Post by mrl651 on Jul 30, 2010 19:04:11 GMT -5
Hello all! I'd like to introduce my freelanced railroad, the Northwest Rail Link. Below is a historical documentation about the creation of the NWRL. Enjoy!
The Northwest Rail Link's history begins towards the end of the Milwaukee Road's Pacific Coast Extension's history. In mid-1980 the states of Washington, Idaho and Montana, faced with the elimination of a competitive rail line in their respective states, which were dominated by the Burlington Northern, created a joint committee, later nicknamed MilWest, to study the feasibility of purchasing the profitable but ill-maintained Pacific Coast Extension mainline from Tacoma, WA. eastward to Aberdeen, SD to connect with the central portion of the Milwaukee system. This basically created a stay of execution for the PCE – with three states opposed to the abandonment, the ICC's finding that the PCE was actually profitable, in contrary to the picture painted by the Milwaukee Road's altered books, and numerous other groups also trying to keep the PCE alive, the ICC denied the Milwaukee's request to abandon the PCE.
The ICC required the Milwaukee to continue operations on the PCE, but, Milwaukee management felt that did not mean through freight traffic, so only local jobs ran to forward cars to the closest interchange point. Milwaukee, having already sold it's Elk River Branch to Potlatch Lumber's St. Maries River Railroad, turned around and leased the PCE Mainline to the STMA between Plummer and Avery, ID, to allow interchange with the UP and for log train operations from Avery to St. Maries. Then, in May 1982 they embargoed the entire line (with the exception of the STMA's part), claiming track conditions were no longer safe to operate on. As 1983 rolled around, the MilWest group had, at long last, come up with a proposal for the lines west of Aberdeen – all of it for scrap value. Milwaukee was not thrilled with the price, wanting an exorbitant amount, largely out of spite for having to continue operation of the line. MilWest, fueled largely by the former Milwaukee employee's emotions, refused to go down without a fight, and sued the Milwaukee. As we all know, court cases take some time to figure out. As the case drug on into late 1984, it became readily apparent that the Milwaukee Road was not going to last much longer, as the Soo Line had stepped up to take over the Milwaukee Road. MilWest saw this as their opportunity, contacted the Soo and shortly thereafter dropped their court case. Soo Line agreed to sell everything west of Aberdeen to MilWest, and would maintain a connection with MilWest there. Soo Line had just sold their way to the West Coast! In addition to the physical structure, Soo Line also sold MilWest 11 former Milwaukee engines, with the option to purchase more and numerous pieces of rolling stock.
Washington, Idaho and Montana immediately sought to organize MilWest into a corporation and was successful in July 1985 as the Milwaukee Western, with individual states overseeing the operations of the lines in their state. The marketing team contacted all the customers to inform them of the good news, and the employees readily returned to work. The line between Logan and St. Regis, MT parallels the BN for much of its route, but would soon be abandoned. In 1987, regional start-up Montana Rail Link was formed and assumed operation of BN trackage between Billings, MT and Sandpoint, ID. MilWest and the State of Montana saw this as a chance to rid themselves of excess infrastructure and secured trackage rights over the new MRL between Logan and St. Regis in January 1988. In mid 1988, MilWest was turning a profit again, but was still having operational issues with the line between St. Regis, MT and Plummer, ID. Many tunnels and bridges were starting to become maintenance headaches and the mountain crossing near Avery, ID was the biggest issue. Idaho contacted the MRL, which has two major mountain crossings, and the state of Montana about MRL assuming operations between Plummer and St. Regis. Looking to expand their reach westward and getting nearer to an interchange with the Union Pacific, the MRL jumped at the opportunity. Talks with the State of Washington were immediately initiated and on February 19, 1989 the MilWest mainline between Marengo, WA and St. Regis, MT was leased to the MRL for 99 years. MRL chose to create a new subsidiary, Northwest Rail Link to handle operations over the new line.
