M.J. Scanlon PhotoM.J. Scanlon PhotoM.J. Scanlon Photo

Volume 33, Issue 4Volume 33, Issue 4

April 2006April 2006

THE MEMPHIS BUFFTHE MEMPHIS BUFF NRHS MEMPHIS CHAPTERNRHS MEMPHIS CHAPTER

Nation’sNation’s Transportation Transportation

System in System in “Capacity“Capacity Crunch”Crunch”

Take a Ride on theTake a Ride on the Illinois Central fromIllinois Central from

Baton Rouge toBaton Rouge to Memphis in 1964Memphis in 1964

New Railroad MuseumNew Railroad Museum in the Mississippi Deltain the Mississippi Delta

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Last Month’s Meeting We had twenty attendees at March’s meeting. Bill Strong brought the meeting to order. Regarding the tax exempt status of the chapter, the basic conclusion of the research was that we are not a 501(c)3 tax exempt entity. Unfortunately, that means that contributions to the chapter are not tax deductible. M.J. Scanlon provided the presentation for the evening which began by viewing a railroad industry commercial that used one of M.J.’s photos of the cab and front truck of a UP engine. He then presented a slide show of photos from his travels around Canada, California, Hawaii and Utah. M.J. began with photos from a museum in Squamish, British Columbia, which featured vintage freight and passenger cars and locomotives. The next stop was San Francisco with photos of trolleys, light rail and Cal Train commuter service. After leaving San Francisco, we moved over the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii. M.J. presented photos of some of the tourist lines still in operation on the various Hawaiian Islands as well a railroad museum that has preserved some of Hawaii’s railroad history. The final stop on M.J.’s tour was the state of Utah and the Heber Valley Railroad, a tourist railroad that runs for approximately 16 miles through some beautiful winter scenery. The April presentation will be by Irv Cooperman, who was asked by Bill Strong to give a talk on the “Financial Aspects of Railroad Operations” from Irv’s railroading days. Mr. Cooperman worked many years for the Frisco Railroad in their Georgia Yard in downtown Memphis. - Oliver Doughtie

President - David Chase dchase@memphisredbirds.com Vice President - Walter Lang spinnut@bellsouth.net National Director - Bill Strong williambstrong@bellsouth.net Secretary - Oliver Doughtie doughtio@bellsouth.net Treasurer - Thomas Doherty TRDoherty@aol.com Librarian - Mike Pendergrass Publication Editor - M.J. Scanlon mojo628@earthlink.net

Memphis Chapter Officers

Cover Shot - IC 9610 idles on the tracks along Channel Avenue at President’s Island in SW Memphis as the day begins for the RPI14 job in this November, 2004 photo. The GP38-2 engine pictured was built by EMD in 1974.

(M.J. Scanlon Photo)

Upcoming Events

April 1 - Annual Railroadiana Model Train Meet - Arkansas Railroad Museum - Pine Bluff, AR April 27 through 29 - The Casey Jones Village Hobo Gathering - Jackson, TN April 30 - Casey Jones Day - The Historic Casey Jones Home & Railroad Museum's 50th Anniversary - Jackson, TN June 9 through 11 - Illinois Central Historical Society Annual Meeting - Millington, TN June 9 through 11 - SE Regional National Model Railroaders Association Annual Convention - Olive Branch, MS

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Delta Native Revs Up Rail Museum Schnabel is also working with Dr. Luther Brown, director of the Delta Center for Culture and Learning, on collecting oral history circulating around the railroads. "We want to collect the memories and stories of the railroad," Schnabel said. "There are a few of those people who might still be out there to share their stories." "We will be taking close looks at music, art, education and other things," Wise said. "We will also be partnering with other agencies." Those agencies include the Bolivar County Literacy Council, Delta State University, Bolivar County Tourism Commission and the Delta Arts Alliance. Audrey Pearson, of the Bolivar County Literacy Council, said she wants the museum to serve as a educational tool that schools from all over the Delta can use in their daily lessons. "We can use the museum to educate the K-12 community," Pearson said. "Teachers can work it into their daily lesson plans, they can use trips to the museum to go along with the lessons. It can be an educational but fun place." Pearson said the local Boy Scout troops can also gain a badge for their involvement with the railroad museum. Wise said the museum will also serve as a family event, staying open on Saturdays and possibly at night during First Thursdays. "We want families to say they can come and check the museum out on Saturday," Wise said. "A lot of places are closed over the weekend, but this allows something for the families to enjoy." There are also plans for further community development, such as the development of a model railroader's club, volunteer association and donor group. Relationships will also be developed with local businesses and merchants. Seminars and after-school programs are also in the works. "The possibilities are endless for all of our ideas," Schnabel said. "We want to use the museum to reach out to the community. I am ready to be a part of that."

