question on grain trains in washington

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Ballard Beaver

ballard beaver
looks like there has been an increase in grain trains the last couple weeks...harvest time. grain has been going to rivergate (pdx), vancouver, kalama, longview, as well as to the PSAP. however, NONE to seattle or tacoma. ZERO. why is this? i know that they were doing maintenance to these facilities, but i thought that was last year. anyone know when they will start running to temco (tac) and louis dreyfus (sea) again?
 
Last word I had was they were going to start getting ships in October, so I would think the trains might start showing up in mid September. Won't know for sure until we see it.
 
I am waiting to see if BNSF will resume running loaded grain trains over Stevens Pass. They did 2-3 years ago, but quit after a big derailment in eastern Washington.
 
thanks for the response. part of what i was wondering is, well, the grain is already flowing from the midwest to the ports...but it is only tacoma and seattle in particular that are getting NONE. grain trains are headed to pasco, rivergate, longview, kalama, vancouver, and the psap, but nothing to temco or louis dreyfus. i wonder if there are labor issues, or facility issues, or if just it has something to do with export contracts...im just curious. and frankly i miss seeing the trains come into seattle and blocking up the waterfront. :D
 
Maybe: water level route through the mountains, then unload it. No trip over the Cascades or up to the Sound. If those reach capacity, it may go to the Sound.

Just speculation.

Bruce
 
Starting to Move

There are two grain ships waiting in Seattle and a second going to Tacoma.

The SHAO SHAN 6 is going into Pier 86 Seattle at 0630 10/3. Nothing scheduled for TEMCO.
 
According to a Facebook report, there are 4-5 trains bound for Seattle now. So grain traffic sounds like it is picking up. It was also noted that there were 7-8 grain trains in the rotation for Tacoma.
 
In past years, empty grain hopper trains have headed back east via the Scenic Sub and Stevens Pass. Will that resume this year or will they return east over the Iron Triangle via Stampede Pass?
 
Voge West is going into TEMCO at 0600 10/4. So all the grain dock are working again and I go home in five days.:p
 
Grain train season wll be coming up soon. In the past, much US grain was shipped to China via West Coast ports. It will be interesting to see if that continues with the present economic situation in China.
 




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