Tracking the slow delivery of harvest railcars
Imagine taking a trip from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth and pulling over to the side of the road for 30 minutes every 20 miles. By the time you arrive in Fort Worth, road rage has probably engulfed you.
That’s similar to what railroads face in bring railcars into Oklahoma up from south Texas, an executive with the Wichita, Tillman and Jackson shortline based in Wichita Falls, Texas, told me. The WTJ, as it is known, brings Union Pacific cars into Oklahoma to service grain elevators along a line that runs through Frederick and on to Altus.
But the trip up from the Gulf on the Union Pacific line can take days because of traffic delays, weather and equipment problems, said Martin Sicalla, WTJ’s general manager.
“They are running trains both directions and somebody has to sit somewhere,” said Sicalla said. “Once train gets to moving from Corpus Christi, everything has to fall in place for it to get here in a decent time.
Sicalla was responding to criticism that empty railcars from the Union Pacific have arrived up to 10 days late, long after graiin elevators have been filled with wheat from what has turned out to be a larger-than-expected Oklaoma wheat harvest in some areas.
Mike Cassidy, president of Cassidy Grain in Frederick, has singled out the WTJ and the Union Pacific for a delay in delivering empty cars until the harvest is all but over in the area. Some,
“We can point the finger all day long and blame everybody,” Sicalla said. “I told him the UP has worked with me very well this year, to be honest with you. They have done an excellent job.”
Answered Cassidy: “My question would be why does nearly every location on his line have wheat on the ground.”
Maybe the real answer was in some comments provided by Union Pacific spokesman Joe Adams, who pointed to the WTJ as the main culprit in the delays. More on this story will be available in Wednesday’s editions of The Oklahoman.
Business News Reporter
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