Western Railroad Discussion > Grain hopper question

When the harvest season is over where in the heck does BNSF, CP & CN store all those grain hoppers? I never see pictures of any of the earthworms in storage.

Which harvest are you speaking of ?? You do realize that there is wheat to be cut in summer as well as winter, The cutting season lasts for at least two months across the country, followed by corn and then after the first freeze we have to cut milo. Grain is moved to elevators, and may also be move to larger elevators depending on when it is sold, it is moved to not only Houston but other terminals for shipment overseas. The cars are moved between carriers as the harvest moves to keep the cars busy. Hoppers are also used to haul other items made from the grains, feed, flour, etc. So, when do you want to park them ??

Grain in elevators is stored till the price goes up and farmer is ready to sell, so grain is moving year around. upkpfan

I suspect the only rest a grain hopper experiences is that last trip to the scrap yard. Farming techniques have improved so much over the years, that barring a serious drought, there are going to be huge crops in North America to ship one direction or another. As it is, I feel the railroads do not have anywhere near the hopper capacity, crews, and locomotives to move that "bumper crop" in a timely manner. (also, add in the oil trains, the container trains, and the normal general freight trains)

With 2 grain shuttle load out facilities 80mi east of Great Falls, Mt on BNSF's Laurel sub, there is an uptick in hopper movement at harvest time. But it is a rare week on the Laurel Sub that you DO NOT see a WB grain train year around. Neither of those 2 facilities has anywhere near the capacity to store the wheat crops harvested in Central Montana. Plus, bushel prices tend to move upwards as the harvest season becomes a memory. ONLY when I do not have any storage space on the farm will I deliver wheat to one of the load outs during the harvest. I prefer to watch market conditions and deliver that bushel of wheat when I feel the grain market price is at a peak. (I'm not the only one.) Only when the farmers are in the field seeding a new crop does one see quiet times at the load outs. I can contract a bin of wheat over a 3 month period for delivery as do others so there is always that need for a 100 unit grain train.

Last, the wheat harvest starts in Texas in the spring. The combines move north as the crop matures. Montana harvests wheat from mid-July into September (sometimes Oct) on some spring crops. Then hoppers have to be shuffled to the mid west to move the soybeans. Then there is the corn harvest. Then there is Coors & Budweiser moving the malt barley to the beer brewing plants. Then there's the milo. The only rest that hopper car gets is waiting for a new crew.

With that said, the railroads get quite the bang for their buck on their grain hopper fleet. They need more of them! I was quite amazed on my last Empire Builder run when I saw a unit grain train pulled into a shuttle load out on Montana's highline. A complete matched unit train out of Mexico.

You left out soybeans.

Non-grain uses for conventional covered hoppers include fertilizer and due to demand, hauling frack sand. Railroads would prefer not to see dense products hauled in grain hoppers due to the risk of overloading.
Alex Huff

Back in August, 1999 I followed a BNSF local on the line from Billings, MT to Casper, WY that was placing a 50-car cut of grain hoppers into a siding for storage. So it does happen -- or, at least, it did.

upkpfan Wrote:
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> Grain in elevators is stored till the price goes
> up and farmer is ready to sell, so grain is moving
> year around. upkpfan

...then the farmer yells and complains that the railroad doesn't provide enough cars, power, crews, and capacity to immediately fulfill his requirements (though for the rest of the time, all these assets of the railroad might be just sitting around, collecting dust and the train crews chasing their seniority around the system or getting furloughed).

Not being a farmer i now know grain hoppers keep moving year round. Thanx for the schooling. Also living in the S.F. bay area we don't get many unit grain trains up this way. I rarely get to STOCKTON or WASCO, CA to see the few that go that way.

Grain hoppers rarely get a rest , except for the trips to the rip track, and when the hopper is finally retired. Keep in mind there are other crops to harvested besides wheat, corn, soybeans, milo,sunflower seeds. The UP builds grain trains at Osawatomie, KS as empty grain coming north and cars are set out and if bad ordered; are fixed by Greenbrier Corp , which has tracks in the yard assigned to it. Extra Board Crew is called to build grain trains switching C-4000 and C-5000 cubic ft. hoppers out. Most elevators want the C-5 hoppers, but sometimes there are not enough to go around. North bound empty grain trains will set out and pick up hoppers depending on the grain desk has on the work order, and what ever the elevator has requested.

We're still moving grain from 2 years ago.... Lol