© 2006 The Bolivar Commercial

Jamie Kemp The Bolivar Commercial March 1, 2006

Cleveland, MS - Liza Schnabel said she is ready to start brainstorming for fresh ideas for the Martin and Sue King Railroad Heritage Museum. As the newly appointed museum coordinator, Schnabel returns to Cleveland to embrace her love of the arts and history, which she plans to embellish within the walls of the museum. "Both of my parents had and have careers in the arts that span several decades," she said. "Their love of the arts was passed on to my sister Ellie, and me." Schnabel said the love of the arts flourished throughout her family home, ranging from architecture to crafts. Collections of houses, paintings, furniture and china filled the home, and it was there that Schnabel developed an appreciation of the items. "From my earliest memories, I can recall a bedroom set of early Victorian hand painted furniture, Chinese export china, Empire furniture, Post-Modern paintings, 1950s Danish flatware in the homes we lived in," she said. "With all these things, my parents made sure we knew what we were sitting on, eating off of, living in and how to appreciate all of them." The railroad museum does not have a date of opening its doors yet. However, Bolivar County Library System Director Ronnie Wise said he anticipates the doors will open later in 2006. The train diorama railroad system, a three-dimensional model complete with tracks, trains and towns, arrived at the museum Tuesday. Local railroad enthusiast, James Albert Wiggins spent the last 30 years constructing the model, which will serve as the nucleus of the facility. The museum, located behind the Depot Library, has been in the works for the past three years. The project was partially funded by a transportation enhancement grant administered by the Miss. Department of Transportation. Schnabel said she wants to use her new position with the museum as a jumping point to promote community involvement. "I want the museum to be used to reach out to the community," she said. "Our main goal is for this to be a community effort." The museum itself is a community effort, serving as a historical preservation organization dedicated to conserving the artifacts and memory of railroads in the Mississippi Delta. The overall mission of the museum is to represent the effects and usage, past, present and future, of railroads in the Delta through the use of model railroads, artifacts and community programs. "We will have a lot of traveling exhibits and local exhibits that will show the effects of the railroads in the Delta," Schnabel said. "We will have everything from music, agriculture to society discussed along with the railroads."

Located behind the Cleveland (MS) Depot Library (near the former IC ROW), the Railroad Heritage Museum will showcase the history of railroading in the Mississippi Delta. M.J. Scanlon Photo

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A little less than six miles north of the Vicksburg freight yard, BM-2 enters the Memphis Division track. It stays under the Memphis Division control until it enters Johnston Yard in Memphis, which is under Tennessee Division control. What sort of work does BM-2 do? Here is how the division superintendents who supervise the train answer that question. E.E. Schlottman, Louisiana Division, says, “BM-2 is a good money-maker, transporting highly rated, competitive traffic.” T.J. Casey, Mississippi Division, “BM-2 sets out and picks up cars at Vicksburg for our vital east-west line between Meridian, Miss., and Shreveport, La. It also serves the Natchez District via Harriston Junction.” Said Memphis Division Superintendent H.K.

(Continued on page 5)

Originally Presented in the September 1964 Issue of Illinois Central Magazine

Every night a long freight train moves north out of Baton Rouge, La., bound for Memphis, 357 miles away. On a typical night there might be 125 cars behind four or more locomotives - petroleum and caustic soda in tank cars, alumina in covered hoppers, and paper and canned yams (sweet potatoes) in boxcars. The train is Illinois Central’s dispatch freight BM-2. BM-2 travels day and night for 19 hours or more along a route never more than 40 miles from the Mississippi River. The train begins its journey at Baton Rouge on the Louisiana Division, but only a mile from its starting point BM-2 enters the Mississippi Division. It stays on the Mississippi Division until it leaves Vicksburg, Miss., a crew and engine change point 142 miles from Baton Rouge.

Illinois Central train BM-2 is strung out on a curve approaching the drawbridge at Redwood, Mississippi.

