Coos Bay Rail Link-CBR moved 4,845 revenue car loads on the Coos Bay rail line for calendar year 2013, the second full year of freight rail operations in western Lane, western Douglas and Coos Counties. The Coos Bay line runs from a connection with the Union Pacific (UP) Railroad in Eugene, Ore., to the end of track near Coquille. CBR operates the Coos Bay line through a management agreement between the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay and ARG Transportation Services Inc. of Eugene. The Port is responsible for infrastructure investments in the rail corridor, while CBR is responsible for train operations and routine day-to-day maintenance activities. The 4,845 total for 2013 represents a 95 percent increase in revenue rail traffic over the 2,480 car loads for 2012. A revenue car is a loaded rail car of any type moving to or from a shipper on the Coos Bay line. Former CBR General Manager Tom Foster, who now serves as vice president of Marketing for ARG Transportation Services, said he was very pleased with the upturn in rail traffic and the outstanding work of the CBR employees. “We’ve got hardworking and enthusiastic employees who first of all work safely, and secondly, make every effort to meet the rail transportation needs of Coos Bay rail line shippers,” Foster said. Looking out to 2014, Foster expects another significant increase in revenue car loads, and points to new infrastructure that will help generate additional commodity movements. One project currently under construction is the Greenhill Siding in west Eugene. “There’s a new multimodal facility under development near the Greenhill Siding, and we expect to see commodities move both inbound and outbound from that operation,” Foster said. There are now more than a dozen shippers on the line, and while forest products and wood fiber are the dominant commodities, other goods such as fertilizers and organic dairy feed are increasing in volume.
