Trout Lake & Western (TL&W)

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AARR
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Trout Lake & Western (TL&W)

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Trout Lake & Western (TL&W - part of the Escanaba & Lake Superior family) starts service in 2021 in Michigan's UP from Trout Lake to Munising Jct. (89 miles) and Munising Jct. to Munising (6 miles). Acquired from CN.

Engines include:
- F7B 101 1951, TL&W 102 (F7B) ELS 102B(F7B) MRAX 102B(F7B) WICT 102B(F7B) MILW 102B(F7B)
- F7A 106 1951, TL&W 106(F7A) ELS 106(F7A) MRAX 106(F7A) WICT 106(F7A) MILW 117C(F7A)
- F7A 901 1949, TL&W 901(F7A) ELS 901(F7A) MRAX 901(F7A) WICT 901(F7A) CMN 564(F7A) ACSZ 64(F7A) CWC 564(F7A) DRGW 564D(F7A)

Engine house for two will be constructed in Newberry

Primary customers are:
- Louisiana Pacific in Newberry (inbound resin and outbound particle board)
- Timber Products in Evelyn (Shingleton mailing address) (outbound veneer products)
- Neenah Paper in Munising (inbound kaolin and wood pulp and outbound paper rolls)
- Occasional pulp wood logs at various locations

Operations will consist of:
- Monday switch Newberry industries, run to Trout Lake and return to Newberry tying down.
- Tuesday run to Munising switching customers then tying down in Munising
- Wednesday return to Newberry switching customers then tying down in Newberry
Thursday-Saturday is a repeat of Mon-Wed.

New business:
- By acquiring fifty 60' hi-cube box cars we expect to pick up 500-600 carloads annually of business from L-P and T-P which ship only on center-beams currently
- Inbound pulp wood logs from former AC and HC lines in Canada for Besse (Newberry), L-P and T-P amounting to an additional 500-800 carloads annually
- By acquiring seventy-five 60' bulk head flats we expect to ship 750-1000 carloads annually of outbound pulp wood logs from four loading sites (Newberry, Dollarville, Seney and Shingleton) for points mostly west on CN but a few going east to HC in Sault Ste. Marie
- Wood Waste Management in Munising is interested in shipping by rail. We're negotiating the cost of the spur. Initially expecting 3-4 carloads per week but could double or triple.

With new business we're forecasting 2,500-3,500 carloads per year (CN currently handles 1,000 carloads annually)
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AARR
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Re: Trout Lake & Western (TL&W)

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Update:
- Box car traffic took off as expected. L-P is now shipping 6-10 cars per week of both box cars and center beams combined. T-P is shipping 10-16 of the combined cars and requires switching while we run west and back east again.
- L-P receives about one car a week of wood resin.
- Pulpwood business has picked up but not like we thought. L-P started receiving Canadian pulp wood again at around 5-7 per week. Dollarville and Seney are shipping a 14-car block each every two to three weeks to paper plants in Escanaba and Niagara. T-P still gets all its pulp wood by truck and the loading stations in Newberry and Shingleton remain dormant. Besse in Newberry continues to receive 2-3 cars per week of WI pulp wood.
- Neenah Paper in Munising remains steady receiving 6-8 cars per week of Canadian pulp wood, receives 1-2 cars per week of latex and ships out 4-5 cars per week of food-grade product stickers and wrappings (Chiquita Bananas stickers to FL is a major customer).
- Wood Island Waste Management east of Munising is still using trucks but we have open dialogue about trying rail service.
- Operations remains the same
- While it is nice having the venerable FP7, GP9 and GP10 around, we are looking into new motive power.
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AARR
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Re: Trout Lake & Western (TL&W)

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Here is a little more detail about the outbound pulpwood traffic. As has been rightly pointed out by members on this board it is very difficult to compete with inter-MI truck traffic and their 75-80 ton limits. So here is what I did. I am leasing a 7-car block of double articulated pulp wood log flats. So to the railfan it looks like 14 cars but for billing purposes it is 7 cars with 200+ tons of commodity. This 7-car block rotates between the loading points of Dollarville and Seney visiting each site about every 2-3 weeks. But the cars are averaging a turn about every 7-days. The same company owns both paper mills in Escanaba and Niagara so they determine which location it goes to. CN handles the entire trip once it leaves TL&W. This next point is a little touchy with some people and I understand their POV but with CN's Precision Railroading they pick up this block on time, deliver it on time, and return it on time.