Rewind back to 1979, and we will find the Oregon Northeastern, a privately owned moderately sized railroad operating between the UP yard in Hinkle (Hermiston), OR and the BN at Bend, OR with money issues. With little “bridge” traffic, the railroad relied on a few lumber mills and various agricultural products to sustain life, but the mills – and the ground - were starting to dry up. A number of railroads with bridge traffic experience were contacted, and the owners of the Oregon Northeastern decided to sell 49% interest in their railroad to the Delaware & Hudson. While this retained their controlling interest, they were no longer interested in running a railroad and more interested in making money off of it, and the D&H was allowed to operate the line however they saw fit. In 1981, talks with the UP secured some through traffic from Hinkle to Bend, which would run with UP power and via the BN to the UP at Bieber, California Also, in late 1982, Pacific Power & Light's Powell Butte coal-fired power plant came on line. In early 1983, the SP joined onto the UP's runthrough contract. Instead of straight runthroughs, the trains would be blocked UP or SP in Hinkle, then run to Klamath Falls, OR and split up appropriately. These were huge for the D&H's new Oregon Division, but it was not to last. On January 5, 1984, Guilford Transportation Industries bought the D&H, and proceeded to force it's questionable management practices onto a system that had been making a comeback. Things got worse and on June 20, 1988, GTI put the entire D&H into bankruptcy and receivership. The owners of the Oregon Northeastern again went looking for an operator for their railroad, first at the Washington Central Railroad and then at the Montana Rail Link. Both potential operators were hesitant, but eventually, a contract with the Montana Rail Link was inked. On September 11, 1990 the Oregon Northeastern was merged into the MRL's Northwest Rail Link subsidiary. During ONE's lawsuit against GTI for failing to uphold their contractual agreements, a agreement was made where, in lieu of some monetary damages, ONE would be “given” a number of locomotives, with the cost of each locomotive deducted from the monetary award. ONE received five of Guilford's top-notch former ATSF SD26s. The ONE's owners, uninterested in owning locomotives, especially former Guilford junkers, sold all five units to the MRL.
Here is a map of the NWRL's service area:
Speaking of those Guilford junkers, here are two of them, SD26's 622 and 623:
MRL 622:
MRL 623:
Both of them:
Currently, MRL SD26's 621, 624 and 625 are awaiting paint in the shop at Livingston. Other MRL units assigned to the NWRL include:
MRL GP19-1 151
MRL SD40-2XR 263
MRL SD45-2 306
MRL SD45 360
MRL SD45 361
MRL GP35 401
MRL GP35 402
MRL GP30M 411
MRL SD9 600
MRL SD18 611
MRL SD18 612
MRL SD26 621
MRL SD26 622
MRL SD26 623
MRL SD26 624
MRL SD26 625
MRL SD19-1 651
MRL SD19-1 652
MRL SD35 701
MRL SD35 702
MRL SD35 704
MRL SD35 705
MRL SD35 706
MRL RP-E6D 901
MRL SD45 5317
There are also 6 CSXT units on long-term lease, including a GP30 (which stands a chance of becoming MRL 412), 3 SD35s and 2 GP40s.
Thanks for looking!
History of the
Northwest
Rail Link
Northwest
Rail Link
The Northwest Rail Link's history begins towards the end of the Milwaukee Road's Pacific Coast Extension's history. In mid-1980 the states of Washington, Idaho and Montana, faced with the elimination of a competitive rail line in their respective states, which were dominated by the Burlington Northern, created a joint committee, later nicknamed MilWest, to study the feasibility of purchasing the profitable but ill-maintained Pacific Coast Extension mainline from Tacoma, WA. eastward to Aberdeen, SD to connect with the central portion of the Milwaukee system. This basically created a stay of execution for the PCE – with three states opposed to the abandonment, the ICC's finding that the PCE was actually profitable, in contrary to the picture painted by the Milwaukee Road's altered books, and numerous other groups also trying to keep the PCE alive, the ICC denied the Milwaukee's request to abandon the PCE.
The ICC required the Milwaukee to continue operations on the PCE, but, Milwaukee management felt that did not mean through freight traffic, so only local jobs ran to forward cars to the closest interchange point. Milwaukee, having already sold it's Elk River Branch to Potlatch Lumber's St. Maries River Railroad, turned around and leased the PCE Mainline to the STMA between Plummer and Avery, ID, to allow interchange with the UP and for log train operations from Avery to St. Maries. Then, in May 1982 they embargoed the entire line (with the exception of the STMA's part), claiming track conditions were no longer safe to operate on. As 1983 rolled around, the MilWest group had, at long last, come up with a proposal for the lines west of Aberdeen – all of it for scrap value. Milwaukee was not thrilled with the price, wanting an exorbitant amount, largely out of spite for having to continue operation of the line. MilWest, fueled largely by the former Milwaukee employee's emotions, refused to go down without a fight, and sued the Milwaukee. As we all know, court cases take some time to figure out. As the case drug on into late 1984, it became readily apparent that the Milwaukee Road was not going to last much longer, as the Soo Line had stepped up to take over the Milwaukee Road. MilWest saw this as their opportunity, contacted the Soo and shortly thereafter dropped their court case. Soo Line agreed to sell everything west of Aberdeen to MilWest, and would maintain a connection with MilWest there. Soo Line had just sold their way to the West Coast! In addition to the physical structure, Soo Line also sold MilWest 11 former Milwaukee engines, with the option to purchase more and numerous pieces of rolling stock.
