Eastern Railroad Discussion > Evart Michigan

Construction is scheduled to begin this spring on the Potash and Salt mine. Once it gets in full production 800,000 tons of potash and 1,000,000 tons of salt will be produced.
Mine will roughly 25 miles from the GLC rail line.
Is there a possibility of a new rail line being installed?

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I can't give you a direct answer. All I can give you is the history: CSX abandoned the line through Evart in 1987, and it became part of the Pere Marquette Rail Trail a short time later.

Separately, how much would 25 miles of new 25-mph railroad cost to get over to the GLC at Farwell?

Thank you for the news, Farmer.

farmer Wrote:
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> Is there a possibility of a new rail line being
> installed?

That's a hell of a lot of truckloads if they don't.

This mine has literally been discussed, imminent, and about to happen since the mid 90s. Hopefully it actually goes ahead. Its reasonable to assume a decent amount of potash and salt will be consumed in the local Michigan market. I’d expect you would see a transload at Clare on GLC and/or at Baldwin on MQT as an alternative to a rail build back, unless the mine is offering to pay for most of the construction. Michigan allows heavy double trucks which although miserable for road conditions, make truck moves to transload more palatable.

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DJ-12 Wrote:
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> This mine has literally been discussed, imminent,
> and about to happen since the mid 90s. Hopefully
> it actually goes ahead. 

Yeah, right. Been hearing about this for years, it would be nice if they put the rails back in but I don't see it either as they'll just use mostly rural roads. BTW, when I was growing up in the early 70s, my family lived in Evart for awhile and I clearly remember the C&O trains to Ludington. Usually about 2-4 trains a day, and going further back to the 50s (and before) they put in CTC to control the 8-10 trains a day, including a few passenger trains. A little hard to fathom now...

JG

This is proposed to be a "solution mine" so it will be basically producing hot salty water, not rocks. 

That brine can be pumped long distances cheaply, so they could in theory locate the evaporation/crystallization facility just about anywhere. 

The brine/phosphate solution will be dried at the plant site than shipped by truck to rail head.  Would make sence to put track back in.  Better for the roads.

Though there are underground salt mines in Michigan, pumping it out of the ground goes back quite a few years. In the 1860s, for example, after the pumped salt was dried out, it would be transported by rail in wooden barrels. Michigan was known for lumber and salt tonnage in the early days.

Victor Baird

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Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/25 13:45 by wabash2800.