Omnitrack places Churchill rail line for sale

[hobbyfrmr]

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/manitoba/omnitrax-selling-port-of-churchill-hudson-bay-rail-line-1.3346184#comment-wrapper

Omnitrack is just a parasite company. They owned the rail line from Denholm to Meadow Lake. They lobby government to invest in upgrade rail and maintenance, sprinkle repairs until they have too many derailments, then sell the line for scrap.

[bucket]

This is a good example of how P3 projects will turn out.

[blackpowder]

You want that line you pay for it.

[BreadWinner]

I can see AGT Being interested, they shipped the only 6 boatloads out of there this summer. It may also get picked up by Richarsons or the new CWB.

[saskcanfarmer]

It's a shit hole that no public money should of ever been shink into.

[rockpile]

That's my question. Being from Alberta I don't know much about Churchill. What are the port facilities like? The terminal? Are there size limits on ships that can be loaded? How long is the shipping season?

[bucket]

They bled the subsidy and did SFA.

It's the cheapest port to ship to but it needs maintenance like everything else.

It should be a viable two way port.

Fertilizer in, grain out.

Short season but you would think someone could think the logistics thru.

Cwb used to ship grain there, store it and then haul it to vancouver. No kidding.

[BreadWinner]

I toured it 3 weeks ago. It can hold 120000 tons and it can load panmax 36000ton vessels. It iis 1960 technology but far from worn out. It can load boats in aug sept and oct.

[bucket]

Breadwinner

Quick opinion.

Does it have the potential to become a viable option and what do you see that it would take to achieve its potential?

[BreadWinner]

It would be a viable option but would have to be owned and operated by a farmer coop. Its capable of an upgrade but would cost a few million. It is operable as is but takes a large amount of manpower, 70 workers. It would be selling into europe and middle east probably pulses and cereals. Producer cars and shuttle loaders would be best, graded before it gets shipped up.

[Klause]

Get FCL to buy it. Upgrade it... bring in their own fert and ship grain via producer cars or select origination facilities.

[Braveheart]

The port MIGHT be viable but, I have a friend that used to operate the locomotives on the line to Churchill (MB section). He maintains that it's not fit for grain, fertilizer or anything with weight. He said the railbed is in terrible condition, and speeds are best described as a crawl.

By rail, it's closer to Pascagoula MS than to Churchill from southern SK and Mb.

[Braveheart]

Re Omnitracks, anything that Merv Tweed has a hand in running is on a glory train to failure.

[seedsman]

Friend took the train to Churchill a few years ago as part of a tour. Said there were times he wanted to get off the train and walk, he would go faster. Line was on really poor shape in some areas.

[BreadWinner]

I rode the train and it doesnt need to be high speed to get you there. The rail could probably use some work but it is still intact and not torn out like many others. If you were to start from scratch and build the rail and port it would cost hundreds of millions. That had to give some value to it?