Washington, Idaho and Montana immediately sought to organize MilWest into a corporation and was successful in July 1985 as the Milwaukee Western, with individual states overseeing the operations of the lines in their state. The marketing team contacted all the customers to inform them of the good news, and the employees readily returned to work. The line between Logan and St. Regis, MT parallels the BN for much of its route, but would soon be abandoned. In 1987, regional start-up Montana Rail Link was formed and assumed operation of BN trackage between Billings, MT and Sandpoint, ID. MilWest and the State of Montana saw this as a chance to rid themselves of excess infrastructure and secured trackage rights over the new MRL between Logan and St. Regis in January 1988. In mid 1988, MilWest was turning a profit again, but was still having operational issues with the line between St. Regis, MT and Plummer, ID. Many tunnels and bridges were starting to become maintenance headaches and the mountain crossing near Avery, ID was the biggest issue. Idaho contacted the MRL, which has two major mountain crossings, and the state of Montana about MRL assuming operations between Plummer and St. Regis. Looking to expand their reach westward and getting nearer to an interchange with the Union Pacific, the MRL jumped at the opportunity. Talks with the State of Washington were immediately initiated and on February 19, 1989 the MilWest mainline between Marengo, WA and St. Regis, MT was leased to the MRL for 99 years. MRL chose to create a new subsidiary, Northwest Rail Link to handle operations over the new line.
Rewind back to 1979, and we will find the Oregon Northeastern, a privately owned moderately sized railroad operating between the UP yard in Hinkle (Hermiston), OR and the BN at Bend, OR with money issues. With little “bridge” traffic, the railroad relied on a few lumber mills and various agricultural products to sustain life, but the mills – and the ground - were starting to dry up. A number of railroads with bridge traffic experience were contacted, and the owners of the Oregon Northeastern decided to sell 49% interest in their railroad to the Delaware & Hudson. While this retained their controlling interest, they were no longer interested in running a railroad and more interested in making money off of it, and the D&H was allowed to operate the line however they saw fit. In 1981, talks with the UP secured some through traffic from Hinkle to Bend, which would run with UP power and via the BN to the UP at Bieber, California Also, in late 1982, Pacific Power & Light's Powell Butte coal-fired power plant came on line. In early 1983, the SP joined onto the UP's runthrough contract. Instead of straight runthroughs, the trains would be blocked UP or SP in Hinkle, then run to Klamath Falls, OR and split up appropriately. These were huge for the D&H's new Oregon Division, but it was not to last. On January 5, 1984, Guilford Transportation Industries bought the D&H, and proceeded to force it's questionable management practices onto a system that had been making a comeback. Things got worse and on June 20, 1988, GTI put the entire D&H into bankruptcy and receivership. The owners of the Oregon Northeastern again went looking for an operator for their railroad, first at the Washington Central Railroad and then at the Montana Rail Link. Both potential operators were hesitant, but eventually, a contract with the Montana Rail Link was inked. On September 11, 1990 the Oregon Northeastern was merged into the MRL's Northwest Rail Link subsidiary. During ONE's lawsuit against GTI for failing to uphold their contractual agreements, a agreement was made where, in lieu of some monetary damages, ONE would be “given” a number of locomotives, with the cost of each locomotive deducted from the monetary award. ONE received five of Guilford's top-notch former ATSF SD26s. The ONE's owners, uninterested in owning locomotives, especially former Guilford junkers, sold all five units to the MRL.
Here is a map of the NWRL's service area:
Speaking of those Guilford junkers, here are two of them, SD26's 622 and 623:
MRL 622:
MRL 623:
Both of them:
Currently, MRL SD26's 621, 624 and 625 are awaiting paint in the shop at Livingston. Other MRL units assigned to the NWRL include:
MRL GP19-1 151
MRL SD40-2XR 263
MRL SD45-2 306
MRL SD45 360
MRL SD45 361
MRL GP35 401
MRL GP35 402
MRL GP30M 411
MRL SD9 600
MRL SD18 611
MRL SD18 612
MRL SD26 621
MRL SD26 622
MRL SD26 623
MRL SD26 624
MRL SD26 625
MRL SD19-1 651
MRL SD19-1 652
MRL SD35 701
MRL SD35 702
MRL SD35 704
MRL SD35 705
MRL SD35 706
MRL RP-E6D 901
MRL SD45 5317
There are also 6 CSXT units on long-term lease, including a GP30 (which stands a chance of becoming MRL 412), 3 SD35s and 2 GP40s.
Thanks for looking!
