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Thank You All So Much! CHEW-CHOO BBQ and Concert a GREAT Success!

9/24/2014

Artist Dede Farrar poses with her magnificent donated
acrylic original – Prairie Flight – purchased in the live
auction by Kelly Bail of Buffalo, South Dakota.

Thanks to all that attended and sponsored our FIRST Annual Chew-Choo BBQ and Concert!

What can I say? Great Food, Great Friends, Great Music, Great Auction Items, and Great Weather – AMEN! Smiles for Miles – Just another thing that we strive for here at the SDSRM. THANK YOU to our great chefs Bob, Moni, John and Kris, our helpers from the Hill City Boys and Girls Club, our amazing musical talents Hank and Kenny, and also to our event sponsors and donors- SD WHEAT GROWERS, BNSF Railway, RCP&E Railroad, SD Arts Council, Coca-Cola, Action Mechanical, Great Western Tire, and Time Tool and Equipment.

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Two Positive South Dakota Railroad Notes

9/16/2014

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With a new page we start with a new logo – the new logo for the Genesee and Wyoming Corporation’s Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern Railroad which began operations on June 1st.

RCP&E’s Dynamic Duo ready for duty on the locomotive service track at Pierre, South Dakota June 17, 2014 - Rick Mills photo/SDSRM

With rail service problems affecting rail traffic and commerce across the Upper Midwest, there are two pieces of good news for South Dakota this week.

SOUTH DAKOTA DOT RECEIVES TIGER GRANT

PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Department of Transportation has been awarded a $12 million U.S. Department of Transportation TIGER grant.

“This grant is the culmination of a lot of effort from the Department of Transportation, the Legislature and many local citizens who supported this project. Thanks also go to Sen. (John) Thune and the rest of our federal delegation for their support for the project,” says Gov. Dennis Daugaard. “Now more than ever, our state needs good rail infrastructure to move grain to out-of-state markets.”

The grant will go toward the reconstruction of a portion of the state-owned MRC Railroad between Chamberlain and Presho. The rail [line] will be improved by repairing bridges and culverts, and replacing ties on the 41.6 miles route. The longest bridge spans the Missouri River at Chamberlain. The state acquired this former Milwaukee Road line in 1980.

“We will be replacing roughly 1,300 ties per mile. We will add approximately 1,000 tons of rock per mile and fix all the bridges to be able to carry rail cars that weigh 286,000 pounds,” says Bruce Lindholm, director of the Air, Rail and Transit Division of the state DOT.

A major customer will be South Dakota Wheat Growers, who is planning a new multi-million dollar shuttle facility for grain and fertilizer shipments near Presho.

DOUBLE-DIGIT TRAFFIC GROWTH FOR GENESEE AND WYOMING

DARIEN, Conn. – Genesee & Wyoming Inc. is reportin double-digit grown in traffic volumes for August 2014.  

The shortline holding company’s traffic in August 2014 was 179,184 carloads, an increase of 17,083 carloads, or 10.5 percent, compared with August 2013. G&W owns and operates 112 shortline and regional railroads in the U.S., Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

Much of the growth can be attributed to the startup of the Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern, which contributed 3,008 carloads of agricultural products traffic, 1,249 carloads of minerals & stone traffic, 666 carloads of chemical and plastics traffic, and 248 carloads from all other commodities. The railroad began operation June 1, 2014, and so does not have comparable numbers for 2013. 

For railroads in operation in 2013, North American traffic increased 12,894 carloads in August, or 9.1 percent, primarily due to increased overhead Class I railroad shipments and increased coal, agricultural products, and mineral and stone traffic. Australian traffic decreased 982 carloads, or 4.8 percent, primarily due to decreased agricultural products traffic.  

Coal and coke traffic increased 3,999 carloads, or 14.8 percent, primarily due to increased steam coal shipments in G&W’s Central and Ohio Valley regions. Minerals and stone traffic increased 2,539 carloads, or 13.1 percent, primarily due to increased shipments in the Ohio Valley, Northeast, and Central regions.

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Thank You All So Much! CHEW-CHOO BBQ and Concert a GREAT Success!

Two Positive South Dakota Railroad Notes

SDSRM Blog

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Thank You All So Much! CHEW-CHOO BBQ and Concert a GREAT Success!

Two Positive South Dakota Railroad Notes

SDSRM Blog

Archives

Categories

We are all about the People, Places, and Trains... Join Us!

We are all about the
People, Places, and Trains... Join Us!