VALE – Rail cars loaded with lumber will be rumbling into Vale after Oregon Eastern Railroad finished expansion of its operations in Vale and is anticipating more rail business.
Meantime, the railroad is in line for a $1 million state grant to upgrade track and one bridge.
“We want to grow traffic on the Oregon Eastern. We think there’s a market demand,” said Bruce Carswell, senior vice president of Jaguar Transport Holdings, based in Joplin, Missouri.
The company bought three acres next to its Vale railyard and built two new rail spurs. That provides for bringing in rail cars to transfer goods to trucks.
The first customer of the new operation is bringing in lumber to put on trucks for shipment throughout the Treasure Valley, Carswell said. He said Oregon Eastern is readying to handle propane shipments as well.
Oregon Eastern is a short line, tracing its history to 1906. It runs on about 27 miles of track, from Ontario to the U.S Silica plant west of Vale.
The railroad struggled in recent years and Jaguar Transport bought it and other short lines in November 2020. Carswell said the company is “much more aggressive” than previous owners about building up the Vale operation.
That’s what lead to creating the transload platform.
“They saw through their commercial contacts, which are pretty extensive, that there was a demand for additional transloading activity and capacity,” Carswell said.
He said Oregon Eastern intends to add more agricultural products to its shipping mix.
“We really see a lot of opportunity,” he said. “Agricultural business in the area is definitely a target for us.”
And the railroad could operate faster and with heavier loads if it wins a state transportation grant.
Oregon Eastern is seeking about $1 million from the state Transportation Department to add to $694,000 of company funds to upgrade the system. In the competitive process, a state review committee recently ranked the Vale company’s application fourth in the state, and recommended it be awarded.
The Oregon Transportation Commission could decide whether to do so at its May meeting.
“This project will allow portions of the railroad to become more competitive by increasing the amount of the railroad that can accommodate the maximum allowable weight of each rail car to 286,000 pounds and increasing the speed at which the OERR can operate,” according to the application.
The money will be used to replace about one mile of track and refurbish another 24 miles and install 4,400 railroad ties. The project would upgrade a bridge west of Vale that is now weight restricted.
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