General railway discussions

[crs1026]

Propane has made a comeback in Southern Ontario on rail. The primary use is agricultural, to dry crops after harvest. Demand varies a lot from year to year depending on weather and how dry the crop is before harvesting. Tank cars make good short term storage, and the product is transloaded as orders come in.

- Paul

 

[lenaitch]

In the case of the shortline, the call for that extra switch happens between two people who know each other (at least by name and voice) and who have the authority to make the necessary decisions and arrangements themselves on the spot. Try asking for an extra switch on US Thanksgiving with a call centre in Jacksonville or Fort Worth. And just wait until AI invades those call centres......

Those extra switch moves are billed by the shortline at a pretty good rate, too. The economic decision is sometimes whether a plant (especially one running a chemical process or production line) has to be shut down for the rest of the weekend, and then restart.... or can the production continue unabated. Customers don't mind paying a premium to keep things running. That's the underlying cost comparison, not the locomotive fuel and labour bill versus the cost of hiring a trucker.

- Paul

Ya, I've seen it enough times that I don't think these 'after hours' moves are extras; I think they are timed to satisfy the production or shipping cycle of their sole customer.

 

[micheal_can]

Vegetable Oil: 29,300 gallons. One tank car

8,000-11,600+ one tanker truck

About 2.6 truck loads depending on the size. Smaller trucks might be 5. So a 5 car consist could replace 25 truck loads. I guess it's cheaper to carry 5 rail car loads than 25 truck loads.

It is also the footprint. So, lets say you get a weekly shipment. So, lets say 35 cars come in and out. Now imagine the space needed to guarantee those 1 truck an hour can show up. And those tank cars could be stored a few km away in a yard. Not as easy with chemicals in a transport truck. Like passenger rail, it is not just about the volume, but the logistics of the movement of the goods that are the challenge.