Guest column: Electric railroads? Bring it to South Dakota
As rail transportation is very high on President Biden s infrastructure list; this upgrade to South Dakota rail will receive much attention in Washington.
Written By:
William Hume / Guest submission | 7:00 am, May 8, 2021 ×
A segment of the Mitchell-Rapid City railroad line west of Mitchell. (Marcus Traxler/Republic)
Could South Dakota lead the nation with the first all-electric locomotive freight railroad. It sure is possible and the time to get the conversation going is now. Ringneck Western Railroad, a subsidiary of Watco Transportation and Logistics is purchasing 285 miles of railroad from Mitchell to Rapid City. May 25, 2021, is the date R&W takes possession. South Dakota DOT owned this historic rail line and leased it previously to Dakota Southern Railroad. This rail line was part of the former Milwaukee Road, and dates back to its beginning in 1880.
A major freight rail carrier and a logistics company have reached an agreement for the sale of key rail lines, including 650 miles of track in Wisconsin and upper Michigan
CN will sell to Watco its non-core lines and assets on the Soo subdivision. This includes about 250 miles of track that runs from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario to Oba, Ontario and about 650 miles of branch lines of Wisconsin Central Ltd. in Wisconsin and Michigan. This marks the successful conclusion of the sale process that CN announced and launched in July of 2020.
Not all lines the company uses here would be sold, according a map of the affected assets provided by CN. The map shows the sale includes rarely used Rusk County tracks from Tony west to Goodman in Marinette County. CN will retain its track between Ladysmith and Tony.
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