Cooperation keeps rail traffic going

0 Comments | La Crosse Tribune, Aug 22, 2007 | by Springer, Dan

In times of crisis, it often comes down to neighbors helping neighbors.

That's exactly what the nation's rail carriers did when the weekend floods took out tracks and railroad bridges.

Between La Crosse and St. Paul, Canadian Pacific Railways and BNSF Railways operate on opposite sides of the Mississippi River.

South of La Crosse, however, BNSF's lines continue along the Mississippi River, while Canadian Pacific's lines go east toward Chicago.

Both railways had damage - Canadian Pacific lost bridges at Minnesota City and Weaver, Minn., along with tracks, and BNSF had track damage south of La Crosse.

With both railways unable to run between Chicago and St. Paul, they teamed up to combine their routes to make sure their deliveries went through.

"Railroads have long done this because it's a way of returning favors to each other," said Steve Forsberg, a spokesman for BNSF "You never know when you may suffer a washout and want to run as many rails as you can."

While the cooperative agreement has caused delays up to 48 hours, Forsberg said, rail traffic still is able to keep going.

Under the agreement, products are being shipped from Chicago to La Crosse using Canadian Pacific's lines. Trains then head north on BNSF's tracks on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River and then into Minnesota, Forsberg said.

Canadian Pacific officials still are assessing the damage to their lines in Minnesota. But BNSF was set to begin using one of their two tracks south of La Crosse early today. The second track could be back on-line Friday, Forsberg said.

In other parts of southeastern Minnesota, the DM&E continues to assess damage to its line that parallels roads from Eyota, Minn., to Minnesota City. Meanwhile, the IC&E is doing the same for their line that parallels Hwy. 26 south from La Crescent, Minn., to the Iowa border.

Passengers being bused

While the railways have been able to keep products moving, the floods have derailed Amtrak's service between Chicago and St. Paul.

Amtrak, which uses the Canadian Pacific line, has begun busing passengers traveling. from Chicago and the Twin Cities, said Marc Magliari, an Amtrak spokesman.

"We've been unable to operate the entire route ... since Sunday," Magliari said. "We've chartered buses to represent the train and make the stops along the way between St. Paul and Chicago."

Amtrak runs two buses - one for customers traveling directly to Chicago and beyond and the other for those with plans to stop in places along the way such as as La Crosse or Tomah, Magliari said.

Amtrak has run the service since Sunday and will continue through at least today. After that it will be on a day-to-day basis, Magliari said.