(The Grand Forks Herald posted the following story by Lisa Davis on its website on October 27.)
HONEYFORD, N.D. — Although the tracks end in Honeyford, railroad cars are making the turn-around trip here again for the first time since the summer of 2000, when the rails were damaged in a flood.
“It was obvious the tracks were damaged but we thought Burlington Northern would rebuild,” said Susan Gullikson, who keeps the books at the Farmers Elevator. Her family farmed in the area for many years until recently. “It was devastating to the community.”
But the train didn’t start running again. Not until Monday, after the railroad was sold and repaired.
The emotions at the elevator Monday were very different than those during the flood.
“It was a sad day,” said Kevin Peach, general manager of Farmers Elevator Co. of Honeyford, showing a picture of the flooded tracks and roads. “We didn’t know what would happen and we didn’t realize they weren’t going to fix the line.”
After the flood
For three harvests there was no rail service in Honeyford, and farmers were hauling their yields to Arvilla, N.D., which Peach said cost the farmers anywhere from 5 cents to 15 cents per bushel.
So about a year ago, Peach approached the elevator in Oslo, Minn., and worked out an agreement to help guarantee that a sufficient amount of grain would move through Honeyford.
They took that deal to Northern Plains Railroad, based in Viking, Minn., which had bought the Honeyford line from Burlington Northern Santa Fe.
Northern Plains operates a rail line from Thief River Falls to Kenmare, in northwestern North Dakota. It also runs a major spur between Fordville, N.D., and Devils Lake.
Northern Plains owner Gregg Haug described the extensive damage the flood inflicted on the Honeyford line.
“There were several hundred feet of track gone from the embankment,” he said. “So in that area it was like building a new railroad. The rest of it was just some general repairs.
“At the time we purchased the land from Burlington Northern, there was no way to fund the line,” Haug said. “With the proposal to guarantee business, we were able to fund rebuilding the track along with a better track layout.”
He acknowledges that the return of rail service to a discontinued line isn’t a very common occurrence.
“This was kind of a unique situation, and I have to give them credit,” he said. “They guaranteed us a certain amount of business, and we’re confident it’s good for the railroad, elevator, and farmers in the area.”
Community response
Area farmers are keeping the elevator busy and are happy with the returned service.
“This elevator wouldn’t have survived without the railroad, because you just can’t move the volume with trucks that you can with rail,” said Marvin Larson, who farms in the area. “In the long term, it would have been hard.”
Gullikson, whose family farmed in the area for 26 years, said the response has been wonderful.
“People have been calling all week wondering when it would get going,” she said.
And she added the return of the rail cars couldn’t have come at a better time.
“It’s a good year here for weather and prices,” she said. “It’s nice after the bad years with the flood and then hail the following year.”