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Buck, “Our men move BM-2 through the Delta. It’s always a challenge, but they have a good on-time record.” Superintendent F.J. Duggan of the Tennessee Division, “At Johnston Yard, Memphis, BM-2 is broken up. Many cars go on via other dispatch freights. Getting those cars out quickly is our job.” Officially, BM-2 becomes a train when markers are put up on its caboose. But the story of BM-2 really begins with the local freight trains, which like wise cow ponies, round up cars from sidetracks and industrial spurs, and bring them to Baton Rouge. Up from Mays yard, New Orleans, comes local freight 96 with a string of cars for BM-2. Down from Woodville District on the Mississippi Division comes local freight 741 with cars of paper from Zee, La., and with lumber and yams from St. Francisville, La., and Woodville, La. Earlier the same day this train had left Baton Rouge, and its now returning home. Also gathering cars for BM-2 are two local freights operating south of Baton Rouge. The Geismar Turn serves the industries between Baton Rouge and Geismar, La., 24 miles south of Baton Rouge. The Reserve Turn serves the plants between Geismar and Reserve, La., which is 35 miles south of Geismar and 59 miles south of Baton

(Continued from page 4) Rouge. Geismar is the location for six large chemical plants: Wyandotte; U.S. Rubber; Borden Chemical; the Goliad Division of Mobil Oil; and Monochem, a joint venture of Borden and U.S. Rubber. Chemical plants are often built close to each other so that a product or by-product of one plant, useful as raw material in another plant, can be cheaply and quickly transported from producer to user. For example, the Wyandotte plant at Geismar sells caustic soda and chlorine to neighboring plants. Another example: Monochem produces acetylene from natural gas, and the process gives off a mixture of hydrogen and carbon m o n o x i d e c a l l e d o f f - g a s . Monochem pipes the off-gas to the Borden plant, where it is converted to methanol. The station at Geismar, reputedly the smallest on the Illinois Central system, is manned by C.D. Boldebook, who

lives with his family just across the track from the station. Though small in size, the Geismar agency handles considerable traffic. On a recent morning the Geismar Turn brought down 32 cars. Number 74, a dispatch freight from Mays Yard, New Orleans, brought up eight. Thirty-six cars were picked up that day from Geismar. Along the Mississippi River south of Geismar the noises of the chemical plants fade away. Instead of the roar of

gases being pushed and pulled through miles of pipe, there is the quiet of the countryside. Cattle graze peacefully along the Mississippi levee under a cloud-studded, brilliant blue sky. Suddenly, industry pops up again, this time near Burnside, La., 28 miles south of Baton Rouge. The Ramsey-Scarlett Company at Burnside ships out hundreds of carloads of coal which arrives via barge from West Virginia. Large movements of imported lead concentrates, chrome ore, maganese and fluorspar are received here. Shunting the hoppers in the Ramsey-Scarlett plant is a 44-tom General Electric locomotive. Now lettered “Burnside Terminal” and numbered “110” the unit was once Illinois Central locomotive 200, the only one of its kind on the system. South of Burnside, signs in the canebrakes advertise Santa Gertrudis cattle, the famous breed developed on the King Ranch in Texas. The breed was developed by crossing Brahma cattle from

(Continued on page 6)

Flagman T.E. Whiting on southbound local freight 97 takes train orders from Agent R.L. Wells at Reserve, La.

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India with Shorthorn cattle. The Santa Gertrudis have sweat glands, absent in European and American cattle, which enable then to withstand heat. W.R. Wardlow, trainmaster on the baton Rouge and Hammond Districts, points out that there is now little agricultural traffic on the railroad except for processed sugar, though there is a vegetable warehouse served by two spur tracks at Belmont, La., 41 miles south of Baton Rouge. But reminders of farm life still exist in this part of Louisiana. For example, farmers measure their land in arpents, a French term for unit of measure equal to about eight-tenths of an acre. “The pattern the cane fields have goes way back too,” says Trainmaster Wardlow. “The fields are long and narrow, with their narrow widths along the Mississippi River. Dividing land this way assured each farmer access to the river water.” Forty-seven miles south of Baton Rouge is Lutcher, La., and an Illinois Central agency manned by a husband and wife team. Morris Cantrelle is the agent, and his wife, Nancy, is the clerk-operator. Though Lutcher has about it the look of a hot, sleepy village, the agency is busy. In April, 83 cars were received and 260 sent out; in May, 104 were received and 228 sent out. Kaiser Aluminum and Colonial Sugar are the biggest shippers in Lutcher. Lutcher is probably the only Illinois Central agency with an operator-clerk whose hobby is tending plants and reading Redbook magazine. But Nancy Cantrelle is an old hand at making out switch lists and copying train orders. “She’s one of the best,” says Trainmaster Wardlow. Below Lutcher is Gramercy, La., site of Colonial Sugar’s mill. Shipments from this mill are handled at Lutcher. Near Dolsen, La., site of another sugar mill, is “San Francisco,” a

