Grain train ready to roll again
By Harvest Public Media
By Dean Borg, Harvest Public Media
Forest City, IA – A few decades ago, railroad tracks laced Iowa's countryside, linking even the smallest communities to big cities across the nation. But many of those tracks are silent now, or gone, turned back to adjacent farms or turned into bicycle paths. But in a small section of north-central Iowa, farmers and businessmen have come together to preserve their rail connection to big-city markets. And after seven years, rail carloads of corn will start moving out this April.
[audio:https://kvnonews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Train-HPM.mp3]
Unused for years, the train tracks at the Farmers' Co-op Association in Forest City, Iowa, are set to see rail cars again soon. (Photo by Dean Borg/Harvest Public Media)
It's been seven years since folks around Forest City, Iowa, have heard a train whistle on the nearby tracks. But Iowa Northern locomotives will soon be switching railcars alongside the towering grain silos at the town's co-op elevator.
"We're very excited to be in that part of the state," said Amy Homan, director of carload marketing for Iowa Northern Railroad. "The people there are excited to have us back in the area, and they love seeing our engines going up and down that line."
The railroad is partnering with some farmers and businesses to operate 22 miles of track being abandoned by the Union Pacific Railroad.
Randy Broesder, general manager of the Forest City Co-op Elevator, said retaining the trains is critical for the area.
"People know if the rail leaves, it never comes back," he said. "And they've seen a lot of it happen in the area because we've had other tracks that the lands went back to the farmer. And you look at neighboring elevators that used to be good size – they just don't have many employees anymore because they don't do a lot."
Broesder said the track cost about $1.9 million, but federal and state grants covered about $1 million. The balance came from investors, including the Forest City and Garner grain elevators, along with recreational vehicle manufacturer Winnebago Industries.
The rail is expected to open up options for corn growers.
Broesder worries about losing the ethanol plant in Hanlon, a small plant that grinds 50,000 bushels a day.
"We need to have someone who has a big appetite for a couple hundred thousand bushels," he said.
The big appetite is Archer Daniel Midland's huge corn processing plant in Cedar Rapids, nearly 200 miles away.
The revival of the rail track provides a more economical connection.
"Today, we can move corn from Forest City down to Cedar Rapids by train, it's costing us about 19, 20 cents a bushel," Bruesder said. "If I go to Lakota, which would be about 45 miles, that's costing me about 12, 13 cents (by truck). So we can go a lot further with train."
And that's the business plan: Ship corn halfway across the state by rail at almost the same cost per bushel as by truck to nearby ethanol plants.
The investors feel like they can't lose. After 10 years, the Iowa Northern Railroad has agreed to buy the 22 miles of track. Before that time, if things don't work out, investors say they can recover their money by selling the track as scrap metal.
Harvest Public Media, funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, reports on issues of food, fuel and field across the Midwest.
Stu Nicholson says:
As fuel prices and the costs of trucking continue to rise,I imagine we will see more formerly abandoned or underused rail lines be revived. We are seeing this happen as a result of the shale oil & gas exploration in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Please keep up this excellent coverage.
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