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AgentKid, I'm just curious, are you saying the Arctic Ocean is less than ten miles or so from Fort McMurray?  Or that Waterways is?  I think it's pretty obvious that the Arctic Ocean is much farther.....much, much farther.  Also, Waterways is no longer the terminus of the line nor anywhere near that far from town.  You might be looking at a mile, but it's more likely even less than that.  The last railway serving town before CN reacquired the trackage was the Athabasca Northern. First off, we need to figure out whether they are proposing to move oil, or bitumen by rail.  They are not the same thing here at all.  Very little bitumen is actually shipped by pipe right now, the majority is upgraded in the Fort McMurray area into a synthetic oil blend.  That product is very easy to pump, easier in fact than conventional crude oil.  Bitumen is more along the line of tar, but as I mentioned, very little is actually shipped in it's raw state anyhow.  The material that is shipped in bitumen form, is diluted so that it will flow easily.  No heating is required provided it is diluted, and it is pumped to upgraders north east of Edmonton.  My bet would be that they are planning on hauling the upgraded synthetic crude, as it would be easier to sell to people on a spot market type of situation. The real issue with this plan, is the extreme state of decay associated with the current rail line to Fort McMurray.  I have heard it estimated that the upgrade of the line to the standards that would be required for day to day use of this type would be in the neighborhood of 1 billion dollars. Couple that with the fact that the current railhead is anywhere from 40 or so km from the nearest plant, and 80 or more from the most distant, and I think you would find costs to be a bit prohibitive. Brian
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