(Continued from page 5) famous home on the “steamboat gothic” style. Built in 1894, the home and its eight landscaped acres are open to the public. Fifty-six miles south of Baton Rouge is Reserve, La., where the Godchaux Sugar Company produces granulated and liquid sugar and molasses. Occasionally a car of charcoal spent in the refining process is shipped out. The records show a steady movement of both piggyback cars and carloads of sugar products of all kinds from Reserve. In July a $25 million chemical plant went into production about two miles south of Reserve. The plant, built by E.I. du Pont de Nemours, will be handled by the Reserve agency and the Reserve switchers. Working at Reserve are Agent R.L. Wells and Clerk Ray Boe. While the Geismar and Reserve turns are working south of Baton Rouge, the Woodville District local freight id bringing down paper, canned yams and lumber to Baton Rouge from the north. One shipper on the Woodville District is the St. Francisville Paper Company at Zee, La., which is jointly owned by Crown-Zellerbach and Time-Life, Inc. A two-phase expansion program is underway here. One phase of the program is exclusively Crown-Zellerbach’s; the other phase is the expansion of the present joint operation. When completed in 1965, the expansion program will bring total plant investments to approximately $100 million. To produce the high-quality slick paper on which the magazines of the Time-Life group are printed, raw materials are sent to St. Francisville from the far corners of the United States. E.W. King, general traffic agent in Baton Rouge, describes the shipments of raw materials, “The pulpwood comes from

(Continued on page 7)

Top – Engineer W.D. Petty on yard engine 461 looks back for a signal as his engine and two other switchers put BM-2 together

in North Baton Rouge Yard. Right - Conductor Claude Stafford looks over train orders before

leaving Baton Rouge. Stafford and the others in BM-2’s first crew will take the train as far as Vicksburg, Miss., 142 miles

north of Baton Rouge.

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the Pacific Northwest - the Illinois Central picks it up at Albert Lea, Minn., and at Council Bluffs, Ia. Pulpwood also comes from various pints in Mississippi and Louisiana. Clay for papermaking come from Georgia, and we get it from our connections at Birmingham, Ala. And Mer id ian, M iss . From Muscatine, Ia., starch is shipped. We pick that up at Peoria, Ill. The chemical used is from Bastrop, La.” While these local freights are busy north and south, switch engines around Baton Rouge also are gathering cars for BM-2. Among the Baton Rouge plants shipping cars via the dispatch are the Ethyl Corporation and the Solvay Process Division of Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation. Other shippers include Humble Oil, Kaiser Aluminum, General Chemical, Consolidated Chemical, and the Stupp Corporation. Cargill Inc., located on the west side of the Mississippi River, also produces some traffic for BM-2. The Geismar and Reserve turns and the Woodville local are usually back at North Baton Rouge Yard between six

(Continued from page 6) and nine in the evening. When the locals are delayed, it is up to the yard crews to attempt to make up the lost time. Explains Trainmaster Wardlow, "Sometimes the yard forces have to pull the rabbit out of the hat. When the locals are late, the yard crews have to get thrashin'." On a typical night, three yard crews work to put BM-2 together. Directly behind BM-2's diesel units the switching crews place a block of cars which will be set out at Harriston, Miss., the junction with the line to Natchez, Miss. On nights when BM-2 gets an early start from Baton Rouge, BM-2 itself will take the Harriston set-outs to Natchez. Behind the Harrison block, or group of cars, are placed the Vicksburg blocks - one block for the Shreveport and Winnfield Districts, which are west of Vicksburg - one block for the

