New business for the JAIL

[wawatam]

Apparently the Jackson & Lansing RR has picked up some work in Mason. First, MJ Electric has a staging area on the south side of Mason for a transmission tower replacement job that will be starting in the area soon. They have recieved two shipments of hardwood mats on bulkhead flatcars in the past three weeks. The mats will be used on soft ground to carry trucks, cranes, and tower sections. So far, they have recieved ten carloads with 64 mats on each.
The second job involves the delivery of two shipments of empty tankcars that are being transloaded with oil from around the area. The American Refining Group is handling the transportion and transloading. The loaded cars are being shipped to Bradford, Pa. for refining. So far they have recieved 14 cars.
All of these cars have been set off at the stone track next to Michigan Packaging Co.
These jobs may be temporary, but it's good to see something new and different going on around here.

[AARR]

Apparently the Jackson & Lansing RR has picked up some work in Mason. First, MJ Electric has a staging area on the south side of Mason for a transmission tower replacement job that will be starting in the area soon. They have recieved two shipments of hardwood mats on bulkhead flatcars in the past three weeks. The mats will be used on soft ground to carry trucks, cranes, and tower sections. So far, they have recieved ten carloads with 64 mats on each.

There was a similar project recently around the Romeo area with the same materials used. Unfortunately, the Romeo Sub was removed 15 years ago. Nevertheless every time I saw them I thought of what could have been additional rail traffic if the tracks were still in place.

[GrandTrunkFan]

Its a shame they cant get the Leslie and Mason grain elevators shipping again.

[AARR]

Its a shame they cant get the Leslie and Mason grain elevators shipping again.

I think most of Mason Elevators grain (all three elevators in Leslie and Mason are owned by ME) goes to local ethanol plants and its hard to make money on short hauls when another railroad is involved.

[GLLX3002]

It's nice that this business is finally happening...

[AARR]

3 more crane mat loads arrived on Q335 this morning.
With a shipper loading the same kind of mats on the MQT for a North Dakota customer why are they going all the way to Alabama for this stuff? Seems sorta expensive and fuelish to say the least.

I ask myself this question many times about some rail movements. There usually is a good reason. Be interesting to know what this one is.

[GLLX3002]

They buy products from the companies that they want. Where they come from is most likely the least of their concern.

[AARR]

They buy products from the companies that they want. Where they come from is most likely the least of their concern.

If the products are the same usually they will go with company that is closer to reduce transportation costs. In low value commodities (which I'm assuming wood matting is) the transportation costs may be more than the value of the material so closer is preferred to save money.

[wawatam]

MJ Electric is based in Iron Mountain, Mi., but according to their website they have jobs going all over the country. I suspect the supplier has been working with them for quite some time even though most of their jobs are currently in the upper midwest and northeast.

[Standard Railfan]

I believe that southern oak is the preferred material for crane mats. Partially due to the fact the the southern trees grow faster so you can get a chunk of wood big enough to make a mat out of without waiting for the tree to grow over a 75 year span.

[SousaKerry]

Too bad the pipeline project in Jackson County can't get together with the electric company. I drive past the pipeline staging yard everyday on the way home. I can't tell you how many truck loads of mats they brought in or from where but it was a lot.

I saw that they are replacing large electric towers near Jackson along the JAIL ROW at Parnell Rd. I wonder if that is the same project.

[Standard Railfan]

Too bad the pipeline project in Jackson County can't get together with the electric company.

It would seem that when a number of projects are running that require lots of mats, the supply dries up and prices skyrocket. Mats are often rented. So, when there are two projects in the same area, the odds of cooperation seem to go down.

Conversely, I was once able to get a very good price to rent mats owing to my project being between where another contractor had a stockpile and their next job site where the mats were needed.

I recall when MJ finished the line across the Southern UP a few years ago, there were solid strings of centerbeams being loaded at Zellars in Gulliver.

[AARR]

I can't recall where I read this but apparently tank cars have been appearing in Mason in blocks of 6ish. There is some speculation that they are being loaded with oil from a nearby well. However, I heard a while back that a chemical plant in Mason that does not have a spur was going to start receiving their chemicals by rail and transload in Mason.

Maybe someone in the area can look into this. Be very careful though, if you go on JAIL's property without permission they will stop you and possibly prosecute.

[ThatRailfanningKid]

You can see the two spurs by MPC from the road, and the one farthest from the road often has tankers on it, and they are often connected to some sort of loading apparatus. Drive by MPC on Eden road, and you can see it.

[Marylee]

For what it is worth, I haven't got around to mention but, INE has unloaded at least a dozen centerbeams of mats in Coldwater across from Union Pallet. I am assuming that these are for the Consumers gas line rebuild that is running through Branch county.
Ironically, they lie, if you look at the attached link where they "claim" the pipe is unloaded in Coldwater, that is not Coldwater!

http://www.consumersenergy.com/content.aspx?id=6585

Also they put nice new signals in Jonesville at US12 with a new bungalow and lots of new stone base, but at this point they still haven't put up crossing gates. I am yet to know why as it is a very busy crossing. Much busier than other with gates like Reading Rd in Reading and Ridge Rd in Quincy.