It is going so well that a 2nd 7-car (14 hard count) is being considered to add into the rotation.
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Re: Trout Lake & Western (TL&W)

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TL&W will acquire three GP38-2's from a leasing company. They were originally built for PC in 1972 and served with them and their successor, CR, until 1999, then served on NS under lease until 2003. They went back to a leasing company until UP acquired them in 2005 and had them rebuilt. They went back to the leasing company in 2020 where they have been stored serviceable. TL&W is having them overhauled and are expected to arrive in June.

The venerable FP7, GP9 and GP10 will be returned to E&LS. In spite of their age (approaching 70 years old) the are in great condition and are liked by the crews. Although, the FP7 is not liked so much when they have to ride it during switching duties.

With Timber Products requiring switching by both the east and westbound two round trips per week train, TL&W is operating with two engines in the push-pull method. When going to Trout Lake the norm is two engines on the point in both directions.
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Re: Trout Lake & Western (TL&W)

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In other news, a second set of seven articulated (hard count 14) pulp log cars will be entered into service soon. Initially this seven-car block will rotate between the loading points of Dollarville and Seney visiting each site about every 2-3 weeks. However, the loading sites in Newberry and Shingleton are being looked at to reopen. They will average a turn about every seven-days. Billerud Americas owns both paper mills in Escanaba and Niagara so they determine which location it goes to. CN handles the entire trip once it leaves TL&W.
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Re: Trout Lake & Western (TL&W)

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The second set of seven (hard count 14) articulated wood log bulkhead/side-stakes flat cars are in service. To keep both sets on a two to three week cycle the Newberry station was reopened adding it to Dollarville and Seney. Each set will make a round trip every two to three weeks so they should average 116-175 (hard count 233-350) cars per year. The loading location is determined by which one is ready to load all seven cars. The destination of each block is determined by Billerud Americas (Escanaba or Niagara) with CN making the delivery to either plant.

With the addition of the second set of articulated bulkhead wood log flats 2022 carloads are forecasted at 2,100-2,950 (3,300 hard count).

Operations continues to be a Newberry to Trout Lake turn on Monday and Thursday. Tuesday and Friday is a run to Munising and Wednesday and Saturday back to Newberry.

Fortunately CN upgraded the track to 286,000 lbs and 25 mph before they sold it so the infrastructure is in good shape.

TL&W is a marginally profitable line. It will need assistance (grants and loans) to maintain the track at its current standard.

At this time there are two possibilities for new business.
- Timber Products in Evelyn (Munising) currently trucks in Canadian wood logs. Converting this traffic to rail would add 200-300 cars a year and that could potentially double.
- Wood Island Waste Management (Munising) ships waste wood for burning at generation plants. The problem is they ship to MI based plants and with truck load limits at 82 tons (double what the neighboring states allow) an all rail option does not look attractive at this time. TL&W is stilling reviewing options for this traffic.
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Re: Trout Lake & Western (TL&W)

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Louisiana-Pacific in Newberry has been a good customer since TL&W’s start-up. Initially, L-P was receiving a tank car per week of wood resin and shipping out 3-4 cars a week of oriented strand board on center beam flat cars. TL&W approached L-P about two things:
1. Receive its Canadian wood logs by rail (something they stopped shortly after CN began service in 2001)
2. Ship outbound product by box car (something they stopped about five years ago due to CN’s price structure for using premium boxcars for this service.

CN did not give L-P much attention because it is one of L-P’s smallest mills in NA. However, it remains very profitable due to the high demand of its unique product and a superior work force.

A pair of Canadian short line railroads (Algoma Central and Huron Central) were agreeable to the wood log loadings and interchanging them with CN in Sault Ste. Marie. CN was reluctantly agreeable to the short haul from SSM to Trout Lake. The Canadian government pressured them into accepting the movement since it would keep heavy trucks of Canadian roads (MI’s road regulations are far more lenient). The new business has added 5-7 cars a week of inbound wood logs.

TL&W acquired a group of used, 100-ton, plate C, boxcars to share with L-P and Timber Products in Evelyn (Munising). L-P is shipping 4-6 boxcars a week of its product in addition to the center beam business.

