In the loop: Semo Port seeks funding to handle trainload shipments

The Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority hopes to obtain federal funds to help finance construction of two loop tracks and a terminal to handle trainload shipments at its Scott City facility.

The $33 million project calls for construction of two loop tracks, each more than two miles in length, said Dan Overbey, the port’s executive director.

As part of the project, a terminal would be constructed and a conveyor system installed to unload entire unit trains of more than 100 cars carrying a single product.

The product would be transferred via the conveyor system to Mississippi River barges, Overbey said Wednesday.

Construction could occur in 2019 and 2020 if sufficient funding can be obtained, he said.

A rail yard that is part of Semo Port is seen Wednesday in Scott City.Andrew J. Whitaker

Kent Puchbauer, port authority chairman, said the project is “the next logical step to enhance the port.”

While the initial focus would be on transferring product from railcars to barges, port officials said such a facility would allow for handling and shipment of cargo by rail, truck and barge.

Puchbauer said such a facility would lead to more business at the port.

Overbey said, “It is kind of like going from the minor league to the major league if you can handle an entire unit train.”

The port currently handles about 1 million barge tons of products annually. Another 300,000 to 400,000 tons of product are shipped out by truck from port businesses and “a little bit by rail,” Overbey said.

With loop tracks and a terminal, the port would see a significant increase in annual tonnage, he said.

Overbey said the proposed facility could handle one to two unit trains a week, with the unloading of the railcars and loading of the barges taking from one to three days.

It would take seven barges to handle all the cargo unloaded from a unit train, he added.

Having two loop tracks allows one train to be unloaded while another is parked, awaiting its turn, he said.

The port operates the SEMO Port Railroad over six miles of track that formerly was a Union Pacific branch line. The port purchased the line in 1994, Overbey said.

The Port Railroad connects with two major railroads, the Union Pacific and the BNSF.

A few months ago, the port handled its second unit train in history, he said, adding it took four days and a lot of switching of railcars to unload all the cargo.

But the port is not equipped to regularly handle whole trainloads or do it efficiently, Overbey said. A unit train has to be parked on the port’s main line, tying up the track for several days, he said.

“Some commodities you might have 24 to 48 hours to unload,” he said, adding the unit-train industry’s gold standard is for a 110-car train to be unloaded in 14 hours.

The port authority plans to seek a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation that would fund 60 percent of the cost or about $19.8 million. It’s envisioned another $6.6 million would come from a 30-year federal loan.

The port authority then would have to come up with the remaining $6.6 million, according to Overbey.

“If we scrape and kind of pull everything we can, we can come up with $2 million,” he said.

That still would require the port authority to secure another $4.6 million, he added.

The port authority would like to count a recent $1.3 million Missouri Department of Transportation grant as part of the local match. That money will be used for grading work needed for the track project, Overbey said.

Most of the grading work will take place next year, he said.

The port authority could issue bonds or obtain loans from area banks to secure the final dollars needed for the project, he said.

Overbey said the application for federal funds must be submitted by Nov. 2. It could be late summer 2018 before the port authority learns whether it obtained the funding, he said.

Overbey and Puchbauer are optimistic the project will be funded at some point.

“We would like to see it happen sooner than later,” Overbey said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

10 Bill Bess Drive, Scott City, Mo.