Rail News Home Short Lines & Regionals June 2017 Rail News: Short Lines & RegionalsBy
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Managing EditorEstablishing the largest pipe yard in North America. Landing a contract to store and distribute cement. Forging a partnership to transload soybeans in export containers.Those are some of the deals swung by
Republic Short Line Railroad (RSL) over the past few years that either are paying off or soon will result in additional carloads and storage charges. The short line was established three years ago in a Massillon, Ohio, logistics park to provide transloading, storage and warehousing/laydown services. Owned by Massillon Logistics, RSL operates five tracks and interchanges with
CSX (via
R. J. Corman Cleveland Line) and
Norfolk Southern Railway.In 2004, Massillon Logistics founders Steve and Dave DiPietro acquired more than century-old steel mill properties totaling 465 acres and created the Massillon Energy & Technology Park. It took a number of years to demolish several large buildings and clear the site, then determine the optimal business options for the park — some of which initially didn’t involve rail.Massillon Logistics eventually created RSL and four other subsidiaries to operate at the park: Republic Trucking and Logistics, Ohio Freight Car Services, Tiger Sand & Gravel and Tiger Tarps & Liners. The company since has sought opportunities to exploit its vast amount of rail- and truck-served land, as well as to capitalize on the short line’s access to two Class Is.One major opportunity presented itself in 2014, when
Energy Transfer Partners LP was seeking a large area to store pipe, components and equipment for its planned Rover Pipeline in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The 713-mile pipeline will be used to pump natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shales to U.S. markets in the Great Lakes, Midwest and Gulf Coast regions, as well as to points in Canada. One segment will run from eastern Ohio to southeastern Michigan.Energy Transfer officials were intrigued not only by the vast land available at the park, but by its central location, highway access and rail connections, says Garret Kloots, the vice president of business development for both RSL and Tiger Sand & Gravel. The park is near U.S. Highways 30 and 62 that run through Columbus and Youngstown, and State Route 21 that heads north to Cleveland. In addition, Interstates 71 and 77 are a short distance away, offering access to Akron and Canton.Tens of thousands of green pipes were stacked up at the short line's yard for the Rover Pipeline, which will run through Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.Republic Short Line Railroad
In 2015, Energy Transfer opted to lease land and begin staging pipeline materials in Massillon.
“This was the first time they used a yard of this magnitude — they usually use small satellite yards for storage,” says Kloots.