urbanSTL

^Sweet! Their DC and yard behind the brewery are a truly fascinating subject. At one time they had a small storage yard for reefers down 3rd street. That might have been one of the last things in service on the 3rd street line. I don't really expect to see it back in service, but . . . it would be neat. Will be fun to see more activity there, in any case.

AB returning to rail transport makes a lot of sense both financially and in reducing emissions. This also reduces truck traffic in the area and on highways. Ideally more truck traffic can be put on rails. 

Any mention of rising crime in Maryland Heights ruining the party?

In response to CP/KCS merger…

CN, UP, and GMXT Announce New Transformational Mexico-US-Canada Intermodal Service

https://www.up.com/media/releases/falco ... 230424.htm

Seems to be primarily a service adjustment but if successful STL should see an increase in traffic.



CP/KCS Proposed:

Davidson Logistics plans to open $40M expansion in early 2024

A Bridgeton-based company that provides logistics services for The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and several other clients is set to open a new 500,000-square-foot warehouse in early 2024.

The expansion project is estimated to cost $40 million, said Don Davidson Jr., founder and CEO of Davidson Logistics. The new warehouse, in the planning for over a year, is expected to employ 100 to 150 new workers, in addition to 300 workers at Davidson's adjacent and nearly 1 million-square-foot facility and headquarters at 13930 Missouri Bottom Road.

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2023/05/02/davidson-logistics-plans-to-open-expansion-in-2024.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_5&cx_artPos=6#cxrecs_s

Believe Dbln has shared this doc a few times but always a great go to if anyone interested in proposed infrastructure build out and rebuilds related to the region.   Includes the Lambert North Cargo Improvement projects

https://www.thefreightway.com/wp-conten ... -Sheet.pdf

Forever_Lou wrote: ↑

May 19, 2023

https://stlouiscnr.com/state-funding-advancing-critical-infrastructure-projects-in-sw-il/

 thanks for post Lou, 
Curious if anyone knows if the TRRA rail yard, 3rd main track, is along the Lincoln/Texas Eagle corridor?  If so, every little bit should help the slow speeds through the metro region.   Also expecting Chicago area will get a big chunk of the rail infrastructure funds that also include work in and around Joliet which should only help as well
From the story
“The funding TRRA has received will support the addition of a third main line at our Madison Yard, adding another 8,000 feet of track that will provide added capacity to accommodate greater velocity, so that freight trains moving through this area can move through faster,” said Brent Wood, President of the Terminal Railroad of St. Louis. “We appreciate the State of Illinois’ commitment to funding infrastructure projects of this nature that can help to reduce congestion and delays in one of the highest volume freight hubs in the nation and strengthen our rail network so it can handle increasing volumes in the years ahead.”

^I think it depends on how the TRRA routes them. Third main or not, I believe it'd all fall inside yard limits, and thus "restricted speed" which I believe is the slower of twelve miles an hour or the fastest you can go and stop inside of your visual limits. Wouldn't change the speed limit, really. But it should cut back on congestion, which is important. It's always faster when you can get around the slow train blocking the line, and a third main around Madison would absolutely have to help with that.

^That's fairly impressive. Cramming a lot into a very tight space. Decades ago there was a plan to consolidate nearly all the yards in the metro east save A&S Gateway and maybe Rose Lake into one massive beast of a TRRA yard. Would have cost a fortune, but dang that would have moved some cars. I forget where they were going to put it, though. They probably just planned to tear down all of Madison. The plans were out at the Mercantile Library.

Some updates on the 4 local ports from this year's FreightWeekSTL virtual panel session.  Unfortunately, no timeline was mentioned for when COV service will commence in Herculaneum.

https://stlouiscnr.com/growing-importance-of-inland-ports-fuels-multi-million-dollar-investments-at-four-ports-in-st-louis-region/

^All fantastic stuff. I look forward to some art, mind, but all great stuff. It's nice to see some numbers, a thousand people working here, millions of tons moved there, new factories, belts, tracks, roads . . . all great to see. It's all really quite impressive, and it was fun seeing a little of it on the cruise to the Merchant's bridge last summer.

