(The Associated Press circulated the following article by James MacPherson on October 5.)
BISMARCK, N.D. — BNSF Railway has sold a 72-mile stretch of track in northeastern North Dakota that has been plagued with flooding and an unstable rail bed.
Fordville-based Northern Plains Railroad will take over the line between Lakota and Sarles this month, President Gregg Haug said Tuesday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Haug said the purchase is slated to be finalized on Oct. 16, with grain trains running a week or so later.
Haug said the deal has been two years in the making.
He said his railroad would feed rail traffic to BNSF at Ardoch, where a connecting line will be built. He said future repairs along the line may include wider rails and heavier track to stabilize the rail bed.
“Our goal, really, has been to stabilize rail service and preserve as much service as we can for elevators to remain viable,” Haug said.
The purchase is welcomed by the half dozen elevators along the line, which have had to ship grain by truck.
“We feared the line would be terminated,” said Tom Lehar, general manager of Cenex Harvest States Cooperatives’ Milton station. “Obviously, that’s not what we would like to see.”
Lehar said trucking costs up to 15 cents a bushel more than shipping by train.
“Over the course of millions of bushels, it adds up – impacting farmers,” said Lehar, who manages four grain elevators along the line. The stretch of track serves about 200 farmers in the region, he said.
Elevators and farmers have dealt with track closures in the past, Lehar said.
“There is a history of water issues along that line,” he said. “It is kind of in a soggy region.”
BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said the railroad stopped service along the line in mid-July “due to weather-related problems.” He said the railroad had provided once-weekly service along the line in the past.
The sale of the line will not affect any BNSF employees, he said.
Northern Plains Railroad started in 1997, with 388 miles of leased Canadian Pacific track, most of which is in North Dakota.
Haug said the Lakota to Sarles line is the third purchased from BNSF since 1998. The railroad now leases or owns just under 500 miles track in North Dakota, he said.
Haug said the railroad has 21 locomotives and 25 employees.