Rail-Ship Service at the Port of Erie, PA

This is a thread on another board, but there are some great pictures.

I think it is really great to see this action in 2007 on Lake Erie!

http://forums.railfan.net/forums.cgi?bo ... 1190339542

Brooks

Never thought I'd see somethong like that again.

When I was an undergrad Business L:ogistics at a certan major Pennsylvania college too many years ago, the accepted wisdom was that the Port of Erie was "walking around dead", and unlikely to ever again generate any serious business.

But if passenger ferries in New York Harbor and solid moves of refrigerated traffic by rail can be revived, I guess anything is possible if a few economic obstacles are removed.

Very much suprised that the Commonwealth's economic-development boosters haven't made more of this one.

2nd Trick Op:

PA is investing more $$$$ in the Port of Erie area.

"Erie County
- Greater Erie Industrial Development Corporation will receive $840,000 for construction and rehabilitation of track to serve the industrial park at the former International Paper site, including extending track to connect the east and west sides of the industrial park. "

Brooks

Sorry, I'm always a party pooper in these things, but...
Is there any reason why the lumber, paper, (and bio-diesel) were transloaded to ship in the first place - since this is intracontinental traffic (I suppose - I could be wrong), why doesn't it just go by rail for the entire journey (or at least the closest tranload from it's origin)?
I'm far more interested in transloading between oceanic shipping and railroads, particularly intercontential, since that's business that couldn't have travelled the whole way by rail anyway.