I'm sure you guys already know about this, but just in case....this was posted on the Trains News Wire today...... "CN plans to enlarge former IC yard in Memphis "MEMPHIS–Canadian National Railway will invest $100 million in the next several years to beef up capacity in Memphis, easily its most important U.S. city after Chicago, according to a story in the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper. "In an announcement expected this spring, CN will outline plans for the investment at Johnston Yard, the former Illinois Central facility in the southwest part of the city. Work will include expanding trackage and other infrastructure to accommodate an influx of business it expects when it opens a Pacific Coast terminal in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, in 2007. CN, which would not say how many additional people it will hire, does not intend to apply for local tax breaks. " 'Now Memphis will be a hub with CN like it is for Northwest Airlines,' said Pete Aviotti, special assistant to Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton. Aviotti expects the expansion, which will begin this year, to double the number of trains from key cities, 'giving industries the quick in-and-out distribution they need.' "The current 345-acre Johnston Yard at Horn Lake Road and Peebles can accommodate 25 trains a day, with additional traffic during grain season. To increase the yard’s efficiency, CN has moved its transloading and intermodal operation to the nearby Pidgeon Industrial Park, a $35 million intermodal terminal it opened last year. The move freed up 70 acres for expansion and allows CN to effectively rebuild Johnston. "In a nod to the city's importance, CN will hold its annual meeting here April 21, the first time in company history the meeting has not been in Canada. " 'Memphis is a key operating center for CN,' said railway spokesman Mark Hallman, adding that it is the only city outside Chicago where CN interchanges freight with four major Class 1 railroads: Union Pacific, BNSF, CSX, and Norfolk Southern. Memphis is also the gateway to CN's Gulf Division, which includes New Orleans and the petrochemical producing plants around Baton Rouge, La. CN also recently signed an agreement with BNSF to coordinate operations between Illinois points and Memphis, using lines of both railroad companies, enhancing Memphis’ importance. "CN, which was formed in 1923 when Canada nationalized several roads to create a government-owned counterpart to private transcontinental Canadian Pacific, in recent times has steadily made north-south inroads into the U.S., beginning with the purchase of the Illinois Central in 1999 and following with the acquisition of the Wisconsin Central in 2001. The original IC yard in Memphis, built in the early 1900s, later was named for Wayne A. Johnston, Illinois Central president Illinois Central from 1945 to 1966."
Any time we hear expansion news, that is good news. The CN / IC yard in Memphis was already a good sized yard. One side of the yard has / had a public road that ran most of the length of the yard and was good for photos. The fuel rack and shops were on the oppisite side of the yard though. That side of the yard was next to a questionable neighborhood and was walled and gated. It´s been a few years since I have been out there but I remember it being fairly busy then.
i see it as a double edged sword... good for the share value and making the company overall run better, bad as more work will be shipped out of my home shop down south for homewood and memphis to work on..
I knew about the expansion project. Because I've been down there myself. Not to mention crossing the Horn Lake Road over the Yard myself from 2002-2003.
