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Energy, Powder River Basin, and the DM&E

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[quote user="Murphy Siding"][quote user="futuremodal"] What Kevin Shaeffer said may have had more to do with lobbying for the loan than it does for DM&E's actual independence prospects sans a PRB entry.  I posted the thoughts of a rail analyst twice on this thread regarding DM&E's prospects post-loan rejection.  Did you perchance actually read it?[/quote]  Why yes, I did thank you.[:)]     I still think you're looking at this with rose colored glasses, causing you to overlook a few things.     CNW sold the track for somewhere near salvage value, I think.  It seems like before that, they were trying to abandon it.  The reasons were:traffic had declined, the trackage had deteriorated,they were losing money on the line.  Since DM&E took over, traffic has increased, but I doubt it matches the high water mark of CNW traffic on the line.  The condition of the tracks has improved, but it's still not what you'd call "good".  Being a private company, CedarAmerica doesn't say if it's a profitable line.     Yes, there are ethanol plants being built on some DM&E lines.  How many ethanol plants would DM&E have to service, to make enough money to pay back $4 Billion ?  As a side note-in S.D., most ethanol plants seem to get built on BNSF lines.[/quote]Keep in mind, that $4 billion figure was just for an example.  I'm not sure what the total estimated cost for rehabbing the entire DM&E line from Colony to Winona was/is, but the $4 billion figure may be a bit high.For what it's worth, here's a list of all the industries served by DM&E:<a href="http://www.dmerail.com/PDF/DME%20INDUSTRY%20DIRECTORY.pdf">http://www.dmerail.com/PDF/DME%20INDUSTRY%20DIRECTORY.pdf</a>Also, it was CNW's "Cowboy Line" that was used as the access into the PRB.  What is the status of that line now?[:-,]What is your source for the claim that most new ethanol plants in SD are being located on BNSF?  Certainly, BNSF being the main Class I line out of the state is going to get most of the rate split.And for what it's worth, Colony is technically located in the PRB coal fields, just not the easy to get prefered coal.  There's gotta be a reason DM&E has gone to all the trouble of not only obtaining and keeping that line, but also getting an FRA loan to upgrade it.  It was surmised that Colony would be the starting point into the PRB to get at all that Montana coal just sittin' there.  Still could be if Montana's Guv threw DM&E a bone or two.........
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