RECAP GRAIN
EXPANSION
POV sees new track, locomotive
I
By Joe Kelley
n December 2014, the Port of Victoria
saw its first pipe project come through
the port via the Union Pacific Railroad.
Almost 300 railcars of 24” diameter pipe
came through the port during the last
week of December and continued every week
through the first week of February. PE BEN
USA was the company in charge of offloading the pipe from flat deck rail cars (approximately 90 feet in length) onto specially rigged
trailers known in the industry as “swing and
sway” trailers. The trailers are designed to
track right behind the truck that is pulling
them, so making a 90 degree turn with an
over-length cargo is just as easy to do as driving a sports car. The other interesting aspect
of the offload process was that the machine
that was used to offload the nearly 3 miles of
pipe each day was a specially designed device
that used air suction to create a vacuum that
would suck up the pipe into a small cradle
mounted to a track excavator. The machine
handled every 5,400 lbs. section of pipe (or
joint) with ease —loading a truck in just 20
minutes. This was truly amazing to watch because not only did pipe have to be removed
from the railcar to the truck, wooden blocks
and strapping had to be laid in place with
each level of pipe that raised on each trailer.
To accomplish this task, the port increased
the width of the road adjacent to the rail
to accommodate the increase in traffic and
weight of the equipment offloading the pipe.
A new black top road has been built to
handle the truck traffic from Devon Energy
and future tenants. The road runs North from
FM 1432 to the South end of the port’s track
715, which is a track that project cargo can
be loaded and/or offloaded. Another road
improvement project is redirecting the traffic
from Fordyce Sand and Gravel from its current main entrance to a modified entrance
where the truck traffic will have a better field
of view of both approaching road traffic as
well as rail traffic. This improvement is a joint
partnership between the Port of Victoria and
Fordyce Sand and Gravel.
March 16th saw ground being broken on
an additional 2,350 feet of track that will be
added to track 716, one of the port’s current
two run-a-round tracks. The additional track
will enable the port to receive a complete
unit train of sand of more than 100 42-footrailcars, plus accompanying horsepower. The
project is expected to be completed six to
eight weeks from the official start date. The
increase in track will enable POV and its
customers to receive a unit train in on one
track, while allowing the port and Commodity Switching Company, Inc., the port’s
switching company, to operate the regularly
scheduled manifest service the port receives
three times a week. This ability to receive
unit trains was key to the Union Pacific
Railroad continuing its current unit train
service. Additionally, it was a key factor in
the Burlington Northern Santa Fe’s decision to start unit train service into the Port
of Victoria. The first BNSF unit train will
depart Oklahoma sometime around March
18th and make its way with 100 sand cars to
one of the port’s sand customers. Obviously,
this track expansion puts United Ag one step
closer to originating unit trains of grain to
its customers.
Commodity Switching Company, Inc.,
received its second six axle locomotive — an
SD-18 built in the 1960s. The unit traces
its lineage back to the Duluth, Missabe
and Iron Ore Range Railroad. The unit is
unique in a couple of aspects. First, the unit
is a high-nose unit, a rare sight these days.
Secondly, the unit (IBCX 616) has double
brake shoes on every wheel, making it ideal
for switching. The third unique feature of the
IBCX 616 is that it has a massive six-valve
air compressor, large even by today’s railroad standards. The reason for such a large
compressor is the Duluth, Missabe and Iron
Ore Range railroad operated trains 180 cars
in length. Today, most trains are only 110 to
135 railcars in length.
The various improvements that Port of
Victoria and its customers have made over
the past years will continue to benefit United
Ag in a variety of ways. Increased rail capacity
is likely to play a major role in United Ag’s
success from this point forward.
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