By Michael Howell
The Bitterroot spur line owned by Montana Rail Link has not seen any train traffic the last few years. An unrepaired washout prevents any rail traffic into Ravalli County but the tracks are usable from Missoula to Florence and that portion of the Bitterroot spur is now being used as a storage place for unused coal cars.
Although rail crossings remain open, the rest of the track from Florence to Lolo is currently lined with hundreds of empty coal cars. Some homeowners in the area are upset with the development. They see it as a visual blight that could have a very negative impact on the tourist economy.
Mary Livesley, who lives in the Chief Looking Glass area, said that she was horrified when she saw it happening.
“Suddenly everybody’s scenic drive into the Bitterroot is gone,” she said, “and we are approaching the height of the tourist season. Why don’t they park them at the coal fields?”
The answer to those kinds of questions is complex, according to Mike McKay, Montana Rail Link Sales and Marketing Executive. It involves national and even international variables and the price of oil, coal and natural gas.
According to McKay, the latest oil boom in the Bakken and elsewhere, such as the shale fields in Texas, have led to the development of a new kind of drilling called fracturing. This led to the development of a single drilling platform that can serve as a hub for several wells, which in turn made it economically viable to capture the natural gas being produced by the oil wells, which was traditionally burned off in flares. This oil and gas boom led to the development of a lot of rail infrastructure and an increase in the number of locomotives and rail cars using the tracks.
Now, due to mounting environmental pressures and cheaper natural gas, coal production has hit the skids with major coal companies declaring bankruptcy. This has suddenly sidelined a lot of coal cars. In fact, according to McKay, nobody on the job right now has ever seen such a rapid need to get cars off the tracks.
“We are not looking to block anybody’s view,” said McKay. “This is not the first place we looked to store empty cars. This is the last place we looked.”
McKay said that the complex set of variables that has led to the need to sideline these cars could turn around for a number of reasons, making the cars useful again. Or it could not. In which case, the car owners might at some point look at selling them for scrap metal. He said each car is probably worth about $100,000 new. One train set could be worth $10 million. It won’t be an easy decision to make, he said. McKay said that he was not at liberty to divulge who owns the rail cars.
“I don’t mean to sound blunt,” he said, “but the Bitterroot spur line is our asset. It’s our railroad and has been for over 100 years. We are in business to remain profitable. Storing these cars is what we have to do right now to keep our business running.”