(The following story by Robert Wolfington III appeared on the Marshall Independent website on September 11.)
MARSHALL, Minn. — A rail line that crosses through southwest Minnesota has gained new life in recent years, only a few decades after being abandoned.
The line that traveled from Madison to Hamburg and connected to the Twin Cities has been split into two lines that have continued to be active and have seen growth in recent years.
The Minnesota Valley Regional Rail Authority and the Lac qui Parle Regional Rail Authority operate the lines that travel through cities including Madison, Dawson, Clarkfield, Hanley Falls, Redwood Falls and cities farther east.
“At one time this rail line went all the way from the Cities all the way to Watertown S.D.,” said Gene Short, member of the Minnesota Valley Regional Rail Authority. “When Chicago Northwestern filed for abandonment back in the 1980s, a portion of the line was sold off and the Lac qui Parle Rail Authority was born. They maintained that for a period of time to provide shipper service out there.”
Lyle Schutte of the Lac qui Parle Regional Rail Authority said community members in the Lac qui Parle County area created the rail authority to ensure the line remains in use.
The rail authority was created as a way to keep agriculture and shipping options open in the region, Schutte said.
“(The line being abandoned) lead to the formation of the Lac qui Parle Regional Rail Authority in March 1983,” said Schutte. “We wound up buying the line and leased it to Burlington Northern Santa Fe; the lease payments were a factor of the amount of volume of shipping off the line.”
When BNSF began using the line, the infrastructure in cities along the line began to improve.
“There was no unit train facilities or anything like that,” said Schutte. “Clarkfield upgraded to 54 cars and Madison upgraded to 54 cars. In the early 1990s, BNSF had the option of purchasing the main line. The lease payments they made amounted to the purchase.”
The money raised through the lease payments from BNSF helped pay for the line and the upgrades, Schutte said.
“By the time we got to the early to mid-1990s it had already generated enough revenue to repay all the costs for the rehabilitation and the purchase. It took awhile, but in January 1997 we completed the sale of the main line to BNSF.”
The main line has been sold off, but the Lac qui Parle Regional Rail Authority continues to operate smaller lines that connect to the main BNSF line.
“We own the side tracks along this line and work with the shippers to make sure they keep using the lines,” said Schutte.
Short said the Minnesota Valley line between Hanley Falls and Hamburg has had a lot of growth in recent years.
Short said between January and July of this year, more than 4,000 cars have traveled on the short line system between Hanley Falls and Hamburg.
“This really opens up markets for our shippers all over the United States,” said Short. “We have this 94-mile rail road that can go to the Cities, and with arrangements through our operator, they have agreements with all the major class one carriers.”
The Minnesota Valley line recently finished a rehabilitation project, adding three miles to a stretch of the line rated at 25 miles per hour.
“We have just finished a $1.5 million rehab section of three miles in the area of Hamburg on the east end of the line,” said Short.
An additional $3 million from the last state bonding bill is also expected to go toward upgrades on the east side of the line, Short said.
“From the last bonding bill we have $3 million that will be available to us this spring to continue the rehab,” said Short.
The Minnesota Valley line has gained a lot of support from community members along the line. Short said a coalition was formed recently to help promote its use.
“We now have the new Minnesota Valley Regional Rail Coalition that has been formed,” said Short. “There are 108 supporters up and down the 93 miles, including mayors, councilmen, township people, county commissioners and state elected officials.”
The reduced energy used by the lines has been important, Schutte said.
“The energy efficiency of rail was 500 BTUs to move a ton one mile; it takes 2,000 BTUs to move one ton by truck,” said Schutte.
The Minnesota Valley Regional Rail Authority recently did a study on the amount of CO2 emissions saved in the use of the 94 mile line.
Short said 22.5 million pounds of CO2 emissions were eliminated by the use of the line since it started.