Author: Bruce E. Kelly

Commentary

What history can tell us about things to come

In February 1882, Joseph Osgood allowed shortsightedness to steer him wrong. As newly-appointed chief engineer for the California Southern Railroad (which would later become part of the Santa Fe Railway), he was tasked with constructing a new rail line that would link the seaport city of San Diego with one—or both—of the transcontinental lines that were building their way toward Los Angeles.

Wildfires damage Northwest rail lines

A series of wildfires in central and eastern Washington state, some blazing for nearly a week, have devastated entire communities and left several sections of railway damaged.

Cold Train plans terminal expansion

While BNSF expands capacity along its Northern Corridor, many of its customers are expanding their own facilities to accommodate more of the business that corridor carries. The Port of Quincy in central Washington serves a bustling agriculture region that ships an ever-increasing amount of its products by rail. Key to Quincy’s success is the intermodal terminal where Cold Train Express containers are loaded for pick-up by BNSF high-priority intermodal trains.

Commentary

BNSF’s best days are just ahead

If recent reports published by Railway Age and others regarding BNSF’s clogged network have managed to discourage any shipper or industry-related investor, I have news that might brighten their outlook.

Northwest congestion spurs intermodal shift

Historically high levels of traffic, plus numerous track and capacity improvement projects that are currently under way, are both putting the squeeze on BNSF’s northern corridor, with intermodal a potential casualty.

The crude oil challenge

If history records 2012 as the year when modern crude by rail (CBR) came into its own, 2013 will be remembered as a time of a nearly two-fold increase in that business, and as a time for examining more closely the means by which it’s handled.
Commentary

If crude by rail, why not water?

I can’t help but watch the wildfires and water shortages taking place in California and wonder if BNSF and Union Pacific, and perhaps a few of their shippers, are able to respond to this drought with the same urgency with which they’ve answered the call for hauling crude. How many weeks, or months, would it take for BNSF and UP to corral enough tank cars together and set up locations in states with a greater abundance of water where those cars can be filled and then rushed toward California?