Postby Ottergoose » February 6th, 2015, 2:31 pm
Mulad is correct; the idea is that CP traffic will circulate around the Twin Cities, with westbound traffic taking the route to the northeast (CP's St. Paul Sub) via Arden Hills, and eastbounds taking the southwestern route (BNSF's Monticello, Wayzata, and Midway Subs) via Golden Valley.
Canadian Pacific only has one (possibly two?) trains per day in each direction that utilize the inter-modal facilities at Shoreham Yard, so, most traffic can bypass it without too much hassle. CP's been trying to save money by reducing the use of Humboldt Yard (east of Crystal, MN), where a couple of local freight trains originate, I'm not sure how many of their trains need to stop there on a daily basis to pick up or drop off cars, suspect it's not too many though. Most of their activity is focused at their St. Paul (Pig's Eye) yard, which is east of the area being bypassed.
BNSF is spending millions to upgrade signal systems, upgrade junctions, and double/triple-track segments in the Twin Cities to allow all of this; they're anxious to get CP out of their way so they can keep all of their own traffic moving.
Union Pacific is investing in additional sidings and junction upgrades in the area as well; they're moving a lot of frac sand out of Wisconsin.
It's an interesting time to be interested in freight operations around the Twin Cities, to be sure.
Last edited by
Ottergoose on February 6th, 2015, 2:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.