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Salt Mine Expansion in Western New York


Genesee & Wyoming SW1000s No. 1000 and 1001 were parked at the current end of track at the American Rock Salt mine at Groveland, N.Y., on January 4, 2015. Two tracks are being extended 1500 feet so the size of loading trains can be increased from 75 to 100 cars. American Rock Salt’s Hampton Corners Mine is the largest op- erating salt mine in the United States with a capacity for producing up to 18,000 tons each day. The mine is served by Rochester & Southern, a unit of Genesee & Wyoming.


PHOTO BY MIKE STELLPFLUG


1323 and two EMD switchers, Nos. 907 and 932. Also on the property is former Erie Min- ing Company Alco C420 No. 7222, which is undergoing repairs to make it operable.


Cliffs Erie


Cliffs Erie owns the railroad assets of the for- mer LTV Steel Mining Company in northeast- ern Minnesota. As of November 2014, there were five EMD F9 locomotives on the proper- ty, including two F9As (4210 and 4214) and three F9Bs (4223, 4224, and 4225). The three B-units have since been scrapped with their engines, trucks, and generators salvaged. There is better news for the two A-units since they have been purchased by Vermillion Val- ley Railroad in Indiana and will be shipped off the property.


Bloom Lake - Canada


Cliffs Natural Resources is moving forward with plans to either close or sell their mod- ern Bloom Lake ore mine in Quebec. Ore from Bloom Lake is moved 22 miles to a connec- tion with Quebec, North Shore & Labrador near Labrador City by Genesee & Wyoming subsidiary Western Labrador Rail Services. It began operations in 2011 using SD40-3s in G&W paint but at last report was using leased CEFX AC4400CWs. QNS&L uses its own locomotives to forward the ore to the Port of Sept-Îles located along the Gulf of St. Law- rence. Cliffs owns 740 ore cars built specifi- cally for the Bloom Lake operation by original developer Consolidated Thompson.


Canadian National


During late November 2014, CN resumed service to Mesabi Nugget located near Hoyt Lakes, Minn. During summer the mining company had been trucking its iron nugget product to Hallett Dock in Duluth for further movement by ship. The nuggets are again be- ing loaded into gondolas for an all-rail rout-


14 MARCH 2015 • RAILFAN.COM


ing to a Steel Dynamics mill located in Butler, Ind. The Minnesota facility continues to re- ceive eastern coal by way of truck from Du- luth, a business that CN had previously had. On December 8, 2014, CN placed a new


control point named Gary into service on Steelton Hill in far western Duluth. This control point connects an existing mainline track on the Superior Subdivision with a new second track installed this fall from North Steelton. Eventually this former DM&IR line from North Steelton to Nopeming Jct. will be double track. CN has also staged track pan- els for the extension of yard tracks at nearby Pokegama Yard in Wisconsin.


REGIONALS/SHORTLINES WEST GARLAND MCKEE


AD&A Railway


AD&A Railway, LLC, has filed with the Sur- face Transportation Board to acquire from V&S Railway, and to operate, approximately 5.14 miles of rail lines between milepost 0.0 and milepost 5.14 in Hutchinson, Kan. The lines also connect to a short stretch of track owned by the Hutchinson Salt Company, Inc., which then connects to trackage owned by the City of Hutchinson. According to AD&A, Mervis is acquiring property to construct a rail car repair facility adjacent to the city’s trackage.


AL&M to lease UP Line


The Arkansas Louisiana & Mississippi has filed to lease from Union Pacific and oper- ate approximately 9.32 miles of the Bastrop Lead, between milepost 551.25 and 560.57, in Collinston, La. The Bastrop Lead connects with another line leased by AL&M between Bastrop and Monroe, La., to Union Pacific’s McGehee Subdivision at Collinston. The lease will allow AL&M and UP to shift their pri- mary interchange location from Monroe to Collinston.


Bogalusa Bayou


Bogalusa Bayou Railroad has filed to acquire from Illinois Central (Canadian National) restricted overhead trackage rights between milepost 68.85 at Leescreek and milepost 69.85, at Bogalusa, La. Bogalusa Bayou is controlled by Watco.


Shortline Railroad Burlington


Once an agreement is finalized, Burlington Shortline Railroad, Inc., will begin railcar switching services for Le Mars, Iowa, indus- tries. The city owns a stretch of track that branches from the Canadian National main- line and travels through the industrial park in the southwest edge of town. The industri- al park is home to logistics industries, cold and dry storage, packaging firms, food-grade manufacturing, light manufacturing, and transportation industries. Canadian Nation- al was given the exclusive right to perform switching services on the city-owned track in 2009. Burlington Shortline was one of three companies vying for the contract to replace Canadian National, which served the line only two or three times per week.


Dakota Southern traffi c increases


Dakota Southern has reported that car move- ments are up, having moved 5,625 cars for 2014, or about 1,100 cars more than in 2013. The railroad also reported that it is running a “scoot” out of Chamberlain, S.D., about once per week from the CHS Elevator to an eleva- tor at Mitchell according to the contract. Meanwhile the pre-prep work to reactivate trackage, which includes sod removal on the rail line west of Chamberlain, has been completed to Reliance, where it will probably stop until spring. Wheat Growers plans to build a $40 mil- lion grain shuttle loader, agronomy center, and dry fertilizer plant on the railroad near Kenne- bec, including a loop for loading unit trains.


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