Meridian District, which is easy of Vicksburg - and one block for Vicksburg proper. Behind the three Vicksburg blocks are those cars destined for points north of Vicksburg. As BM-2 takes shape in the yard, the paper work necessary before it can leave is being done in the North Baton Rouge yard office. A punched tape is pre-

pared from the waybills. Each sequence of dots on the tape represents a car being sent out on BM-2. Then the tape is checked against the waybills to make sure the tape is accurate. Finally the tape is put through three machines. One machine sends the taped information to Memphis via New Orleans and Vicksburg. The other machines send BM-2's consist to freight Agent Nelson Goings at the Baton Rouge freight house and to General Traffic Agent E.W. King at the traffic office in Baton Rouge. Chief Dispatcher W.R. Heirtzler and General Yardmaster Mervin Gordon at Vicksburg each receive a copy of the consist , and so does Chief Yard Clerk Wilbur McClintock at Johnston Yard, Memphis. Tennessee Division Superintendent F.J. Duggan, Chief Dispatcher E.E. McDonald, and Car Distributor Edward Wildsmith get copies. Freight Traffic Manager F. Heimlicher, Jr., at Memphis receives a consist, and consists are sent to the Service Bureau and the Electronic Data Processing Center (EDPC) at Chicago. With the paperwork completed, BM-2 is ready to roll. Sometime between nine and midnight the first of BM-2's three crews goes aboard at North Baton Rouge Yard. Tonight Engineer R.J. Bourgeois, Fireman M.A. David, and head-end Brakeman F.E. Holloway are in the lead diesel unit,

(Continued on page 8)

Hostler Helper Jesse Hayes replenishes diesel’s sand supply at Vicksburg.

Trainmaster N.L. Meadows, left, and Conductor R.B. Byrd in the Vicksburg, Miss., yard before BM-2 leaves on the second lap of its journey to Memphis.

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while Conductor C.B. Stafford and rear-end Brakeman C.V. Letterman share the caboose. Into the cab with Engineer Bourgeois goes a notation containing information he needs for handling his train. It reads, "100 loads, 25 empties, 9,750 tons, 6 cars for Harriston, 119 cars for Vicksburg." Before BM-2 leaves Baton Rouge there is a stream of m e s s a g e s b e t w e e n t h e yardmaster's office, the engine and the caboose. Over the hiss and crackle of the two-way radio comes Conductor Stafford's report from the caboose, "Twenty-five pounds pressure." Stafford takes the reading from a gauge in the caboose which shows the air pressure in the train's brake line. Back and forth the questions and answers go until the required pressure for safe braking is achieved. Taking the slack out of a long, heavy freight train is a ticklish business, but once underway the

(Continued from page 7) train has the momentum of a mountain on wheels. Chemical plants adjoin North Baton Rouge Yard, and as BM-2 slowly gains speed, it passes through their vapors. The crew is familiar with the flames and myriad of lights, but they never lose completely a sense of wonder at the sight. Ahead, through the mist, red over red over yellow, meaning proceed at restricted speed. The next block brings a high green, so Engineer Bourgeois eases open the throttle and, imperceptibly, BM-2 gains speed. Once out of the yard the throttle is opened another notch, then another, and the diesel units begin to rock gently from side to side. BM-2 is under way. Between Baton rouge and Vicksburg BM-2 gets further away form the Mississippi River than it does on any other part of its route. Not many towns here, and those few are dark, lit only by the streetlamps hung on wires over the principal intersection. The flashing

red lights of the crossing signals throw a blinking red beam down the street. The set-outs, or cars which are dropped, at Harriston are made in the gray dawn, and then BM-2 picks up speed again. At Vicksburg, 142 miles north of Baton Rouge, the diesel units which hauled BM-2 are exchanged for three fresh units. many times fewer units are put on than were taken off. This is possible because the grades north of Vicksburg are less severe than those to the south. A new crew boards at Vicksburg: Engineer W.R. Woodrick; Conductor R.B. Byrd; head-end Brakeman H.L. Newsome; Fireman W. Johnson; and Flagman L.T. Norwood. While engines and crews change, Trainmaster Joe Hoff of the Mississippi Division, who had come up on the BM-2 from Baton Rouge, talks about earlier dispatch freights. "There has been a train like BM-2 ever since I've been on the railroad - that's 40 years. One time we called it the 'Airplane'. Sometimes I wonder how we got it through in the old days when there was a local freight or a local passenger train everywhere you looked." Memphis Division Trainmaster N.L. Meadows, Jr., of Cleveland, Miss., who will ride BM-2 over his territory, joins the conversation. "I have a 1927 Illinois Central system timetable" he says, "showing 82 passenger stations between Vicksburg and Memphis. There were Y&MV passenger rains by

(Continued on page 9)

Fireman’s view as BM-2 goes by the north local freight near Rolling Fork, Miss., 177 miles south of Memphis. Sometimes switching moves are made which place the

locomotive between the caboose and the rest of the train, as happened here.

