[Vision2020] Grain Exports

[Chris Storhok]

Tom,
Phil is absolutely right, for around $30,000,000 a rail line can be
re-established between Moscow and Lewiston.  Unfortunately, though the cards
are stacked against such a project.  Locally, I am sure there would be a big
fight as part of that route is not the Latah Trail, another section is the
Juliaetta-Kendrick Trail, and yet another section was covered by ITD when
they improved the road from Arrow Junction to Juliaetta.
Hurricane Katrina finally brought to the forefront the nations wholly
inadquate transportation system.  Several Federal DOT officials have been
warning for years that the freight infrastructure is basically gone.  Over
reliance on cheap diesel fuel, which allowed shippers to move to inefficient
semi-trucks; the Staggers Act, which allowed the major railroads to abandon
less profitable routes (such as Burlington Northern did when they sold or
abandoned most of their operation on the Palouse - including the once
profitable connection between Moscow and Lewiston); and continued subsidies
for construction of highways, just look at that nice new 4 lane highway
between Moscow (eventually) and Lewiston.  If the railroad was still in
place, the need for the 4 lane road would not be there, unfortunately our
nation's short-sighted transportation policy shifted long haul freight from
efficient railroads to inefficient trucks.   Last year over 700,000 tons of
wheat from Idaho, Washington, Montana, and North Dakota were moved through
the Port of Lewiston, most of which were brought to the port by truck.
The Federal DOT is concerned that there are only 5 east-west rail routes
that remain across the US, this has lead to delays and other shipping
bottlenecks that will only be stressed more by the temporary loss of the
Port of Louisiana.
Believe it or not, the lack of rail lines to Pacific ports has even made a
rail route from the Alaska port of Seward, through the Canadian system, and
into the Lower 48 viable.

Chris Storhok


-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
[mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]On Behalf Of Phil Nisbet
Sent: Friday, September 09, 2005 5:58 AM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Grain Exports


Tom

The Port Of New Orleans is indeed a large mover of grains and agricultural 
productsm, but you seem to be disparaging of the Port Of Lewiston.  27% of 
all grains exported from the USA every year go through the port 27 Miles to 
our south.  That number would be more if the rail companies had not fugured 
out all the track mile loses that having Lewiston connected by rail to the 
rest of the United States are.  So BN and the rest pulled up the tracks to 
keep the trains heading to the coast.  Big Railroads refused to sell any of 
the possible lines to smaller players like Montana Rail Link to insure that 
their investments in the Ports of Seattle and the Port of Tacoma remianed 
viable.  Instead of seeing the lines improved, they are all now trails.

It is perfectly feasible to rebuild a connection over the old railbeds to 
reconnect Lewiston with the Midwest via Montana.

Phil Nisbet

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