned tax breaks.
With as many plant closings as Ford and GM have up their sleeve, wouldn’t it make sense for Honda to “shop” those communities first?
Since Walworth County depends heavily on tourism, there could be opposition to major industry based on what it might do to our current economic base (or the full year employment opportunities could be attractive…). We also have a lot of air pollution (believe it or not) and definitely don’t need more.
However, the above posts have ignored the northern part of the county where a WSOR line heads toward the general Milwaukee area and various connections to other roads. In the far northeast corner of the county CN (formerly WC) passes through, so there is actually a class I in the county.
Kyle