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Memphis there are four junctions: at Leland itself with the Leland District; at Clarksdale, Miss., with the Sunflower District; at Lula, Miss., with the Helena District and at Lake Cormorant, Miss., with the Tallahatchie District. Picking up and setting out cars at Leland can involve some unusual switching for BM-2. Recently the train carried a covered hopper which was to be routed via the Columbus and Greenville Railroad. When BM-2 stopped at Leland, the covered hopper car and three diesel units were uncoupled from the train and went two miles up the line toward Memphis. There, at Elizabeth, Miss., the car was switched to the Columbus and Greenville interchange. Switching completed, the three diesel units backed down the line to Leland. Later the entire train passed Elizabeth on its way to Memphis. At Cleveland, Miss., BM-2 slows to a crawl as the crew changes "on the fly" so the heavy

train will not have to stop and re-start. Engineer L.J. Madison and Brakeman D.R. Hutcherson swing aboard the head end. The rear-end crew changes just as qu ick ly , with Co nducto r M.L. Henderson and Brakeman J.A. Rowland getting aboard. Engineer Madison waits until Conductor Henderson tells him on the radio that he and the flagman are on, then open the thrott le . Desp ite car efu l maintenance a unit developed electrical trouble just south of Leland. Trainmaster Meadows got off at Leland and called ahead for an electrician. The electrician boarded the ailing unit at Shelby, Miss., just under 100 miles from Memphis. By the time the train was at Clarksdale, 20 miles closer to Memphis the trouble - a ground in the brush holder on the main generator - was repaired. By the time BM-2 reaches Memphis, around dinner-time, it is sometimes twice the size it was when it left Baton Rouge. For example, the train which left Baton Rouge with 100

loaded and 25 empty cars entered Memphis with 150 loaded and 49 empty cars. At Johnston Yard, Memphis, BM-2 is taken apart. Many of its cars will go to St. Louis, Chicago and Louisville on other dispatch freights. To make connections with the other freights, BM-2 must be on schedule, and it is. In May (1964), the month the train described in this story ran, BM-2 made its scheduled time - or better - 29 out of 31 times.

© 1964 Illinois Central Magazine

the dozen on the line. Passengers could go from Memphis to New Orleans via Vicksburg and Baton Rouge." With the new crew aboard, BM-2 is ready to go. Conductor Byrd and Trainmaster Meadows carefully study the seven train orders the crew has received. The orders warn of track and bridge repairs, of work trains, and tell the whereabouts of other trains on the single track line. BM-2, now with 122 cars and weighing 9,871 tons, will have to move cautiously. About 10 miles north of Vicksburg is the drawbridge across the Yazoo River at Redwood, Miss. As the train takes the curve approaching the bridge, it passes a semaphore signal which always has its arm at caution. The reason? The semaphore is the approach signal for the Redwood drawbridge and its permanent indication warns crews to proceed preparing to stop at next signal. Five thousand feet north of the semaphore is a color light home signal which governs movement across the bridge. Back in the caboose , Conductor Byrd looks over his reports. Many of the cars in BM-2's consist have the letters "GATX," "UTLX," and "ACDX" as prefixes to their numbers. These initials are abbreviations for the shippers' privately-owned or leased cars. Byrd explains that most railroads do not own tank cars. "Those you see on BM-2 are usually owned by the shipper or by a tank car leasing company." Thirty-six miles north of Vicksburg is Cary, Miss., where 57 cars, adding 3,673 tons to the train, are picked up. At Rolling Fork, Miss., eight miles up the line, BM-2 passes the north local freight. North of Rolling Fork, Engineer Woodrick points to two fields beside the right-of-way. "Look at that!" he says. "In the first field wheat is growing; in the second field are cotton plants. There's no reason why the soil along the Mississippi River shouldn't be fertile: a lot of it is the finest Iowa topsoil washed away and deposited here when the river overflowed years ago." At South Leland, Engineer Woodrick yells, "Yellow flag!" Fireman W. Johnson, on the other side of the cab, immediately echoes the warning. His sighting confirmed, Woodrick signals Conductor Byrd with his whistle. From Vicksburg to Leland, Miss., 81 miles, there are no junctions with other routes, but between Leland and

(Continued from page 8)

View from caboose shows long string of tank cars, a large part of BM-2’s consist on every trip. Photo

taken as train picked up cars at Cary, Miss.

