Western Railroad Discussion > Coos Bay Inks Deal for Intermodal Port

Coos Bay Inks Deal for Intermodal Port.

https://www.progressiverailroading.com/intermodal/news/Coos-Bay-port-inks-lease-agreement-for-new-intermodal-site--66663

This is a huge win for the Coos Bay Railroad and the UP.  

"The Oregon International Port of Coos Bay yesterday announced that a definitive lease agreement with NorthPoint Development has been executed for the future development of an intermodal facility on the North Spit of the Coos Bay harbor.The development will result in construction of a state-of-the-art, rail-served maritime port capable of processing over 1 million containers annually, Coos Bay officials said in a press release.Port-owned property on the North Spit has been leased to NorthPoint Development for up to 75 years. Total construction costs for the project are estimated at $1.7 billion."This project is uniquely impactful because it will create a much-needed new gateway on the West Coast that will ease ongoing congestion and supply-chain issues along the U.S. western seaboard, as well as construct a facility to the highest environmental standards available," said John Burns, the port's CEO.On May 23, port officials applied for a $1 billion federal grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Mega Grant Program to help fund infrastructure improvements as part of the project."

What shape is the railroad connection to Coos Bay in these days?  This press release seems like a lot of business is heading down those tracks

I find it difficult to justify spending $1.7B for another large container port on the Canada/US/Mexico pacific coast when both Portland and Oakland (and arguably Sea/Tac) are underutilized..And all of those have non-dodgy rail and road links to the port already, unlike Coos Bay.

What's the highest traffic volume ever seen on the Coos Bay branch in the entire history of the SP?

I mean it's good to have ambition and dream big, but realism is also very important. It'd be nice to see the rail line establish itself as useful for moving some reasonably significant volume of forest products first I think.

Can their route handle double stacks?

Not at this time can they handle double stack traffic

The highway system around Coos Bay can't currently handle the increase in truck traffic either.  What highway are they planning on widening and putting all the related container truck traffic on?  I can see a lot of push back from Oregon environmentalists.

How big of a ship can the Port handle?  And who's going to be shipping out of there, the lumber mills?

Not as far fetched as this one:  "Federal rail board wants to hear out mysterious coal train proposal, jeopardizing Great Redwood Trail"
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/federal-rail-board-wants-to-hear-out-mysterious-coal-train-proposal-jeopar/

sphogger

NWRail Wrote:
> Can their route handle double stacks?

PHall Wrote:
> How big of a ship can the Port handle?  And who's
> going to be shipping out of there, the lumber
> mills?

Those are the same things I was wondering when I first clicked on this thread.  I've only been up there once but I remember the line being really scenic with a bunch of tunnels that would have to be enlarged to accommodate double stacks.  I also remember the highways getting to and from Coos Bay were mostly 2 lane with many twists and turns going inland from there.  Very interesting article though.

 

"uniquely impactful"

Parsing through the statement this must mean the tunnels don't clear doublestacks.

These are big dreams and it would be nice to have happen but realistically it's far fetched. 

There are a number of tunnels on the line that would need enlarging is double stack traffic is envisioned. Even without enlarging many of those tunnels are in poor condition, Tunnel 15 at Canary in particular and that was way back in SP days. 

When SP had the line most of it was 25 mph but there was a long 10 mph section along Tahkenitch and Siltcoos Lakes due to bridges and I doubt much, if anything, has been done to those bridges. From what I can see from driving along the line I suspect the entire line is probably 10 mph with overall poor rail and tie conditions. 

To make this port deal happen I would think the entire line would need a compete rebuilding so we'll see if this port deal actually happens. I can't help but think people will take another look at the project and kill it.

pbouzide Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I find it difficult to justify spending $1.7B for
> another large container port on the
> Canada/US/Mexico pacific coast when both Portland
> and Oakland (and arguably Sea/Tac) are
> underutilized..And all of those have non-dodgy
> rail and road links to the port already, unlike
> Coos Bay

Right. And a container put on a train in Coos Bay bound for anywhere beyond Roseburg or Eugene will pass through....wait for it...Portland or Sacramento/Roseville, which are not terribly distant from Oakland. So let's see: no local market and a long rail or truck haul to get onto routes better accessed from existing ports with existing capacity. That's a winning plan.

Which I mean sincerely. If you're a developer playing with a billion $ of government grants, it IS brilliant! Set up a side company to manage the project, do site studies, and fly local officials around to workshops and meetings, have that company bill expenses to the port project, and pay those bills to yourself with public funds. That's all this is.

Interesting.

The highway is so remote you loose Sirus satellite radio at times.

Who cares if its all 10mph its probably faster than your container sitting in LA/LB for 30 days going nowhere.
RB

Or the Oakland dock workers on their frequent strikes.....

This means a ship can avoid going up the Columbia River.  Coos Bay can haul the containers as single stacks and shuttle them inland to the UP..  That solves the tunnel issue at no cost.  Track speed can be low so long as it is part of the planned transit.

sphogger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not as far fetched as this one:  "Federal rail
> board wants to hear out mysterious coal train
> proposal, jeopardizing Great Redwood Trail"
> https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/federal
> -rail-board-wants-to-hear-out-mysterious-coal-trai
> n-proposal-jeopar/
>

But...that's a private project! I've heard so often that government dumb and bad, corporations smart and good.

TAW

But they could unload west to east coast containers so truck traffic could be less than you think. And I would suspect the ROW would get a makeover as those well cars are hard on curves. Are the steel bridges tall enough??

More to the point, is the harbor deep enough to handle the Ever Givens of the world?