CSX to build container hub in Johnston County - The [Raleigh] News & Observer
could this be an attempt to cut off NS whose NC RR from Greensboro - Raleigh - Morehead city is getting major upgrades and would be a natural for intermodal and general freight.
Updated article
blue streak 1 could this be an attempt to cut off NS whose NC RR from Greensboro - Raleigh - Morehead city is getting major upgrades and would be a natural for intermodal and general freight.
Wilmington currently has no intermodal rail service, and it also has little room for expansion. Rail access is less than ideal, and I don't think the 26 mile trip up the Cape Fear River is enticing for shippers.North Carolina has always been behind its neighbors' ports. It's no coincidence that this terminal will be located between Charleston and Norfolk. Charleston will have a 52 foot channel in a few years, and Norfolk is already at 50'.
It's also no coincidence that it's right next to I-95. I think this will function more as an inland port with a lot of truck transfer. CSX may be trying to capture some of the central North Carolina market from NS as well.
dubch87It's also no coincidence that it's right next to I-95. I think this will function more as an inland port with a lot of truck transfer. CSX may be trying to capture some of the central North Carolina market from NS as well.
My general thought as well. North Baltimore, OH is only a short distance off I-75, which provides good north-south highway connectivity (Detroit, Toledo, Dayton, Cincinnati), and it's not far off a couple of major east-west routes.
It may also provide a place to re-mix containers a little closer to their destinations.
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I don't think I understand the economic purpose of this terminal. The major ports in the southeast are Norfolk and Charleston; that is very unlikely to change. Is this going to be a destination/origination terminal for the Piedmont? Perhaps a location to sort containers from/to the major ports for forwarding on newly built trains?
I guess so long as the good citizens of the area are willing to build it for CSX, it is a positive for them. I'm less certain that it is a valuable addition to the railroad industry.
Yes, it reads to me that CSX plans to clone its N. Baltimore facility. The primary use will be to transfer containers between trains. Nothing in that area would produce the huge volume they're talking about as origin/destination shipments.
"CSX points to its Northwest Ohio Intermodal Transfer Hub as the best glimpse into what Johnston County can expect. That terminal, which opened in 2011, handles 900,000 containers each year. Local leaders think the Carolina Connector could surpass that number."
Of course, the new North Carolina terminal will also serve as a truck/train transfer point for what OD business there is.
Proposed CSX container hub in Johnston County meets opposition
Johnston County commissioners ask CSX to find another site
One woman states that a CSX representative told her the company wanted to move her out in six months.
dubch87 Proposed CSX container hub in Johnston County meets opposition Johnston County commissioners ask CSX to find another site One woman states that a CSX representative told her the company wanted to move her out in six months.
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And it looks like CSX is already backing out, at least for the proposed location.
CSX voids land deals for hub in Johnston County
Decline in overall traffic & profitablity - saving the cash ?
Maybe somebody looked at the traffic flows and decided another place would be as good or better ?
Sounds like the land purchases weren't tied down too well - no certain price for the one lady ?
Maybe too many hold-outs - looked like a checkerboard ? At least 1 guy was well-funded, and maybe politically connected. Eminent domain can solve some of that, but it takes time, and there is a point where it becomes too much.
Maybe success went to their heads ? CSX just did North Baltimore, and also recently opened one near Gettysburg, PA, as did NS.
Over here in eastern PA, an old steel plant was repurposed for that (Lehigh Valley Rail Management).
- Paul North.
Paul_D_North_JrSounds like the land purchases weren't tied down too well - no certain price for the one lady?
Apparently no certain price for anyone. And no offers until after a big splashy announcement about nearly a half-billion dollars running around for something the company considered essential.
Not the way I understood this sort of thing was arranged by sensible real-estate developers, let alone a company that had spent three years 'scouting' (whatever that means in the present context).
I realize this isn't the days of the Biltmore development where agents quietly bought up at the lowest rate before disclosing what was going on. And I understand that when you dance with state agencies you will have to be very, very careful not to irritate potentially significant numbers or groups of voters.
But this seems like a little cautionary textbook case study of how, chapter and verse, to NOT go about a strategic project...
(And yeah, I think the traffic reduction is the major force behind the rather interesting step of 'voiding' the agreements-in-principle, rather than just delaying them; to me, that's a pretty clear sign that the project is dead as conceived, not just in a further round of consideration. Is that as strategic a location as indicated?)
Lots of CSX intermodal news in North Carolina this week.
CSX picks Rocky Mount for planned $272M rail hub
Charlotte getting direct intermodal rail service to Port of Wilmington
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