BNSF- CSX answers KCS/NS "Meridian Speedway Plan"

[samfp1943]

Cut and Paste from TRAINS Newswire on 10/13/2006:

"BNSF, CSX to create new high-volume intermodal corridor

 

October 13, 2006

FORT WORTH, Texas and JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - BNSF Railway and CSX yesterday announced plans to create a high-volume rail corridor for intermodal services on their lines connecting California, Atlanta, and the rest of the Southeast. The planned service will initially include two intermodal trains each day between the West Coast and Southeast in each direction. Corridor volume on the route is expected to grow with the overall expansion of the West Coast-Southeast intermodal market. To support the planned service, BNSF will expand capacity on its rail lines connecting Avard, Okla., Memphis, Tenn., and Birmingham, Ala. CSX will expand its rail line between Birmingham and Atlanta, as well as its intermodal terminal in Fairburn, Ga., near Atlanta. The agreement provides BNSF the opportunity to establish an Atlanta-area intermodal facility on CSX in the future. The agreement also allows for continued BNSF/CSX rail service between Memphis and Florida, as well as improved connections with the Carolinas and other Southeast destinations.

The new agreement replaces and expands on the terms of an agreement signed in 2001 that would have expired in 2007. It is anticipated that the new service will begin in early 2007, with the initial capacity projects, consisting primarily of sidings and terminal expansion, to be completed by the end of that year. The agreement also allows for future capacity expansion along the corridor."

 

Avard, to Tulsa, to Springfield (BNSF's Kansas Division to its Springfield Division).  Will call for some heavyweight expenditures to upgrade the track from Avard to Tulsa. Which I think is currently a fairly lightly trafficed route; I have seen the occassional intermodal on the track that crosses the entrance to the Tulsa Airport.

Not sure of the condition from Tulsa To Springfield, although around SW Missouri it seems to have a lot of single track, in well kept condition.  Should be pretty interesting around Tulsa if it does get off the ground. It's a shame they[BN=BNSF] rationalized the old Frisco line between Wichita, and Carthage,Mo.

[nanaimo73]

 

It's a shame they[BN=BNSF] rationalized the old Frisco line between Wichita, and Carthage,Mo.

Sam,

Would BNSF have more non-agricultural traffic to haul between Wichita and the Memphis Gateway today if they still had that line, compared to 10 years ago ?

[martin.knoepfel]

Isn't Atlante the real problem for trains to get through? I heard some trains waited half days - with engineers dying on the road - before the could proceed.

[samfp1943]

 

It's a shame they[BN=BNSF] rationalized the old Frisco line between Wichita, and Carthage,Mo.

Sam,

Would BNSF have more non-agricultural traffic to haul between Wichita and the Memphis Gateway today if they still had that line, compared to 10 years ago ?

Dale;

     Although there was plenty of ag related freight on the Frisco, there was always plenty of other freight being classified at Memphis [Frisco(in 1956) built and operated an emense hump classification yard southeast of Memphis, Tennessee Yard. As well as two other yards; Yale Yard, in Memphis, and the Harvard Yard, now an intermodal facility, at Marion, Ark.  The line I mentioned., an old Frisco route[From Wichita,Ks. Coffeyville,Ks, to Carthage,Mo] would have allowed them to bypass KC. but since the BN's main route from the West Coast was to KC and on to Chicago, and the balance of the freight to the Southeast went KC to Springfield. the possibility that it, [the Wichita, Coffeyille, Carthage route] was abandoned as part of a sale to Watco, to stop that eventuality, is always a possibility.

Currently the BNSF reaches Springfield from KC via the Ft Scott sub to Monett, Mo[west to Tulsa], and east to Springfield,Mo.                                                                                      

Another line direct from KC goes through Missouri to Springfield without going thru Kansas. The abandoned section would have been the hypotenuse of that triangle.                                                      

As to the mix of freight, there has always seemed to be a mix of all kinds of freight thru Springfield down the Thayer sub into Memphis, for the Frisco, the BN and the BNSF.   

[N737AA]

There is already lots of traffic on the Avard Sub from the Transcon to the Tulsa terminal and then on Eastward via the Cherokee Sub to Springfield.  It is trackwarrant control, so the scanner is always busy, as soon as one train releases a warrant, the dispatcher is issuing a new one to another train, and I can only hear the very east end of the sub.  The Cherokee sub between Tulsa and Springfield will also need some upgrades to handle additional traffic.  As it is, the dispatcher has a hard time handling the traffic they already have on the sub and it is CTC.

I for one, welcome the news, it means more railfanning opportunities.

Mike in Tulsa

BNSF Cherokee Sub

[anb740]

Isn't Atlante the real problem for trains to get through? I heard some trains waited half days - with engineers dying on the road - before the could proceed.

It's not as bad on CSX as it is on NS. (NS can sometimes become a daily disaster with 12,000' intermodals sitting in sidings up to 40 miles away from town due to lack of room in the yards)  The CSX Lineville Sub. between Birmingham, AL and LaGrange, GA (the line connects here with the lightly-used A&WP Sub. northward to Atlanta) is the biggest capacity problem issue, and siding extensions/double track projects have been underway to fix this.  The CSX Fairburn terminal is actually located on the southwest side of Atlanta away from all the congestion, so there shouldn't be too much of a problem getting trains in and out. 

Capacity expansion on the lines south of Atlanta to FL. have also been in full swing adding generous doses of new sidings and double track all over the place.  Considering the line between Manchester and Waycross, GA is already averaging close to 50 trains a day, this expansion is sorely needed!

anb740

[SALfan]

Capacity expansion on the lines south of Atlanta to FL. have also been in full swing adding generous doses of new sidings and double track all over the place.  Considering the line between Manchester and Waycross, GA is already averaging close to 50 trains a day, this expansion is sorely needed!

anb740

Sounds like the old AB&C is doing well.