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Nation’s Transportation System in ‘Capacity Crunch’

Delta Farm Press Mar 7, 2006 By Elton Robinson MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The nation’s transportation industry is in a capacity crunch, congested and stressed, and looking for ways to increase efficiency without significantly adding to or improving infrastructure. According to Ken Eriksen, vice president, transportation services, Informa Economics (formerly Sparks Companies) in Memphis, the time for change is “beyond the crossroads.” Eriksen, a speaker at the National Agri-Marketing Association’s February meeting in Memphis, says the situation is already affecting U.S. agriculture, as a flood of non-agricultural goods are now competing for space on railcars, trucks and barges. When asked how the situation could directly affect farmers, Eriksen said, “If railcars are late coming, that is an added cost. Or you might lose marketing opportunities because somebody else gets into that market.” When a shipment is late getting to its destination, “we think five days, when in reality it’s 10 days to 16 days. That changes things. You have an elevator full of a commodity waiting to go into an intermodal car or boxcar, things are going to back up. You may not be able to sell your product to your elevator because it’s still full. So there’s a delay in taking advantage of the marketing chain.” Hurricanes which damaged port facilities in the Gulf during harvest last year exposed what a stressed-out transportation system can do to farmers’ bottom lines, noted Eriksen. “Barge freight rates went through the roof, and what did the river basis do? Cash prices to the farmer went through the floor. The farmer is sitting there and can’t put the commodity on the market. Who would want to sell at that price?” But at the same time, “if you don’t have the

opportunity to sell, you’re going to have some problems with your banker.” “We pride ourselves in the United States on our ability to move our agricultural commodities to export markets,” added Tim Price, executive vice president of the Southern Cotton Ginners Association. “But now so much of our economy is tied up in non-agricultural products that we no longer can deliver at the speed we once could. Our global competitiveness is being challenged by the transportation situation and our energy costs.” Eriksen noted that 9/11 slowed the transportation expansion for a while. “The average number of railcars on line each week dropped in September 2001 and went into a trough until January 2003. Then, it rebounded as our economy was restored.” Americans began consuming again, and at an eye-popping rate. “We started seeing changes internally in the United States as we consumed more. Intermodal traffic (use of containers that can be switched from rail or road transport) started taking off. Higher fuel prices were coming on and people were putting more traffic on rail, and we had more international imports of goods. “Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway says that when they have 200,000 cars on line per week on average, they’re at maximum capacity. They’ve been averaging well over 220,000 cars on line for several months.” As a result of the increased traffic and congestion, average weekly train speed in the United States has dropped 3 to 4 miles per hour, Eriksen noted. “We as a country are getting slower and slower in moving freight. “For every mile an hour Norfolk Southern Railway loses in average speed, it needs 25 more locomotives to compensate. For every two miles an hour, it needs 200 more locomotives. The railroads are finding that they must invest in more locomotives and labor. But they can’t find enough qualified people to be locomotive engineers, despite salaries starting out at around $80,000 per year.” Fuel surcharges have emerged as a new revenue

(Continued on page 11)

The nation's largest railroads will spend more than $8 billion this year laying track and improving infrastructure, a 21 percent increase over last year. Canadian National will invest $100 million in Memphis alone to expand the size of its operation at Johnston Yard, making Memphis its second most important U.S. city outside Chicago. The U.S. Department of Transportation expects freight traffic will grow more than 66 percent by 2020 as it responds to demand for consumer goods from Asia and U.S. consumers preference for low-sulfur coal from Wyoming. In the last 10 years, railroads have invested an average of 17 percent of their revenues in capital expenditures compared to 3.5 percent for manufacturing.

