Class I commodity slump is a Texas short line bonanza
May 1st, 2016
Texas’ TNW Corp. has developed a core business of parking and caring for surplus railcars in dedicated “logistics centers” attached to each of its three Texas short lines.
April 29, 2016 - Railway Age
No, the tank cars are not waiting for the new season’s pressing of apple cider. They are stored here in aptly named Parkdale, earning Iowa Pacific’s Mount Hood Scenic Railroad lucrative daily storage fees, while their owners wait, expensively, for recovery of the energy transportation business.
What has been a calamitous downturn for fleet owners and Class I carriers is becoming a bonanza for short lines with spare sidings, or even, as in the case of Mt. Hood, underutilized main line track. The car storage boom means that Mt. Hood’s summer passenger excursions will turn back to Hood River well short of their usual destination at Parkdale.
“We are in business to make money, and right now, the money is in car storage,” Iowa Pacific CEO Ed Ellis toldRailway Age, as the blossoms of April transitioned to the tiny fruit sets of May.
Read more: http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/freight/short-lines/class-i-commodity-slump-a-countercyclical-short-line-bonanza.html?channel=94
April 29, 2016 - Railway Age
No, the tank cars are not waiting for the new season’s pressing of apple cider. They are stored here in aptly named Parkdale, earning Iowa Pacific’s Mount Hood Scenic Railroad lucrative daily storage fees, while their owners wait, expensively, for recovery of the energy transportation business.
What has been a calamitous downturn for fleet owners and Class I carriers is becoming a bonanza for short lines with spare sidings, or even, as in the case of Mt. Hood, underutilized main line track. The car storage boom means that Mt. Hood’s summer passenger excursions will turn back to Hood River well short of their usual destination at Parkdale.
“We are in business to make money, and right now, the money is in car storage,” Iowa Pacific CEO Ed Ellis toldRailway Age, as the blossoms of April transitioned to the tiny fruit sets of May.
Read more: http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/freight/short-lines/class-i-commodity-slump-a-countercyclical-short-line-bonanza.html?channel=94