New rail spur links Willamette Valley timber companies to export markets, March 1

Coquille Tribe release.  North Bend, Ore. – A new rail spur is now handling inbound freight in North Bend thanks to the collaborative efforts of a tribal entity, a public agency and a private business.  The Coquille Economic Development Corporation (CEDCO) and the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay announced the completion of a rail spur to the K2 Exports yard on CEDCO’s Ko-Kwel Wharf property. The spur allows K2 Exports to bring logs by rail directly to its export terminal on the wharf. “CEDCO has been interested in linking our industrial development property to the rail line ever since rail service returned to our communities,” said CEDCO CEO Judy Duffy-Metcalf. “After receiving a request to create a rail link and analytics to support the project from their customer, K2 Exports presented us with a business case for building a spur on the wharf property. We were happy to coordinate the effort with Coos Bay Rail Link.” CEDCO estimates that it took 1,250 truckloads of logs to fill the Ken Hope, the most recent ship to depart from Ko-Kwel Terminal. It would take only 350 rail cars to handle that same volume of logs. This efficiency makes it more cost effective for logging operations in the Willamette Valley to export logs through K2 Exports and the Port of Coos Bay while also avoiding the need to add considerable truck traffic on roads leading to the coast. K2 Exports reports seven carloads of logs arrived on the day the rail spur opened, and another seven cars arrived two days later. These were all shipped from Eugene by a company that has been looking to enter the export market. According to Patrick Kerr, director of rail operations for the Port, establishing a rail spur to bring inbound forest products from the Willamette Valley is an important step toward opening more export opportunities for inland businesses. “The Coos Bay rail line traditionally has served to export forest products from Southwestern Oregon to inland markets across the United States through its connection to the National Rail Network in Eugene,” said Kerr. “The new spur at K2 will create a new opportunity to bring forest products from the Willamette Valley into the Port for export to foreign markets.” With the rail spur in full operation, K2 Exports expects to increase its number of vessel calls in the Coos Bay Harbor.