Rail bridge fire near International Falls closes crucial rail corridor

A timber rail bridge burned and collapsed early Wednesday in Koochiching County, tipping two rail cars onto the banks of the Rat Root River and temporarily blocking a Canadian National rail artery that connects the Pacific Coast with Chicago.

Read more in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

BNSF to boost spending on upgrades in Minnesota

BNSF Railway Co. will spend $326 million on Minnesota railroad improvements in 2015, nearly triple the amount spent last year as the company addresses historic increases in freight and tries to speed up service that was crippled last year, officials announced Thursday.

Read more in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Low oil prices a bonus for railroad regulators

Lower gas prices have had an added bonus in Minnesota beyond fatter wallets: Train traffic is leveling off, giving regulators space to refocus on safety issues, a state railroad official told lawmakers Wednesday.

Read more in the St. Cloud Times.

Documents belie BNSF explanation of shipping delays

Railroad officials have blamed last winter's shipping delays on bad weather and unexpected demand created by a record grain harvest and surging oil shipments. . . . But public documents and statements from some Burlington Northern Santa Fe customers cast doubt on the company's version of events.

See the full story at Minnesota Public Radio.

Grain Piles Up, Waiting for a Ride, as Trains Move North Dakota Oil

The furious pace of energy exploration in North Dakota is creating a crisis for farmers whose grain shipments have been held up by a vast new movement of oil by rail, leading to millions of dollars in agricultural losses and slower production for breakfast cereal giants like General Mills.

Read more in The New York Times.

LG Everist acquires Iowa Producer

L.G. Everist Inc. acquired HIgman Sand and Gravel, an Akron,  Iowa, aggregate procuer. According to The Akron Howtowner, L.G. Everist will keep Higman's employees.

L.G. Everist has operations in Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas and Colorado. The company is primarily an aggregates business, but it also operates rail trans-loading services.

From Nov. 18, 2014 Pit & Quarry Weekly Report.

Dayton holds summit to address railroad delays

DFL Gov. Mark Dayton emerged fro a closed-door meeting with railroad officials today and said that track upgrades and more oil pipelines are needed to unclog rail shipments in Minnesota.

Read more at Minnesota Public Radio.

Gov. Dayton to convene Minnesota Rail Summit on Nov. 17

Gov. Mark Dayton on Monday, Nov. 17 will convene a Rail Summit with railroad, agriculture, and industry leaders from across Minnesota. Elected officials, emergency managers, and key members of the Governor’s Cabinet will also participate in the discussion.

Read more in the Coon Rapids Herald.

Upper Midwest rail delays now hitting construction industry hard

Add the local construction industry to the list of those who say their business is being hurt by delays due to congestion on the railways. Companies that produce and distribute cement and those that make it into concrete -- along with the home and commercial builders and heavy industrial and highway contractors who place that concrete -- are all experiencing a supply and time crunch.

Read more in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Mandated Railroad Reports Highlight Farmers' Frustrations

In one week in October, 747 train cars operated by BNSF Railway were loaded with harvested grain and ready for shipment. Instead, they sat idle for more than five days.

See the KSTP story.

New reports on backlogs bring renewed criticism of railroads

Farming groups and other businesses blasted railroads for poor service and favoritism Thursday after seeing new reports about backlogs and waiting times for rail cars.

Read more in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Too many oil trains in Minnesota?

The controversy over the amount of trains carrying oil on the rails in Minnesota rolled straight through the Minnesota State Capitol on Tuesday, were lawmakers are asking tough questions about it.

The increasing number of oil shipments from North Dakota is partially blamed for everything from last year's propane shortage to farmers not getting their grain to market. Yet, some experts say the oil shipments can't bear all the blame and it simply comes down to capacity.

Read more at KMSP-TV.

Wisconsin's frac sand creating new conflicts

Wisconsin's boom in production of sand used for hydraulic fracturing has fueled a large increase in rail traffic moving the commodity to other states, causing conflicts and raising safety concerns.

Read more in the Appleton Post Crescent.

Canadian oil train derails, burns after emergency brakes activated

A Canadian National Railway train carrying crude oil and propane derailed and caught fire in New Brunswick on Tuesday night after the emergency brakes were activated, federal safety officials said on Wednesday.

Read more in the Fargo Forum.

Forum editorial: 'What-if' must be considered

Some flakes for the railroad and oil industries suggest pundits, politicians and editorialists should not dwell on the "what-ifs" of oil train accidents like the derailment, collision and fiery explosion of an oil train and a grain train last week near Casselton, N.D. . . . That's baloney.

Read more in the Fargo Forum.

Officials warn of toxic smoke near ND derailment

Many residents evacuated a southeastern North Dakota town overnight after a train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded, and officials warned that the acrid smoke could blow into the area. No one was hurt in Monday's derailment of the mile-long train that sent a great fireball and plumes of black smoke skyward about a mile from the small town of Casselton.

Read more in the Minot Daily News.

Wabasha City Council boosts frac-sand hub

A Canadian mining company won a key battle Monday night in its quest to build a rail shipping hub in Wabasha that is likely to accelerate the region's frac-sand boom at a time when local activists are trying to slow the industry's expansion.

Read more in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Could La Crosse become a major transfer site for frac sand?

Could frac sand be coming through a neighborhood near you? That's a reality a north side La Crosse neighborhood could be facing. . . . The railroad is currently looking at a number of sites throughout the area to serve as transfer points .

View the story at News 8000 - LaCrosse.

Sandstorm of Business: Badgers in the Bakken

Western Wisconsin's sand is old, perhaps 500 million years old, but never before has it received this much attention. Companies from all over the country are knocking on doors in the area, hoping to mine the mineral. . . . the sand is being used by oil companies in a process called hydraulic fracturing. The Bakken oil fields of western North Dakota is a destination for much of it.

Watch this interesting news story describing hydraulic fracturing from WQOW News 18 in Eau Claire.