In total L-P is now receiving about a carload a week of wood resin, 5-7 cars a week of Canadian wood logs and shipping out 6-10 cars a week of OSB. Rail shipments have doubled at L-P.
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Re: Trout Lake & Western (TL&W)

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TL&W is now part of the following family of railroads: E&WM, TL&W, ISHW, M&MI and GBN.

Here is a history/pictorial of their venerable roster:

Owner: Trout Lake & Western
Model: EMD F7B Built As: MILW 102B (F7B)
Serial Number: 15243
Order No: 3111
Frame Number: 3111-B5 Built: 12/1951
Notes:
Other locos with this serial: TL&W 102 (F7B) ELS 102B(F7B) MRAX 102B(F7B) WICT 102B(F7B) MILW 102B(F7B)

Owner: Trout Lake & Western
Model: EMD F7A Built As: MILW 117C (F7A)
Serial Number: 15218
Order No: 3106
Frame Number: 3106-A10 Built: 11/1951
Notes:
Other locos with this serial: TL&W 106(F7A) ELS 106(F7A) MRAX 106(F7A) WICT 106(F7A) MILW 117C(F7A)

Owner: Trout Lake & Western
Model: EMD F7A Built As: DRGW 564D (F7A)
Serial Number: 8358
Order No: E1157
Frame Number: E1157-A14 Built: 7/1949
Notes:
Other locos with this serial: TL&W 901(F7A) ELS 901(F7A) MRAX 901(F7A) WICT 901(F7A) CMN 564(F7A) ACSZ 64(F7A) CWC 564(F7A) DRGW 564D(F7A)

Image

Although the engines are 70 years old, they were rebuilt and are in great condition. The crews appreciate them especially in the winter as they seal tighter than the GP’s.

3,180 carloads were handled in 2022 and 2,390-3,350 are forecasted for 2023. TL&W falls far short of the 100 carloads per year per mile standard of profitability. Their Operating Ratio is over 80%. To make the dollars work one crew handles all the work six days per week. They maintain the track with local and Federal government subsidies and customer surcharges. They need 9,800 carloads a year to break even.

It remains to be seen what happens to this line.
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AARR
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Re: Trout Lake & Western (TL&W)

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There have been no changes in customers or operations since the last report.

Operations consists of:
• Monday switch Newberry industries, run to Trout Lake and return to Newberry tying down.
• Tuesday run to Munising switching customers then tying down in Munising
• Wednesday return to Newberry switching customers then tying down in Newberry
• Thursday-Saturday is a repeat of Mon-Wed.

With the assistance of government grants and customer surcharges TL&W will perform some track and infrastructure maintenance this summer, especially on the west end around the Munising area.

Traffic counts remain steady. L-P and T-P remain the big customers shipping 12-19 and 10-16 cars per week respectively. Neenah Paper receives 11-15 cars per week of both inbound and outbound materials. Dollarville and Seney receive a 7-car unit (14 hard count) of Mega Log Haulers every two to three weeks. The pulp wood logs are destined for one of the two Billerud mills in either Escanaba or Niagara.

The push to pick up another pulp wood log transload in Newberry and waste wood in Munising have not been fruitful yet.

The fleet of F7’s serves the modest needs of TL&W. They are in remarkably good condition and are liked by the crew even though they are cowl bodies which are usually less desirable for local switching. However, they tend to be tighter than cab units and appreciated by the crews in the tough winters.

TL&W remains moderately profitable and if it were not for being able to share resources with the E&WM family of railroads could not financially make it on its own.
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Re: Trout Lake & Western (TL&W)

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WATCO has agreed to purchase the following railroads: GBN, ISHW, M&MI and TL&W. ISHW and M&MI meet the 100 car per mile per year profitability standard. The other two lines are well below the standard. WATCO has the financial resources to operate the lines and make the investments to keep the track reliable and safe as well as aggressively pursue new customers (as they have on their other MI and WI lines). They are preparing to begin operations on 11/1/23.

WATCO will replace the Geeps and F-Units on ISHW and TL&W will be replaced by 38’s and 39’s. WATCO will also return M&MI’s SW8 and replace it with their own SW engine.

For now, the Geeps and F-Units will be stored in Wells. The two Geeps will eventually be returned to ILSX. The four F-Units are in good operating condition and several museums/tourist railroads have expressed interest in them.
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...

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