CSX
CSX on Oct. 24 announced that the Rickenbacker South Industrial Park in Harrison Township, Pickaway County, Ohio, has been designated as a Platinum CSX Select Site.
Select Sites, the Class I says, are development-ready properties along the CSX network where “standard land use considerations and comprehensive due diligence items have been previously addressed.” These properties, CSX adds, “can meet the needs of a wide variety of manufacturers, significantly reducing the time required to construct facilities and ultimately bringing products to market.”
Rickenbacker South Industrial Rail Park is a 671-acre property adjacent to the CSX mainline in Columbus, Ohio. The park is ideal for rail users that also require significant electric capacity. With transmission lines crossing the site and a large transmission substation down the road, more than 100 MW could be delivered to the site, according to CSX.
Backed by the Ohio Department of Transportation, the park’s planned transportation upgrades “show an effective road transportation network related to industrial use in the area,” according to CSX. The site has quick access to US Highway 23 and is approximately seven miles south of Interstate 270, the beltway for metro Columbus.
CSX introduced the Select Site program in 2012 to “better serve new and existing customers on its network and those of its short line partners.” CSX works with Austin Consulting, a nationally known site-selection consulting firm, to screen candidate sites and assist communities with the application and certification process.
To receive the Platinum CSX Select Site designation, the location must meet a rigorous list of criteria, including “infrastructure and utility availability, environmental reviews, appropriate zoning and entitlement, air quality permitting, rail serviceability, proximity to highways or interstates, and other attributes.”
Since their roll out in 2012, Select Sites have attracted dozens of manufacturers, with capital investments projected to reach $17.7 billion and realize nearly 14,000 new jobs, CSX noted.
The Rickenbacker South Industrial Rail Park is now the third site in Ohio to have received the Platinum CSX Select Site designation since 2012. This property is one of 27 properties across CSX’s service territory to have met this rigorous site selection criteria over the program’s history.
“We are proud to be a trusted partner, enabling capital investment, job creation, and sustainable development in the communities we serve,” said CSX Vice President of Business Development and Real Estate Christina Bottomley. “The Select Site in Harrison Township represents a vital link in driving economic growth while delivering innovative solutions that move America forward–safely, efficiently, and reliably.”
NS
NS recently announced that it is uniting a diverse group of industry leaders and stakeholders to form its Customer Advisory Board. The new initiative, NS says, “aims to deepen the company’s engagement with key voices from the industries it serves and leverage their invaluable insights to further enhance its customer experience.”
The railroad will incorporate strategic guidance and feedback on its operations and customer service practices as part of NS’s commitment to “continuously refine its approach to best meet the evolving needs and expectations of its clients.”
The Customer Advisory Board will meet regularly to discuss current initiatives, identify areas for improvement, and explore new opportunities. NS says it proudly welcomes industry leaders from a wide range of sectors, including chemicals, automotive, food production, paper and packaging, intermodal transportation, energy, recycling, and global logistics, who have agreed to serve. These leaders, NS adds, “bring valuable insights from their respective industries to help shape the future of rail transportation and supply chain collaboration.”
“Our commitment to being a trusted transportation partner for our customers drives everything we do,” said NS EVP and Chief Marketing Officer Ed Elkins. “The Customer Advisory Board is an opportunity to further align our services with our customers’ needs. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with these esteemed industry representatives to drive innovation and enhance our service offerings.”
In related news, NS on Oct. 24 announced that it would provide timber for the construction of a Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation building project at Clemson University.
The majority of the wood for the state-of-the-art building will be longleaf pine harvested from the Brosnan Forest, a 14,400-acre timber and wildlife preserve near Charleston, S.C.
The building project, NS says, will help serve the Southeast as an education and research hub for wood-based construction, sustainable building practices, and will develop the next generation of forestry and environmental leaders.
This collaboration, the Class I adds, also highlights NS’s commitment to workforce development as part of a larger collaboration with Clemson. The university has been a priority source of talent for NS for more than a decade. In the last five years, NS has supported Clemson with grants and other gifts totaling more than $50,000.
“Norfolk Southern employs over forty Clemson alumni who make an impact across our organization every day,” said Kristin Wong, Director of the NS Foundation & Community Impact. “We’re proud of our longstanding relationship with Clemson and look forward to our continued collaboration on both higher education and sustainability.”
The project is significant for its use of longleaf pine, a tree species native to the southeastern U.S. known for its durable wood ideal for use in construction applications. The diverse longleaf pine ecosystem, once accounting for 90 million acres of the Southeast, now spans just three million acres. By using sustainable forestry methods and strategic partnerships with leading forestry organizations like The Longleaf Alliance, the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, and Milliken Advisors, NS’s Brosnan Forest is “safeguarding the future of this important tree species,” the Class I noted.
“This wood is not only special because it is longleaf pine, but because it is the result of a long and fruitful collaborative relationship between Norfolk Southern and Clemson,” said Patricia Layton, Director of the Clemson University Wood Utilization & Design Institute. “The building where it will be used will serve as a showcase for wood construction and will be the instructional space for future leaders in the forestry and natural resources industries.”
By responsibly harvesting the longleaf pine for use in Clemson’s new building project, NS says it hopes to “successfully demonstrate the superiority of the species for use in infrastructure development.”
“We are excited to support Clemson and shine a light on the ecological and durability benefits of longleaf pine,” said NS Chief Sustainability Officer Josh Raglin. “It will serve as a proof-point for the practical uses of longleaf pine in industrial settings, further demonstrating the importance of sustaining a pine species vital to South Carolina’s ecosystem.”
According to NS, another unique feature of the collaboration is its use of first-of-its-kind blockchain technology. Chainparency’s GoTrace platform is being used to track the timber as it moves through the supply chain starting with its harvest at Brosnan Forest then to Collum’s Lumber Mill in Allendale, S.C. and SmartLam in Dothan, Ala., for processing before finally arriving in Clemson, S.C.
The project, NS adds, “highlights a strong collaboration between numerous entities all working toward the common goal of promoting healthy forests and sustainable building practices.”
CPKC
CPKC recently announced that it has successfully completed the second test run of its high-horsepower hydrogen locomotive.
In early October, CP 1200, along with its fuel tender CP 10001, helped pull a fully loaded bulk train with 153 gondolas through British Columbia’s Elk Valley region.
These tests, CPKC says, are gathering operational and performance data to demonstrate the reliability of high-horsepower hydrogen locomotives. More testing is scheduled in the coming weeks.
