(The following story by Ben Schwartz appeared on the North Platte Bulletin website on November 11, 2009.)
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — Ever since the first Union Pacific train pulled into North Platte in December of 1866, the town and the railroad have been tied together.
That winter, North Platte served as the winter quarters for the railroad construction. 80 years later, Bailey Yard was opened, and in 1995 the facility was recognized as the largest rail yard on the planet.
North Platte would not exist as it is, if at all, without Union Pacific, and the town serves as the vital hub for the railroad’s east/west traffic.
The decommissioned line running in front of the row of old warehouses on the south side of Front Street between the Jeffers and Poplar viaducts serves as a reminder of days when cars rolled up to North Platte’s lumber yard with flat cars stacked with fresh cut timbers.
That time has long since passed. The changing nature of the town, building construction, and advances in other forms of transportation has rendered that spur unnecessary.
While the old track on Front Street harkens back to North Platte’s past, community leaders must turn their eyes to the future, and how the railroad will play a large part besides being the town’s largest employer.
Bringing manufacturing to Lincoln County
During their regular session Tuesday, Nov. 3, the North Platte City Council adopted as one of their goals to “continue retail sector development.”
The products sold by retailers are mostly shipped through the air and over the roads, so Union Pacific would not have much of a role to play in making North Platte an attractive location for, say, Target or another similar company.
That’s where Devco would like to step in, according to president Dan Mauk. When Mauk was first interviewed by the Bulletin a few months ago, one of his stated goals was to attract manufacturing plants to Lincoln County.
He believed then, and still does, that having rail access would be a boon in that endeavor.
The ability to load and unload railroad cars in Lincoln County could also benefit the agricultural industry, Mauk told the Bulletin Tuesday.
Currently, companies already in North Platte and prospective new businesses do not enjoy access to Union Pacific’s rails in Lincoln County, with the exception of grain towers.
There are a few ways to remedy that, according to UP spokesperson Mark Davis.
For example, a company that decided to build a new plant here could build close to the existing lines and construct a spur that leads to and from their facility. Loading docks could be included in the design of the plant, and bulky materials and finished products could be brought in and carried out by Union Pacific trains.
Another solution would be a community spur, or what is called a team track. Team tracks are spurs that lead to a common loading dock, where any business or company can access railcars.
The railroad would drop off cars, then return after a specified amount of time to pick them up.
Mauk believes that securing rail access, along with North Platte’s proximity to Interstate 80, and centralized location would make the area a desirable destination for manufacturers.
Bumps in the road, or track
The obstacles to gaining rail access and attracting plum manufacturing jobs to Lincoln County are daunting.
Foremost, the expense of constructing special spurs is enormous.
Back during the city council’s budget discussions, Mauk addressed the council to appeal for their continued support of Devco.
Council member Jim Parish made that comment that he’d consider spending the $100,000 the council grants Devco on rail access, instead.
Mauk replied, “I wish you could get rail access for $100,000.”
Mauk told the Bulletin that the track itself would require a king’s ransom. He said that Devco uses the working estimation that each foot of track costs $300, not including the land it sits on.
That would put the price tag for a mile of track at over $1.5 million.
Switches cost between $250,000-$750,000, he said, and any spur would require at least two of them.
The cost of building a team track would fall to the companies that desire to use it, or even local governments.
Mauk said that a “Field of Dreams” approach, “If you build it, they will come,” simply isn’t feasible, given the cost of the project.
“You’ve got to have a bird in hand,” he stated, meaning that a deal would have to be in place with the potential users of the team track before it was constructed.
There is also Bailey Yard to consider. UP’s Mark Davis said that several factors must be taken into consideration when deciding on a location for a special spur.
Straight track is preferable over curved track, entrance and egress should be quick and easy, and the spur should be located in a low traffic area.
Given the number of cars that roll in and out of Bailey Yard each day, there would always be concerns about rail congestion in and around North Platte.
Ultimately, the sharp decline of manufacturing in the United States could render the pursuit of rail access as irrelevant as the old track along Front Street.
While the sentiment exists that the plight of industry in America is not as dire as it seems, a 2007 article published online by Manufacturing and Technology News said that the country lost more than five million manufacturing jobs between 1990 and 2005, nearly a quarter of all such jobs.
American suppliers seem committed to transferring their operations to foreign shores to save on overhead. After all, a central location in the contiguous United States and being close to the railroad and I-80 couldn’t save Cozad’s doomed Monroe plant, and the 500 jobs it provided.
Steaming ahead
Mauk believes that the answer could lie in wind energy. The central plains are ideal for wind farms, and Mauk hopes to attract manufacturers of components for that growing industry.
He told the Bulletin more than two months ago that most blades for wind towers are made in Great Britain. Eventually, he said, people will figure out that those blades could be made in the United States for the essentially the same cost.
Mauk also believes that building the access down the line from North Platte in another Lincoln County community could alleviate some of the problems.
Land could be acquired more cheaply, and putting miles between the access point and Bailey Yard could quell UP’s concerns about congestion.
Securing railroad access eluded Mauk’s predecessors at Devco, but he is determined to continue seeking it.
Due to the nature of the negotiations, neither Mauk nor Union Pacific could comment on any current deal that is being worked out. All Mauk would say is that he had been scouting several locations around Lincoln County.
He is a firm believer that growth in the area around North Platte accomplishes the same thing as growth within the city itself.
“What’s good for one of our communities is good for all of us.”