Damage to a train trestle between Moorhead and Indianola has derailed commerce for multiple outfits located west of the Sunflower River.
Rail freight transport has been effectively shut down since late August following damage sustained to the bridge by a freight car, according to the rail line’s owner, Genesee & Wyoming Inc.
“It was actually a railcar that we received at interchange that had some damage to it that we weren’t aware of,” Genesee & Wyoming Inc. General Manager Garth Studstill told The Enterprise-Tocsin this week. “It struck the bridge and caused some damage to it.”
Indianola-based Delta Western owner Lester Myers told The E-T that freight transport west of the Sunflower has been down since about August 22.
Delta Western previously owned that rail line, known by its reporting mark CAGY, and it sold to Genesee & Wyoming several years ago, according to Myers.
Tom Ciuba, a spokesperson for CAGY confirmed in a statement this week that freight transport may continue to be interrupted for several months as a result of the damage.
“I can confirm that a Columbus and Greenville Railway (CAGY) bridge in (Sunflower County) is currently out-of-service after being struck by equipment,” he said. “The bridge will be impacted for at least a few months, and we are staying in communication with affected customers as we develop an expedient solution for them to continue receiving freight service.”
Myers’ company is one of many in the area that rely on the more cost-effective rail freight to ship product in and out.
He said that since the trestle shut down, he has switched to trucking in ingredients for his operation.
“It’s really costing a lot of money for transportation,” Myers said. “Right now, it has added $300,000 a month cost in for transportation for all of those trucks to come in. It’s a big cost.”
Meanwhile Studstill said that his company is looking to build a temporary facility in Greenwood, which he hopes will cut down on trucking costs for those affected.
“We’re looking at options about setting up a transload facility in Greenwood so that the long haul could still come via railcar, and then we could short line truck it from Greenwood to where it needs to go,” he said.
Studstill told The E-T that he hopes that repairs can begin soon, but said that he is at the mercy of contractors.
“We’re just waiting on contractors to get us some preliminary estimates back on what it’s going to cost to get it fixed and how we can go about fixing it,” he said.
Sunflower County Economic Development Director Steve Rosenthal told The E-T in a statement that the cutoff of rail transport west of the Sunflower River may have lasting effects on several industries in the area.
“Most people are not aware of the large volume of goods that still travel by rail,” Rosenthal said. “With the trestle out of service, many companies down the line will have to use alternate delivery methods. The agricultural industry, as well as many small manufacturing companies, rely heavily on lesser expensive rail transport of raw materials and finished product.”
Rosenthal said that even with alternative logistics, some outfits may not be able to stand the strain of costlier forms of transport.
“Companies may be forced to temporarily lay off employees even after they have found alternative, more expensive, ways to move their goods,” he said. “The longer it takes to complete the repair will have a drastic effect on our companies and their employees. This could affect the local economies to some degree all around the Delta.”
Compounding the damage to the bridge, Myers said, is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers designation that lists the Sunflower River in that area as a navigable waterway, something he said creates a new level of red tape in order to obtain clearance and permits to make repairs to the trestle.
“That needs to be deleted from that category, because there’s nothing navigable on that stream,” Myers said. “It’s costing us a lot of money in freight costs.”
Myers said that his operation will likely only be affected until the winter months when Delta Western’s production slows seasonally.
For other operations in the Delta, rail is essential.
“It’s hurting everything west of the river. There’s a number of people in Greenville that are really being hurt, because they can’t get product in,” Myers said. “We’ve got to have rail transportation in the Delta.”
