Galesburg key location for BNSF

Could relieve pressure on Chicago hub

Friday, September 22, 2006

By JOHN R. PULLIAM

The Register-Mail

GALESBURG - The manager of economic development sales for the BNSF Railway in the Midwest said the current boom times for railroads caught the industry by surprise.

"The railroads didn't expect the kind of growth spike in the first half of this decade," said Eric Pitcher, hinting the growth could mean good things for Galesburg.

Pitcher was the featured speaker at the Galesburg Regional Economic Development Association's annual Investor Luncheon Thursday at Best Western Prairie Inn.

The BNSF is the nation's largest grain carrier and second largest in terms of hauling coal. It also cooperates with trucking firms to be the largest railroad in terms of intermodal business. Railroads prefer long trains traveling long distances, rather than short trains traveling short distances, Pitcher said. It is possible to ship up to 330 containers on a unit train.

"It takes two people to bring that from Los Angeles to Chicago," Pitcher said, as opposed to hundreds of truckers.

The BNSF is largely a West Coast railroad, with major operations in the Pacific Northwest, Pacific Southwest and Oakland. Ships hauling containers of goods from the massive Chinese market and the Far East are put on BNSF trains at the West Coast intermodal facilities.

Pitcher said because twice as much consumer products are shipped to the United States across the Pacific, compared to the Atlantic, "That's the one area we've experienced our largest growth."

Galesburg is located in BNSF's "Southern Transcon," so certain factors could allow this area to be used to take pressure off the busy Windy City hub.

Pitcher talked about what it could mean to Galesburg if instead of the goods being shipped directly to Chicago, they were shipped through Savanna, south to the Quad Cities, then to Galesburg, before heading northeast to Chicago.

"The significance of Galesburg is you have five main (BNSF) lines coming together at one point," Pitcher said. "There really isn't another point like that" in the railroad's eastern territory, with the exception of Chicago. One possibility could be off-loading containers onto trucks at Galesburg, freeing up rail lines in Chicago.

"If you're going to ship something less than 400 or 500 miles, it probably makes more sense to ship it on a truck," Pitcher said, which is done by transloading. Transloading is the term for shipping products by rail, then by truck, then on to the customer.

Another plus of Galesburg's Southern Transcon location is "by the end of 2007, it will be completely double-tracked," Pitcher said. "We'll be the first of the Class-1 lines to have double track from Los Angeles to Chicago. It will be a huge competitive value to us."

More tracks mean more trains. Pitcher said companies will be able to save huge amounts of money by locating near BNSF hubs. Having some type of operation that puts Galesburg into that picture could mean warehouses locating here, which is the whole point of Logistics Park - Galesburg.

Pitcher, who also touched on technology BNSF will use to make it possible to ship additional goods, complimented GREDA President Greg Mangieri.

"He understands the transportation industry and, obviously, transportation and logistics are keys in this area," Pitcher said, adding as he traveled to Galesburg, "what struck me are some of the things that made this area an economic powerhouse, we're going back to."

The rebirth of the railroads and a new importance of agriculture because of renewable fuels, such as corn for ethanol and soybeans for bio-diesel, could signal a new day for Galesburg, in other words.

Even before Pitcher's speech, Mayor Gary Smith was convinced. Smith called Mangieri, "the right person at the right time."

"I can tell you without a doubt in my mind, Galesburg is on the right track," the mayor said. "The puzzle is becoming clearer and that picture is economic recovery."