Rail roads and their tracks.

[MossRoad]

I believe that much of the lack of business for rail is due to the rail roads themselves. I know a couple of small business's 2 in particular that have sidings at their locations but still get much of the bulk shipping done by truck rather then rail. Even when buying bulk products that would fill 2 -4 cars trucks are often prefered because the rail road will not provide a schedule or even a reasonable estimate of shipping time. When fertilizer sits for 3 months in some frieght yard instead of being delivered is it any wonder that trucks are used and cost more. That has been an issue for many years. Many of the old sidings sit unused because the RR doesn't care to provide decent service.

2-4 cars is not a lot of bulk. But generally speaking, you are spot on about some of the problems with RR shipping.

 

[the old grind]

I see 'poor service' as a logical result of RRs depending on economy of scale and not seeing short runs & short consists as efficient enough. Esp in this age of 'just-in-time' delivery that gives a huge advantage to OTR trucking and costs lines share they won't get back in the forseeable if ever.

 

[MossRoad]

Remember, when freight trains were hitting their stride, there was no interstate highway system. Heck, a lot of states didn't have intrastate highways. I recall going from here to Cincinnati and it took all day back in the 60's. Now it's 4:10. Half the time. How long would it take to send a railcar from here to Cincinnati? DAYS? Weeks?

 

[5030]

Good question, probably weeks with all the interchanges.

 

[LouNY]

One independent fertilizer and chemical dealer in my area ordered 4 bulk hopper car loads of 30-30-30 fertilizer from a plant in the midwest for what to him was a decent price at the time including shipping (this was 4-5 years ago). He placed his order and paid a month later and he hadn't received it he started looking for it as spring was coming. It was located in the south central part of the country and he could not get an estimate when he would see it.
Two months later he had to reorder pay more and have it truck shipped in as his customers were starting spring work and calling on the fertilizer they had preordered. It was mid summer when he finally got his fertilizer. Now Cargill and Ciba Giegy don't seem to have that problem for some odd reason. The railroad cost him a lot of money that year. He does still use his siding for some but he is much more carefull that he doesn't get hung out to dry again.

 

[5030]

Lou... are you implying that the rail is on par with USPS fpr 'timely delivery'????

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Lou... are you implying that the rail is on par with USPS fpr 'timely delivery'????

Well, rail never lost any of my packages.

 

[LouNY]

Lou... are you implying that the rail is on par with USPS fpr 'timely delivery'????

Actually I would have to say worse for timely.

 

[bcp]

Pay extra for timely, but get extra time instead.

Bruce

 

[Hay Dude]

I was wondering how that was progressing. I remember following that storyline by you a couple years ago.

And legit questions and concerns about how the new workplace may affect rail travel. My wife continues to work from home. It will be 2 years in April! She only goes into the office about 1 workday out of 7 or 8 for things that need to be physically handled (mail, mostly). They removed all of the individual cubicles (several dozen) and installed a 'pod' of 4 workstation desks. You bring your laptop with you, sit down at a workstation desk, take care of business, and go home.

It’s moving along pretty well. My son maybe able to utilize it for grad school commuting into Philly.
If you look at the Northbound view, of course you see the bridge across the highway. Notice new catenary constructed on the west side? We were told this would not happen, but it appears to me the line is going to be extended further. Next substantial sized town is West Chester. Service to West Chester was discontinued in 1990. All that operates on the tracks now is a rich guy running a tourist train.
I guess they have decided to keep going with more track!