RAILWAY AGE Announces 2004 Short Line and
Regional Railroads of the Year
NEW YORK, March 25, 2004
Railway Age magazine has named Northumberland, Pa.-based Nittany & Bald Eagle Railroad Co. as 2004 Short Line Railroad of the Year and Brewster, Ohio-based Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Co. as 2004 Regional Railroad of the Year. The awards will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association in St. Louis on April 23.
“This year’s awards are presented to carriers who have consistently proven that persistence pays off,” said Railway Age Publisher Robert P. DeMarco. “Nittany & Bald Eagle recovered from a loss of 50% of its annual carloads in just three years. And Wheeling & Lake Erie solved a grain shipper and grain receiver’s trucking problems by bringing rail into the equation. Their focus on initiating shorter-haul moves and providing quality customer service has helped them boost both carloads and revenues.”
The Nittany & Bald Eagle Railroad Co. (NBER)—one of eight North Shore Railroad Co. properties—is being honored for its remarkable turnaround efforts. The winning entry was submitted by NBER Director of Marketing Todd Hunter.
After losing four core customers that provided nearly 8,000 carloads or 50% of its business, NBER aggressively marketed its services and expanded operations. Its first priority was to increase aggregate business. What started as an 8,000-ton stone move in 1984 rose to a 1.1 million-plus ton move in 2003. The short line now runs a 12-car shuttle twice a day over eight miles, eliminating more than 20,000 truckloads from area highways. NBER developed several other short-haul moves, which have added up to $1 million a year in revenue. In 2003, NBER was presented with ASLRRA’s marketing award for this business growth. The short line also was selected as one of the top “100 Best Businesses in Central Pennsylvania” by PA Business Central Newspaper.
“The Nittany has been able to weather significant hits by taking advantage of and creating new opportunities,” says Jeff Stover, executive director of the Lewisburg, Pa.-based SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority, owner of the 70 miles of track that NBER operates. “Through our classic public-private partnership, we are trying to make it easy for companies to do business with us. It’s not ‘no, we can’t do that,’ but ‘how can we help you do that?’”
NBER also improved track infrastructure in 2003. Working with the SEDA-COG JRA and the state of Pennsylvania, NBER completed installation of 12 more miles of new continuous welded rail (for a total of 36 miles in just five years) and 4,300 new crossties. NBER’s parent company brought in a full-time track surfacing gang to resurface the entire main line. The railroad now operates as a 40 mph Class III on its 55-mile, 286K compliant main line.
The Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Co. (W&LE) is being recognized by Railway Age for outstanding achievement in marketing and attention to customer service. Jeff Sunderland, W&LE’s Market Manager-Grain, Food, and Forest Products, submitted the winning entry.
Among the largest Class II’s with more than 800 miles of track, W&LE handles nearly 130,000 carloads annually. In 2002, it identified a number of local, short-haul grain opportunities with its traditional unit grain train elevators—markets dominated by short-haul truck moves of 75 miles or less. Determining that rail could offer cheaper rates and more timely delivery to receivers, W&LE marketed its service and purchased 22 4,750-cubic-foot covered hoppers. W&LE teamed up with large on-line grain shipper Sunrise Cooperative—with grain elevators in Clarksfield and Monroeville, Ohio—and grain receiver Star of the West—with a flour mill in Kent—to start a “Partners in Wheat Production” program. Star had been receiving 60% of its shipments via truck, and Sunrise was among its truck carriers. Because the milling company wanted to expand its on-site storage capacity, and access to its facility was already difficult due to lack of space and congestion, Star and Sunrise decided to give W&LE a chance to carry wheat by rail. Under a 10-year contract, W&LE specified competitive rail rates, and Sunrise spent $1 million to provide additional storage space for Star. To handle the increased wheat shipments and growth in other on-line grain business, W&LE acquired another 50 covered hoppers.
The partnership program resulted in a reliable supply of high-quality wheat for Star, an increase in revenue for Sunrise, an increase in new business for W&LE, and a more reliable wheat market for Sunrise-area farmers. The percentage of wheat now moving by rail into Kent is 65% and it continues to grow. Sunrise shipments to Kent have increased by 300%, and now all move by rail.
This success led to additional truck-competitive rail business. In less than a year since the partnership began, W&LE moved more than 400 carloads carrying 1.3 million bushels of wheat, soybeans, and corn to local receivers, taking more than 1,600 trucks off Ohio roads. According to Sunderland, “it’s a win-win-win all around.”
The awards will be announced in the April issue of Railway Age.
For more information, contact Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor, Railway Age, (212) 620-7236; E-mail: mluczak@sbpub.com.
Railway Age is a monthly magazine circulated at the management levels of North American freight and passenger railroads. Published since 1876, it is the transportation industry’s oldest trade magazine.
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