Was curious to know if the Missouri River and cities along it would stand to gain from container service on the Mississippi River -- and, more importantly, if St. Louis stands to gain from any Missouri River freight moving east.

Missouri River ports have been getting state and federal funding and are expecting an increase in traffic.

It doesn't seem farfetched to envision St. Louis as a massive river hub -- much bigger than it already is -- if COV is successful. Truly, a gateway to the west.

This article is a little under a year old, but it covers some of the COV hopes along the Missouri River within the state of Missouri.

https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news ... b.amp.html

St. Louis region remains home to the nation’s most efficient inland port  

https://www.ajot.com/news/st-louis-region-remains-home-to-the-nations-most-efficient-inland-port

Are there any major updates on river-on-vessel project in Herculaneum and other various ports along St. Louis and Missouri waterways? 

Between this and the Gateway South project in downtown St. Louis, I think there is a ton of potential for the city, region, and state. 

For once in my life, I'd like to see St. Louis maximize its potential and hit this out of the park. 

This project has me pretty excited. 

St. Louis is going to serve as the northern hub of this shipping container river transport system, but it is becoming increasingly clear that other communities along other waterways are licking their chops as well. 

It seems that a number of Missouri River communities, including Kansas City, have received money for port improvements. 

Same goes for the Kaskaskia River. 

In Arkansas, they're deepening the river from nine- to twelve-feet deep and carrying out port improvements in the Fort Smith and Van Buren areas.

I think this could be huge for a huge chunk of the Midwest and South. 

I'm really hoping St. Louis gains a ton of commerce from this.

St. Louis as northern terminus makes sense as you are essentially lock free/ice free to New Orleans.   Just wonder how disperse this will get as RockChalk noted every other riverport is angling for this and Arkansas River will serve North Texas/North Louisiana/Oklahoma.   So will it be a bunch small terminals serving local hauls or some larger hubs?  

As far as ports and someone who works with water infrastructure I can say that from my perspective is that New Orleans is way behind the 8ball on the terminals that will actually take on the large containerships/volume needed to make this work.   Southwest Pass got deepened before Houston Ship Channel to the West and Mobile Harbor to the East.   But both Houston and Mobile already catching up in terms of navigation channels and seem way ahead in terms of dockside & rail facilities.  Port of Houston has been building, expanding, building and so on.  Mobile not to same scale but have been building up container facilities and adding rail capacity.   So will have a lot of competing north south rail service in the mix as well.

I suspect that St. Louis' highways and railyards will make it more attractive than auxiliary options off of the Mississippi River more often that not.

St. Louis will serve as a hub for the northern Mississippi, lower Missouri, Illinois, and Kaskaskia waterways; Memphis will serve as a hub for the Ohio River. I'm hoping those cities, along with New Orleans, are your three big winners from this. 

I'm actually seeing now that this hasn't been discussed on this forum, but there was significant news in Louisiana back in January of this year. 

Maersk is going to invest $500 million into a new port for this project in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. The first phase will be on 200 acres, but they have options to grow to 900 acres. 

https://www.offshore-energy.biz/maersks ... -terminal/

https://www.ibjonline.com/2024/05/16/co ... waterways/

"Christian said the Louisiana International Terminal has received $300 million in funding for the development of its container facility, which marks the largest federal grant ever awarded to a container terminal in the history of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The facility is designed at about 400 acres, and we’re very excited to be able to handle the largest vessels here in the lower Mississippi,” said Christian. “The project is budgeted at $1.8 billion, which we have successfully raised in partnership with Ports America and TiL, an operating arm of MSC Shipping. We have the support of the state and now the federal government, and key operators and ocean carriers that I think believe in the vision, not just in the lower Mississippi, but the opportunity in the Midwest and the St. Louis Regional Freightway.”