(The following article by Vince Devlin was posted on the Missoulian website on January 21.)
MISSOULA, Mont. — At $1.9 million a pop, Montana Rail Link did not rush into its purchase of 16 new diesel locomotives.
“If you’re going to invest that kind of money, you do a lot of research,” said Thomas J. Walsh, president of the railroad.
The majority of the 172 locomotives in Rail Link’s fleet are leased to other railroads, but it’s been able to reduce the number it uses on its own lines from 70 to 58.
Two of the 4,300-horsepower, 428,000-pound locomotives can do the work it took three of Rail Link’s older engines to get a train hauling gas up Evaro Hill.
“It used to take eight of our vintage engines to help a grain train over the mountains to Helena, but we can do it with four now,” Walsh said.
And they do it with better fuel efficiency, fewer emissions, lower repair and maintenance costs and a host of other features – “like air conditioning,” engineer Allan Tims said.
Tims, who hauls gas between Missoula and Thompson Falls, Walsh and chief mechanical officer Claude Van Winkle showed off one of the new locomotives, No. 4312, on Friday.
Manufactured in London, Ontario, by Electro-Motive Diesel, the locomotives have computers that monitor every aspect of their operation and provide the engineer with all sorts of information.
“The locomotive is designed to protect itself, and help these guys operate it in an efficient manner,” Van Winkle said.
The engines have steerable wheels that rotate with the curve of the track, lengthening the life of both the rails and the wheels. They feature an automatic engine start/stop system. It monitors the locomotive during idle operation and will safely stop and restart the diesel engine to conserve fuel and reduce exhaust emissions and noise.
And they can hold 5,000 gallons of fuel, versus the 4,000-gallon tanks on the locomotives they are replacing.
“Our research showed that the fuel efficiency with these is 20 percent better,” Walsh said. “When we were looking at it, diesel was $1 a gallon. Now it’s over $2, so the savings is significant.”
Rail Link estimates it saves 1,000 gallons of fuel every time it hauls a 14,000-ton load of coal or grain over the mountains outside Helena. The lower emissions were also attractive, Walsh said.
“When we researched whether we wanted to do this, we looked at how it would affect our employees, our customers and the communities we serve,” he says.
Previously, Rail Link’s locomotives ranged in age from 32 to 51 years old – 1954 to 1973 models.
To Walsh’s knowledge, it’s the first time a small railroad like Rail Link has purchased new, instead of used, locomotives.
“Our other locomotives were worth probably $400,000 at the most, down to $50,000,” he said. “To invest $1.9 million apiece on 16 new ones says Montana Rail Link is here, and here to stay. It’s a commitment to our customers, our employees and our communities.”
Rail Link, begun 18 years ago and headquartered in Missoula, employs between 900 and 1,000 people in Montana. The average wage is $44,000, and 8 percent of the company’s profits – $4 million to $5 million annually – are shared with employees.