© 2006 Memphis Commercial Appeal - www.thecommercialappeal.com

Railroads Cranking Out Track

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stream for railroads, according to Eriksen. “Back in March 2002, these fuel surcharges were not even in place. Recently, we’ve seen a bit of a pullback. But still, today, the railroads are assessing a fuel surcharge of 15.3 percent per railcar. That is significant.” Eriksen says the railroad companies “are not looking at the fuel surcharge as a way to capture what they’ve lost due to higher fuel costs. They already have hedging programs in place. To them the fuel surcharge is a revenue base. They starting seeing what these fuel surcharges could do for their revenue. “Up to January 2004, the surcharges could be negotiated in contract. There is no more negotiating.” Barge operators are applying surcharges as well. “It’s starting to filter through the system, and at the same time freight rates are already higher.” While barge operators are under pressure to increase capacity, “they don’t want to build more barges,” according to Eriksen. “They like the high barge freight rates, and they’re controlling it. With high steel costs, high labor costs, it’s very expensive to build a barge. Ten years ago, it cost $150,000 to $200,000 to build a dry covered barge. Today, it’s $350,000 to $400,000.” To become more efficient, barges are opting for shorter

(Continued from page 10) hauls, which often puts agricultural commodities at a disadvantage. “Grain on average moves 1,200 miles. The barge operators that are non-grain owned are moving away from grain. They’re trying to get a long-term contract with other commodities.” What this means is that more minerals, salt, fertilizer and steel are shipped up the Mississippi River from New Orleans. And coal is also hitting the river system and going shorter distances. With U.S cotton producers now exporting 70 percent of their raw cotton, the biggest challenge in the coming years is how to move 14 million bales of cotton annually. Eriksen noted that Memphis is becoming a major hub for intermodal traffic, and as a result, “it becomes a collection point for empty containers. There may be opportunities to move lower-value, bulky commodities such as cotton on these containers.” Ocean-going containerized vessels are getting bigger too, noted Eriksen. If all of the containers in one of these mega-vessels were put end to end, they would measure 60 miles in length. e-mail: erobinson@prismb2b.com

© 2006 Delta Farm Press deltafarmpress.com

Einat Paz-Frankel - Memphis Business Journal - March 3, 2006 Everybody wants more free time. And it is about to become a precious commodity for freight and logistics companies hauling cargo from Memphis rail ramps. BNSF Railway Co., a subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., will reduce the "free time" for container storage at its Memphis intermodal facility, Tennessee Yard, to one day effective May 1. This new policy means customers can store containers at the BNSF yard free of charge for 24 hours. After that, each container will cost them $150 per day. Last year, BNSF shortened the free time from three to two days and increased the daily charge from $100 to $150. A little over a year later, the trend continues with the further reduction of free time to 24 hours, a move that other rail lines are likely to follow based on past experience, says Carey Treadwell, director of global business at Mallory Alexander International Logistics. And with hundreds of thousands of containers coming to Memphis every year -- BNSF alone loaded or unloaded 293,000 containers in Memphis in 2005 -- the economic impact of the newly imposed demurrage could easily reach tens of millions of dollars annually. However costly it may sound, the new policy is easy to comprehend. BNSF Railway spokesman Joseph Faust illustrates: "A unit is made available on Monday at 8 a.m. The day of notification (to the freight forwarder) is Monday. 24 hours of free time are on Tuesday. Charge begins on Wednesday." For the prominent trucking and freight forwarding industries in Memphis, the one-day window for hauling is a pricey logistics nightmare, especially when coupled with the growing shortage of truck drivers. "It's a domino effect," says Donna Lemm, also a director of global business at Mallory Alexander. "There aren't enough drivers to do it." When the day of notification is Friday and free time is given on Saturday, freight forwarders are expected to pick up the container on Sunday, or pay the $150. "We can't find truck drivers to pick up on weekends and companies will not receive shipments on weekends," says David Duncan, president of Duncan International, an air and ocean freight mover. "(The rail lines) don't give us a break; it's unfair." Three days of free time would be sufficient, he says, adding that other countries' rail lines provide a full week and even more.

© 2006 Memphis Business Journal - memphis.bizjournals.com

Shippers Brace for BNSF “Free Time” Reduction

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A CSX Transportation caboose is seen here in New Johnsonville, TN along with engine 6932, a CSXT GP40-2. (Carl Lancaster Photo)