"Inland Port" Being studied for Greer, SC

[GP-9_Man11786]

I found this story: http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20120707/PC05/120709381 in our daily press briefing at work. It will be interesting if this so-called inland port ever gets built. It would mean a large increase in Traffic for Norfolk Southern, who's W Line make a direct link from Charleston to Spartanburg. What do you guys think?

[Rader Sidetrack]

I did not see any link to a news article in your post., If you intended your underlined "this story" to be a link, it isnt.     But perhaps this is the article you intended to reference:

http://www.joc.com/portsterminals/sc-ports-authority-plans-inland-port-rail-terminal-greer

GP-9_Man11786

It would mean a large increase in Traffic for Norfolk Southern, who's W Line make a direct link from Charleston to Spartanburg. 

Well, it could result in an increase in traffic for the NS, but just because the Port builds the facility does not mean it will actually get any significant use.  Port authorities  sometimes wear blinders about the likelihood of improvements actually getting used, particularly if they neeed to repay a favor in a particular legislators's district.

I find it quite interesting that although that facility "will be developed with NS", there are absolutely no quotes or comments from NS in the article. Why do you suppose that might be?

Some years ago, the Port of Quincy, Washington, built an intermodal terminal alongside the BNSF line between Seattle and Spokane. Their original plan was to use it as an "inland port" and rail containers to/from Seattle. That plan flopped, and the terminal in Quincy languished for several years.  Eventually the "Cold Train" concept was developed, and now the terminal actually sees use. However, the containers now go east to Chicago, not west to Seattle. While its good that the facility is now used, it also shows that Plan A was developed, funded, and built while completely ignoring market realities.

http://www.portofquincyintermodal.com/id3.html

[GP-9_Man11786]

Rader Sidetrack

I did not see any link to a news article in your post., If you intended your underlined "this story" to be a link, it isnt.     But perhaps this is the article you intended to reference:

Oops! That's embarrassing. I think I've got the link fixed now. NS's Cresent Corridor passes through the Upstate of South Carolina. Perhaps this project has something to do with that.

[Murphy Siding]

    I couldn't get into the article either.  Thanks for the link.

     I'm not sure I understand what is proposed.  By "Inland Port",  I thought they were building something like the port at Houston, where they move ships inland.  This sounds like simply a big container to train operation, to cut the number of trucks in the port area?

[Rader Sidetrack]

Murphy Siding

 I'm not sure I understand what is proposed.  By "Inland Port",  I thought they were building something like the port at Houston, where they move ships inland.  This sounds like simply a big container to train operation, to cut the number of trucks in the port area?

Here is a promotion on an Inland Port at Cordele, GA:

http://www.dot.state.ga.us/aboutGeorgiadot/Board/Documents/Presentations/2012/March/CordeleInlandPort.pdf

Containers are railed to the inland port to reduce truck traffic at the shoreside port, presumably also reducing costs. In many cases, the inland port includes a customs bonded area, so that containers can be brought to the facility under customs bond. This would mean that customs officers would then work at the inland port. Often inland ports include distribution facilities where container contents are unloaded and possibly remixed for final delivery.  This is particularly the case if product arrives in 20' & 40' marine boxes and is redistributed in 53' domestic boxes.  Land is often not readily available at shoreside ports, so inland ports usually offer plenty of develop-able land for new warehouse / distribution buildings.

[henry6]

Murphy Siding

    I couldn't get into the article either.  Thanks for the link.

     I'm not sure I understand what is proposed.  By "Inland Port",  I thought they were building something like the port at Houston, where they move ships inland.  This sounds like simply a big container to train operation, to cut the number of trucks in the port area?

Good question.  Most inland port programs are areas where rail can accept and transfer or whatever needs to be done by hosting trainloads of mostly containers taken off ships at harbor locations where there is no room for more than a track or two for rail and virtually no room for storage.  Even the Customs inspections, etc. might be moved to the inland port.  In effect it enlarges the capacity of a smaller port to be able to compete better.

 

[blue streak 1]

I agree that GSP is a good location with plenty of land. However they are a couple years too late.  NS will have the inland port of CLT airport in service in a couple years (?). The Charlotte airport is only ~~ 90 miles from the Greer airport ( halfway between Greenville and Spartanburg ) and is also on NS's ATLANTA  - WASHINGTON route.  the only advantage of GSP airport would be if SALUDA grade was reopened to take containers toward Knoxville / Bristol - Roanoke..  Or to AUGUSTA (?).

customs is already at the Charlotte airport giving it a upper hand so homeland security does not have to initiate another port - of - entry. 

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

I saw something about this a month or so ago - about 100 acres and 50,000 containers a year was the prediction, if I recall correctly.  Just a 'niche' local market - not something that's going to change the face of railroading or intermodal in the southeastern US, but better than nothing.   

