Railroad

bill needs

bipartisan

support

Funds would help

finance next phase

of railroad's comeback

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

REDWOOD FALLS -- An Appropriations Bill that would partially fund the second phase of the rehabilitation of the railroad linking Hanley Falls to Norwood needs more bi-partisan support to become reality.

So said a representative of Sen. Mark Dayton (D-Minn.) to the Minnesota Valley Regional Rail Authority Wednesday at the Redwood County Courthouse.

Jim Gelbmann urged anybody interested in the improvement of the Minnesota Prairie Line to contact U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman's office and other members of congress and urge them to look at the bill.

Gelbmann said a similar bill introduced last year had $2.3 million earmarked for the railroad, but the House version of the bill had no funding.

The railroad is a publicly-owned, 94.3-mile long, short-line railroad known as the "Ortonville Line" operated by the Soo Line (now the Canadian Pacific Railway) between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Milbank, S.D. The main line was originally built in the 1870s by the Hastings & Dakota Railway.

Seventh District Rep. Collin Peterson said it's old-fashioned politics that may decide the fate of the bill.

"When you get inside this, it gets down to relationships and people that like you and will work with you," Peterson said.

He disagrees with the current version of the bill that includes money for farmers in counties near those declared national disasters last year.

"The bill needs to be changed or I'll vote against it," said Peterson. "Not because I'm against the railroad funding. They've added money in this for almost everything. My farmers (in northwestern Minnesota) need the money or they'll be out of business."

Rail Authority board member Steve Renquist of Sibley County said the railroad is needed by all counties along the line and the Minnesota Department of Transportation because increased train traffic would reduce highway wear and tear.

Gelbmann said continued railroad improvement would allow farmers to receive an additional 3 to 10 cents per bushel of grain if they shipped by rail. Railroad improvement will stimulate the economy for a low ($2 million) price, he said.

Confident that the bill will hold up in Congress, he expects it to pass the Senate floor today.

After a 21-month absence of rail traffic, the the track connecting Norwood and Hanley Falls in Yellow Medicine, Redwood, Renville, Sibley and Carver counties is springing to life. The line will provide another transportation mode for granite, kaolin clay, dairy products and other items to markets in Chicago and both coasts.

The $6 million project includes 80,000 new cross ties, crushed rock ballast and other improvements to the line that meets the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway at Hanley Falls and the TC&W at Norwood.

Phase one of the project enabled trains to operate at 10 mph. Phase two will strengthen track to allow freight cars up to 286,000 pounds and allow 25 mph train travel.

The line will handle 8,200 cars per year, the equivalent of 30,000 trucks, saving wear on area highways. Railroad employment will increase 15-20 jobs.

Project funding included a $4.8 million MnDOT loan. Shippers on the line and the Rail Authority each contributed $600,000. Another $1 million came from a federal appropriation obtained through the efforts of the Minnesota congressional delegation of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, Sen. Mark Dayton, Rep. Mark Kennedy and Rep. Martin Sabo.

The TC&W's traffic base consists largely of grains (corn, wheat, barley), soybeans, sugar, beet pulp pellets, lumber and other forest products, canned and frozen vegetables, edible beans, clay, fertilizers, coal, crushed rock and agricultural machinery.

The line has access to the Mississippi River via the Minneapolis River Terminal at Camden Place in north Minneapolis and through facilities at Savage. Through other carriers, the TC&W has access to all major river facilities in the Twin Cities.

New Rail Authority officers elected were Chairman Bruce Pinske of Gaylord, Vice Chairman Gene Short of Redwood County and Secretary-Treasurer Jane Remiger of Yellow Medicine County.