P.I. intermodal facility reopens
PRESQUE ISLE - Trucks, trains and box trailers are moving in and out
of Skyway Industrial Park after two inactive years.
Last week's renewal of traffic stems from a local customer's
decision to move goods through Presque Isle Intermodal, the city-
owned terminal leased to a company affiliated with the Montreal,
Maine and Atlantic Railway.
Intermodal shipping involves at least two forms of transportation,
in this case, by road and rail.
The intermodal operation has been idle since March 2002 because of a
lack of customers, according to Larry Clark, executive director of
the Presque Isle Industrial Council, which manages Skyway Industrial
Park.
Clark would not identify the customer using the terminal.
Twenty-six box trailers arrived Tuesday at the facility's rail yard.
Another 30 to 60 are expected to be positioned at the site for
transporting local products out of town.
Goods leave Presque Isle on rail cars to be delivered to Palmer,
Mass., and, from there, are distributed throughout the country by
train or truck.
A Canadian business also is looking at the facility for transporting
products, Clark said.
Since last week, traffic has been moving steadily to and from the
facility, which is operated by Logistics Management Systems, an
affiliate of the railroad based in Bangor.
LMS was part of the former Bangor and Aroostook Railroad, which went
bankrupt. Its new owner renamed it the Maine, Montreal and Atlantic.
"We're very encouraged by the recent activity," Clark said. "But
what we're really excited about is to see new traffic up and
operating again ... [because] the yard provides to businesses in the
County another means of moving their product out of the area."