I was wondering if this was an attempt by NS to 'poach' on the container traffic in/ to/ from Charleston, which I understand CSX has pretty much locked up by reason of presence, access, and geography ?   

There's an inland port operation in the upper Shenandoah Valley portion of Virginia, near Front Royal, etc., that's about 5 or 10 years old and which seems to be doing booming business - that too is located on NS.

EDITED TO ADD: 

See the following links for more info on this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inland_port 

http://www.envisionfreight.com/modes/default.aspx%3Fid=inland_ports.html 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Port_Authority#Virginia_Inland_Port 

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,1346143 

http://www.ctb.virginia.gov/resources/kr_1_VAInlandPort_Fall07.pdf (from Nov. 2007, 10 slides, approx. 4.80 MB file size)

http://www.imsw.com/downloads/powerpoint/What_Makes_a_Successful_Inland_Port.pdf (from July 2011 - 44 slides, approx. 3.65 MB file size)

This last one is from a panel presentation "What Makes a Successful Inland Port?" at a conference which included Michael Mullen, CEO of CenterPoint Properties (the Joliet intermodal terminal), so on that basis alone I regard this one as being extremely informative and credible. 

END ADD-EDIT

- Paul North.   

[GP-9_Man11786]

blue streak 1

I agree that GSP is a good location with plenty of land. However they are a couple years too late.  NS will have the inland port of CLT airport in service in a couple years (?). The Charlotte airport is only ~~ 90 miles from the Greer airport ( halfway between Greenville and Spartanburg ) and is also on NS's ATLANTA  - WASHINGTON route.  the only advantage of GSP airport would be if SALUDA grade was reopened to take containers toward Knoxville / Bristol - Roanoke..  Or to AUGUSTA (?).

customs is already at the Charlotte airport giving it a upper hand so homeland security does not have to initiate another port - of - entry. 

I think the Saluda Grade may very well reopen soon. NS recently did a lot of rehab work on the line between Spartanburg and Campobello, SC. The work done seemed like too much for the one or two locals that currently use the line.

[dubch87]

I posted some links here.

GP-9_Man11786

I think the Saluda Grade may very well reopen soon. NS recently did a lot of rehab work on the line between Spartanburg and Campobello, SC. The work done seemed like too much for the one or two locals that currently use the line.

That work was routine maintenance. The ties are pretty rotted on the closed section, so I can only imagine the active section was getting bad. From what I could tell south of Landrum, they only replaced the worst ties and did nothing to the rails. Grade crossing improvements are routine on non-active sections as well, so nothing special there. Plus, nothing is happening on the Asheville side (yet).

But, I think the W-Line has potential as an intermodal route. Straight shot to Knoxville from Charleston. Relieves traffic off other lines. No vertical clearance issues, which the Old Fort Loops may or may not have (tunnels). Not sure about the weight of intermodal, and how splitting the train up to tackle the hill would be accomplished.

The Fat Lady has not sung yet, but it will take a lot of work. We will have a better idea at the end of the year when we find out how NS is getting their Exhibit Car to Landrum.

[dubch87]

Inland port work to begin soon in Greer - The Greenville News, 30 December 2012

The inland port in Greer has a green light. Additional land acquisition and clearing/grading should begin this month, and from what I have Google'd, it should be finished within the year. I haven't found a response from NS, who was waiting to review the preliminary engineering report, which has obviously been completed. 

Here is a map of the general vicinity (somewhere in there).

[dubch87]

Here is a rendering of the facility from the South Carolina State Ports Authority:

Groundbreaking took place earlier this month, and the Ports Authority is hoping for completion by Labor Day.

[GP-9_Man11786]

It should also be noted that a track geometry train was recently spotted on the W Line, high rail trucks were spotted at the grade crossing in East Flat Rock, NC. And in Inman, SC, NS police were stopping cars at the Route 292 crossing and giving out safety leaflets indicating train speeds on that section of the W line will increase to 50 mph.

[dubch87]

A few updates on the South Carolina Inland Port.

The South Carolina Ports Authority has settled with a company on the inland port site to relocate, allowing construction to continue with an anticipated completion in September 2013.

Companies from as far away as the Midwest that export grain or other agricultural products are among the possible customers of the South Carolina Inland Port in Greer, the chief executive of the state Ports Authority says.

An additional $12.9 million in funding will increase the initial capacity of the facility from 40,000 container lifts per year to around 80,000 lifts.

According to the SCPA, Norfolk Southern proposed the idea for the inland port in January 2012.

Also, I noted in the Saluda Grade thread that an e-mail response from Norfolk Southern stated that the speed limit on the W-Line between Spartanburg and Landrum was returned to 25 mph after a temporary speed restriction of 10 mph was enforced while track maintenance was performed. I do not know where the increase to 50 mph came from, but it is likely false.

