Bucksport Branch activity & news

[newpylong]

I don't see fish food coming by rail. I also don't see outbound loads from the facility direct to rail. I dont think the rr will get rid of the line until the remainder of the site's future is determined.

[MEC407]

From the BDN article:

Once it’s up and running, the farm should produce about 20,000 tons of Atlantic salmon each year, according to Whole Oceans CEO Robert Piasio.

We need one of our resident logistics experts to translate 20,000 tons of salmon (presumably frozen?) into truckloads, container loads, and railcar loads.

[KSmitty]

Trucks in Maine have a 100k weight limit. So remove tare weight and you're probably down to 65k# load weight.

Edit: With reefer trailer, you might be looking at closer to 60k load limit rather than 65. Pretty easy to hit 5k pounds between motor, compressor and fuel load. And if you are going out of state, the GCVW for 18 wheelers drops to 80k.

So If i did my math right. 20000 x 2000 = 40000000# of fish / 65000# per truck is 615.38 truckloads assuming they weight out before they cube out.

Seems like we just discussed the magic number but since i cant remember ill use 2.5 trucks/rail car since thats just what i always use. Which gives us 246 railcars and some change per year. Which is about a weeks worth of cars at a paper mill...

[BostonUrbEx]

^Close enough on the railcar estimate.

4 to 5 outbound loads of fish a week ain't going to keep the Bucksport Branch online. The chicken feed place in North Leeds gets more traffic than that.

[Cowford]

RE inbound feed, a few websites have the ratio of feed at ~1.3 lbs of feed to 1 lb of salmon... assumed a 263K GWR, that would be 95 tons per car, or 274 cars/yr. Now exactly what salmon feed consists of, where it can be made and how it can be shipped is another story.

On the outbound side, if I could refine Smitty's comments... I understand the point of Smitty's in-state load limits, but this fish would be moving out of state, so would be loaded to 80K GVW. (And Maine's weight laws require a third trailer axle - I'm guessing there are no tri-x reefers domiciled in Maine.) That said, you'd get just shy of 900 truckloads/yr. Translated to reefer boxcar, the ratio is roughly between 3.5 and 3.8:1 UP's newest 72-ft cars have a tare of about 105,000 lbs... 64-ft reefers have a tare of about 92,000 lbs. Assuming 263K GWR, that would allow a 158 - 171K load, or 225 - 250 rail loads/yr, which ironically is about the same end result.

I'd guess that TOFC reefer would be more viable than rail reefer unless there is equipment inbounded to Maine that's available for an outbound load.

[fogg1703]

I'd guess that TOFC reefer would be more viable than rail reefer unless there is equipment inbounded to Maine that's available for an outbound load.

Interesting too that its a roughly 70 miles dray one way to both Waterville and Lincoln (If PS gets up and running with an IM ramp there) for 20 loaded TOFC reefers/week.

[riffian]

Columbus and Greenville railroad used to bring in unit trains of feed for the massive catfish farms around Central Mississippi. This industry was unfortunately decimated by Chinese competition.

[gokeefe]

I'd guess that TOFC reefer would be more viable than rail reefer unless there is equipment inbounded to Maine that's available for an outbound load.

Do you think this is a dray in Waterville or direct service?

I agree that Bucksport Branch issues are bad ... I'm assuming that it wouldn't make sense to rehab. On the other hand I would imagine that express refrigerated intermodal service might have a premium tariff.

[Mikejf]

It's also worth noting that the aerial rendering from the MaineBiz article doesn't show any obvious rail connections.

Lack of rail to the building is obvious, as I suspect they used a google image of the mill, and just changed the building

[CF14]

Response from emailing them to ask.

Thanks for reaching out. We are initially building a 5,000 MT facility in Bucksport and growing that to 20,000 MT in the next 5 years.

Our ultimate goal of 50,000 MT is a long-term (10 years) goal and will necessitate additional sites in Maine outside of Bucksport.

Rail is certainly an option, but it is too early for us to define our use. Hope this clarifies our planned growth for you.

[gokeefe]

Rail is certainly an option, but it is too early for us to define our use. Hope this clarifies our planned growth for you.

Wow. That is interesting.

[gokeefe]

Given the above response I'm now wondering if the fish farm in Belfast might have implications for rail as well ... Perhaps time to check on the exact location ...

[newpylong]

What is interesting about it? It's a non-committal answer essentially saying rail is outside the building but our transportation model is not defined yet. You would have gotten a much different answer if the site was chosen due to proximity to rail access.

[BostonUrbEx]

Not really all that interesting. Of course rail is an option [if the railroad is willing to keep the line open for it, if the railroad has the best rate for them, and if the railroad can move their product on a suitable timeline to their needs]. It takes two to tango.

And salmon via the B&ML has to be one of the biggest reaches I've seen on these boards in a while. There's so many other industries on more viable lines that don't use rail as it is. The only way this fish thing works for rail in Bucksport is if someone else gets online and uses rail, too.

[Cowford]

A look back at the old B&ML gives you a clue to where the rail potential likely lies... Thorndike's grain operation was essentially a feed transload for the broiler industry.

And to be clear, this is not to say that B&ML has a future in any way, shape or form.