Kyle-Welcome to the forum, but Aha- I also caught you in a mistake. Make that two class 1’s. The UP line also cuts through the far southwest corner of the county running through Sharon.
Jay (Hanging his head in shame for making such inaccurate statements.)
On the subject of the time restrictions for the WSOR getting over Metra from Fox Lake, maybe Randy Vos will have the details on that.
The “Columbus Dispatch”, which has been following this story, reports that Honda is down to three sites:
Greensburg, IN
Van Wert, Ohio
Fayette County, Ohio - about halfway between Columbus and Cincinnati, at a site near the intersection of I-71 and US 35 that Toyota had considered for an engine plant. Rail service would be a short extention from the old DT&I Springfield-Jackson line, which is now owned by the Fayette/Clark County Port Authority.
Curiously, all sites would be rail-served by Railtex, which owns or operation all three of the lines in questions. I’m sure CSX, which service the Marysville plant in Central Ohio, would get operating rights into the plants, at least for inbound containers.
A decision is expect in the next four weeks.
Ohio sites - Honda has a very close relationship with Ohio, and their supplier network is centered in the area, particularly for the Fayette County site. Every small town in Central or Western Ohio has one or two (non-union) plants turning out parts for Honda’s plants in Marysville, East Liberty, and Anna. However, Honda might prefer to put some of their eggs in a non-Ohio basket.
Honda did open a plant in Alabama a few years back, but is reportedly mildly unhappy with the quality of the workforce in the area as well as the additional transportation costs.
mrsheep
You have hit on key elements of site selection, especially for the Japanese auto plants. Having parts suppliers in close proximity-easy trucking distance-supports JIT systems with the associated low inventory levels.
In several instances of plant location for auto production, the ugly head of anti-unionization reared it’s head. The South being somewhat viewed as more corporate friendly[ Right to work states]. Specifically, Saturn in Spring Hill, Tn. GM was specifically looking for an area that had no history of unionism, the union eventually came in but was more on GM’s terms, than the union’s. Nissan in Smyrna,Tn was a similar circumstance. Tennesse being a right to work state, was more to corporation’s liking, not to mention generous tax breaks at the state, and local levels. Similarly, the auto plants in Alabama, Mercedes near Tuscaloosa, and the Honda plant at Lincoln. Although located in the vicinity of Birmingham, where there is some union activity [steel], the folks were more interested in the aspect of new jobs. Audi East of the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport was a different situation, in that, the manufacturer wanted a production facility with airport access. So the bodies could be flown in from Germany and assembled in the US, hence they had an approximately 4-5 mile taxi-way built from the airport to the plant for aircraft access to the plant for unloading.
Sam
I’m guessing on the city that gives back he most $$$$$$ to Honda. [:D]
Walworth could be trying to tap into the left over development and workers from the Motorola fiasco in Harvard just south of the border, but a location farther north makes more sense as there’s also better highway access, therefore they’ll probably propose it for the old Majestic ski-hill site on the south shore of Geneva Lake. They could finance it by doubling the boat launch and parking fees around the lake[:D]
Anyplace where they can train the workforce in thier way of work ethics and pay the least costs to produce a quality product.
Casinos are likely to populate our area before such a high paying auto plant comes here to Arkansas.
They’re go someplace the unions can’t come in and featherbed the place.
Think unions are good? Ask the Rock Island. Or Delco.
My bet is it will be Greensburg IN. the reason, access. Greensburg is postioned betwwen 3 major cities with rail hubs, Louisville, Indianapolis and Cincinnati. Greensburg is right on Interstate 74 and has direct rail access. Granted it does need work. CSX owns part of this line from Indianapolis to Shelbyville IN. They got it in the Conrail deal. Rail America (CIND) has trackage rights on the CSX portion. If I’m not mistaken Van Wert was a very pro union town with limited direct Interstate access. I’m not sure of the direct rail access. I thought that the site that they have is not located on the ROW. The other site in Ohio was named by the governor when it looked like Greensburg got the edge. Who knows where the plant might be built. It might show up in some other unnamed city and state. Hopfully Honda won’t take to long to decide.
Heard today that Greensburg IN is now believed to be in the lead.
Is the old NYC from Indy to Cincy intact the entire length or would it have to be rebuilt or traffic rerouted? I saw some of it a few years ago and it looked all but abandoned. Rail was still there, though.
I don’t think that the union thing is as big of an issue since the UAW is hurting. Chrylser is adding a 3rd shift to the Belvidere, IL plant that will be non union. They are in the process of hiring 1000 people for the shift, the employees with only be paid 18/hr, have to wait eight months for benifits, and be subject to termantion at any time. I think that with the exception of the transportation companys, unions have begun to lose most of their power.