[samfp1943]

dubch87

A few updates on the South Carolina Inland Port.

The South Carolina Ports Authority has settled with a company on the inland port site to relocate, allowing construction to continue with an anticipated completion in September 2013.

Companies from as far away as the Midwest that export grain or other agricultural products are among the possible customers of the South Carolina Inland Port in Greer, the chief executive of the state Ports Authority says.

An additional $12.9 million in funding will increase the initial capacity of the facility from 40,000 container lifts per year to around 80,000 lifts.

According to the SCPA, Norfolk Southern proposed the idea for the inland port in January 2012.

Also, I noted in the Saluda Grade thread that an e-mail response from Norfolk Southern stated that the speed limit on the W-Line between Spartanburg and Landrum was returned to 25 mph after a temporary speed restriction of 10 mph was enforced while track maintenance was performed. I do not know where the increase to 50 mph came from, but it is likely false.

  Pretty Interesting stuff. GSP would also serve the close-by neighbor at The BMW plant, not to mention the Greenville- Spartanburg area is a location with pretty good road access in any number of directions.

       One has to think that those kinds of predicted improvement could only help the case we have been following on the Threads her that reference NS's 'W' Line over Saluda Grade.     Consider the long view. The Port of Charleston is being improved by dredging for deeper draft ships.  CSX and NS would have a pretty straight shot to the upper mid west and Great Lakes areas not to mention the Manufacturing ceners of Ohio and Indiana.

    I would not expect to see the 10,000 foot container trains on that line, but  the EMD and GE's could handle a reasonable tonnage over the 'W' line,  CSX already has units that are heavily ballasted for use in West Virginia hauling coal trains across Sand Patch. Would not a similar strategy work over Saluda?  If the reaffic warrented it why not a capacity increase or re-engineering some of the more troublesome areas?  I know it is pure speculation, but, why not consider various options?      

[dubch87]

Here is a gallery of photos from the construction site at the South Carolina Inland Port.

http://greertoday.com/photos/norfolk-southern-at-greer-inland-port/2013/08/09/

[Joe the Photog]

BMW will move their export operations to the new Greer Inland Port and expects to be operating by January, 2014.

 

http://greertoday.com/greer-sc/bmw-confirms-relocation-of-export-operation-to-greer-inland-port/2013/09/04/

[dubch87]

Inland port operations start Monday.

There is also a recent article in The Journal of Commerce "South Carolina's Inland Port to Test Potential for Short-Haul Intermodal." Membership is required to read the article, so I have no idea what they discuss.

Joe the Photog

BMW will move their export operations to the new Greer Inland Port and expects to be operating by January, 2014.

 

http://greertoday.com/greer-sc/bmw-confirms-relocation-of-export-operation-to-greer-inland-port/2013/09/04/

I don't believe the inland port would have come to fruition without BMW.

[GP-9_Man11786]

Signs for the new port are up at Exit 58 off I-85. Another entrance to the port is under construction on SC Route 80.

[railfanjohn]

Taken from THE STATE newspaper of Thursday November 14, 2013:

_______________________________________________________

 

Norfolk Southern starts daily rail from Charleston, Upstate   

 

By TYRONE RICHARDSON [e-mail]

Railway operator Norfolk Southern has kicked off a daily run for moving cargo between Charleston and the new "inland port" yard in the Upstate.

The service transports shipping containers to and from the State Port Authority’s Greer transfer yard, a nearly 100-acre property that opened weeks ago near Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport.

The inland port is a nearly $50 million project with costs shared between SPA and Norfolk Southern.

Train service to and from the facility runs once each weekday, according to Norfolk Southern’s website.

The company’s cargo service departs from the company’s rail yard in North Charleston in the early evening. The train travels more than 200 miles to Greer within seven and a half hours, according to Robin Chapman, a spokesman for Norfolk Southern.

Chapman said the new service will use existing staff and rail lines.

Norfolk Southern previously offered sporadic runs between Charleston and Greer, Chapman added.

Jim Newsome, chief executive officer of the SPA, has said the inland port will help grow the maritime’s agency cargo volume by attracting more business from companies along the Interstate 85 corridor. It’s also expected to cut down on the number of trucks hauling containers on state highways, a figure estimated at as many as 25,000 trips per year.

Read more here: http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=14A12E675FFC9940&p_docnum=1#storylink=cpy

railfanjohn

[dubch87]

There is finally aerial imagery available on Google Maps of the completed SCIP.

http://goo.gl/maps/5JK9x

[jclass]

Nice that Beemer's next door.  Now that the ice has been broken, hope that railroads will put their thinking caps on to develop more "short haul" intermodal opportunities that take semi's off the road.