Hopper Car Fleet

[bgmb]

Anyone know what is happening to the government owned hopper cars? I heard at one point farmers were supposed to get them, haven not heard much about it in the media at all lately.

[bucket]

Farmers should own them but won't.

We will argue about it until the aluminium rusts thru.

[bgmb]

Anyone have any real info on whats going on ?

[Hopalong]

Believe they are leased to railways, don't know for how long.
CP's Robert Taylor warns that they are wearing out and there is no plan in place to replace them.
Uses that to reinforce concern that revenue entitlement is less than enough to provide incentive for investment in grain shipping.

[bucket]

A group should buy them and set up a Corp to bid them out as required maybe to short lines. The revenue could be put to good use.

As revenue comes in the company could buy a few more cars and retire the poor ones.

Soon farmers could own a fleet like Canpotex.

Just to put reflective tape on those cars was going to cost 10 million rumour had it.

They still have some value.

But the cars need an independent look.

I am sure there are facilities that could inspect and repair them for a reasonable cost as fill in work with oil in the shitter.

[bgmb]

would be nice is farmers could form a coop to buy the cars and then have some control of how they are utilized.

[wmoebis]

History repeating again. Search: "Farmer Rail Corporation"

[bgmb]

coops are doing very very well here on the input side of things.

[Wheatking]

This is my prediction on how this will play out.

We will see lots of rumblings from various industry and govt officials on how these cars are wore out and worthless.

We will have a tender process that the farmer groups will have no way of bidding on. The railways will buy the fleet for scrap price, and one a few things will happen.
A)They will scrap the entire fleet and our logistical problems will become worse, or
B) They will force farmers to buy a whole new fleet, or perhaps they will buy new ones with the gov't paying a significant portion of the bill
C) The cars that were earlier assessed as scrap will suddenly become viable for another 30 years.


I have no idea what shape these cars are in, but if they are in rough shape is it because of a deliberate lack of maintenance, or just normal wear and tear.

[hobbyfrmr]

New air lines/brakes ,Bearings, chutes and fibreglass doors on top. Most repairs could be made by oilfield construction welders if and when they could use some work. I know a couple of late thirties guys that grew up with zero and they understand how to work for money. They are doing better than me. I admire them.
A rail car is basically 2 btrains on steel wheels.

[bucket]

Hobby

We are on the same page here.

1993 I was in calgary. A machine shop we were using there had the contract to re machine the wheels. It kept his shop busy and him wealthy. Nice guy.

Those rail cars are not worthless. And BTO said he could finance them himself.

[TOM4CWB]

Bucket,

The Federal Gov kept the Hopper Cars... and they are being maintained by the railways... at a reasonable rate... with a small attrition rate as they are written off in accidents.

The least cost solution in action.