Bert
I will guess they will locate on two Class Is. They want a railroad with lots of financial resources and geogphic reach. They want two railroads in case one of them has a melt down.
Tharmeni…
It’s been interesting to watch the two states - Indiana has very public with their comments, while Ohio has been very laid back.
The NYC is still intact - CIND operates the eastern portion of the line , and NS the western. It will need some work to bring things up to speed, however - which is true for all three of their sites.
no129044 - regarding Chrysler - is that a probationary period, at least as far as no benefits and termination at will for eight months? My Teamsters had a similar deal for three months, after which they came under regular union regulations and benefits. The new hires did have a graduated pay scale that took five years to get them up to full wages.
No they are considered “temporary” employees, able to be kept on for up to two years. It is very common for car companies to hire a couple of employees this way for vacation coverage, but this is a 1st to have a whole shift of them. If they are kept for more than two years they will get bumped up to regular union pay and benifits, however most people think it will just be a revolving door every two years.
Bert
Thanks for the info, mrsheep.
My first ride on a passenger train was on that line from Ind-Cin aboard the “James Whitcomb Riley”. I assume there is sporadic traffic on it? As I posted earlier, when I saw it a few years ago, it was hidden in weeds.
The hole line from Cincinnati to Indianapolis is intact. CIND (Rail America) runs Iv’e heard 3 locals a week over the line, which connects with all the other Rail America lines in Indianapolis IN. The CSX portion is mostly welded track. The rest has some welded trackage but is mostly heavy, jointed trackage. In the Cincinnati area they did some major tie replacement, and through down some new ballast. This section looks real good. Nice to see straight trackage. I know they did some tie work to the west but do not know if they did any major work east of Valley Junction. All the infastructure is there to put in double trackage. The line was double track from Cincinnati to Greensburg, until CTC came along.
I really do think that this site in Greensburg which now has over 1600 acres now. will be the site chosen. I could be wrong but man are the people of Greensburg united in the quest to bring Honda to their comunity. Sure there is some people who don’t want it. I’ve been following there local community page (just like people with Honda are probably doing) but there is very little oppostion there. There is letter writing campains, people coming out to the center of town and while wearing red shirts, lay out Hondas logo, and have it photographed from above. They then sent it to Honda. All this goodwill may help them get the site. A company of this size does like to have a good neighbor and be one too.
As previously mentioned in this thread, the Van Wert and other Ohio area are quite.
I’ve heard of other places in the midwest that are throwing their hat in the ring to bring Honda to their cities, but only Van Wert and Greensburg sites are the only ones that are in the final stages of development. Honda has said they are in the final stages for a site. Also remember that the state of Indiana is in a much better financal situation. The site in Greensburg, one of three, sits on or very near natural gas deposits. The areas electric company is in a ready state and can handle the power needs.
The bi
…Bring Honda to the Greensburg site…for all the reasons listed above…and I’ll add another. BWA plant here in Muncie is famous for the development of auto parts and of course manufacturing same in the facilities here…for over a hundred years…! The business has served several Japanesse Corp. auto co.'s over the years and now has extra capacity to do more now…Work force here turns out quality products. Bring it on…
I spent 37 years there trying to help develop those products and we had much success over the years. Greensburg is less than an hour away from us.
Adding to the my previous comments about the prospect of Walworth County getting the plant, last Sunday’s Janesville (WI) Gazette editorial was written as a reality call. They gave about 6 paragraphs of reasons why Honda wouldn’t even give us a second thought and about the only thing positive was the suggestion that “it would be nice”.
The Greensburg site is in a great spot. Like mentioned above you have access to I-74 as well as rail access. CSX controls this line from Shelbyville, IN up to Indy. The CIND runs the line from Shelbyville to Cincy. So, Greensburg lies in CIND trackage. CSX interchanges with the CIND at Shelbyville at a little yard on the east side of town. I’ve worked the CSX local that goes into Shelbyville several times and I now dispatch the line. I’m not sure if CSX owns the entire length of the line to Cincy. I would assume that the CIND just leases the line from Shelbyville to Cincy, but I’m not 100 percent on that. The CSX local that works Shelbyville has about 5 industries they still serve on an every day basis. The line is in decent shape, but is restriced to 25mph at this time. The line is also dark territory, or DCS/DTC in CSX terminology. I trained under an old-timer and he told me that the line used to be signaled and was quite busy, but has since quited down to a trickle of activity. I’d be happy to have Honda business on this line to keep it from being torn up.