Port Huron Industrial (PHIN)

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AARR
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Port Huron Industrial (PHIN)

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In 2018 CN sold their Dunn Paper Branch to Port Huron Industrial (PHIN), about 4 miles long. PHIN Connects with CN near Tappan and has trackage rights into CN's Port Huron Yard.

PHIN acquired a 1950's SW1200 with switcher trucks. It was in its built-new condition having never been overhauled or rebuilt. It runs pretty good and does not need any immediate major repairs.

To start there are two customers; Dunn Paper and Domtar Paper. Although Dunn gets most of the recognition Domtar is the larger shipper.

Dunn receives 4-7 box cars per week of paper rolls directly from its mill in Menominee, MI. They also receive 1-2 tank cars a week of clay slurry and chlorine. Typically they are switched on Sunday but occasionally on Monday and sometimes get a 2nd switch during the week.

Domtar started out getting 4-6 box cars a week of wood pulp and 3-5 cars a week of various chemicals in covered hoppers and tank cars. They would get switched two times per week usually Monday and Thursday. However, most of their wood pulp was from one of their Canadian mills and being railed into Toronto by CP and trucked to Port Huron. This was due to plant switching issues with CN (CN was willing to perform whatever switching Domtar wanted but at a cost higher than Domtar was willing to pay). PHIN offered a lower rate for plant switching. CN was happy to bring the cars into Port Huron from Toronto. Domtar increased wood pulp shipments to 11-15 cars per week. They wanted switching three days per week (usually Sunday, Tuesday or Wednesday and Friday). Sadly, after successfully growing their business Domtar closed in August, 2021. It now sits dormant.

However, there is another company looking at it. Great Lakes Tissue (Cheboygan, MI) operates the former Proctor-Gamble diaper plant. They have a small but profitable niche manufacturing tissue paper. In almost 20 years of business they have never come close to operating at 100% due in part to transportation limitations. Both their inbound (paper scrap bales) and outbound (tissue paper) are far from major markets. One benefit with Port Huron is their major raw material, scrap paper, is plentiful and can be transported primarily by truck, but also a little by rail, cheaper than to Cheboygan. Also, while tissue paper would be shipped out by truck they are considering adding bulk tissue paper rolls that can be shipped by rail and truck to other mills for processing and packaging.

The final customer, CDW Marketing, was added after the start-up. CDW is a marketing and warehousing logistics company. They operate a warehouse across the tracks from Domtar. At this time CDW has two rail served customers. One gets about two cars every week or so of chemicals that are unloaded from a team track behind the warehouse. The 2nd gets bulk synthetic rubber bales for a plant in Sandusky, MI. The bulk rubber arrives in a 3-4 car block every 3-4 weeks. The chemicals get spotted during one of the other switching moves. But the rubber at times comes in "hot" and has to be spotted immediately so the Sandusky plant doesn't shutdown.

At this time the track is in good shape. There are very limited other customers/opportunities. Mortimer Lumber and Mueller Brass are prospects but that is about it for now.

There is enough traffic from Dunn Paper to keep PHIN viable for now. CDW brings in a small profit. But getting a new tenant for the ex-Domtar plant, even with less traffic, puts PHIN safely in the black.
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AARR
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Re: Port Huron Industrial (PHIN)

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Locomotive Roster:

Owner: Port Huron Industrial 609
Model: EMD SW1200 Built As: PPU 500 (SW1200)
Serial Number: 30307 Order No: 4479
Frame Number: 4479-1 Built: 5/1965
Notes: Acquired from NUCX 2018
Other locos with this serial: NUCX 609(SW1200) GASX 1678 (SW1200) PPU 609(SW1200) PPU 500(SW1200)
Image

At this time there are no changes to customers or operations
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AARR
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Re: Port Huron Industrial (PHIN)

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PHIN continues to operate about once a week switching Dunn Paper and CDW. The usual day of service is Monday morning.

Dunn Paper typically receives 1-3 cars per week of clay slurry and 4-7 cars per week of paper rolls from their plant in Menominee, MI.

CDW is a logistics company that receives 2-4 tank cars every couple weeks of a chemical for a local company and 1-2 cars per week of bulk synthetic rubber for a plant in Sandusky, MI.

PHIN is expecting to receive 450-600 car loads in 2022.

The former Domtar paper mill remains closed however Vibracoustic (with a plant in Sandusky, MI) is seriously looking at it.

SW1200 609 continues to perform its duties well.
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AARR
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Re: Port Huron Industrial (PHIN)

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Bad news, sigh...
Dunn Paper in Port Huron Closing
Post by NS3322 » Wed Sep 21, 2022 6:16 pm

Dunn Paper will be closing on November 18, 2022:
https://www.thetimesherald.com/story/ne ... 509801007/
Note that the article fails to mention that CDW also receives 1-2 cars per week of bulk synthetic rubber for Vibracoustic in Sandusky, MI.
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AARR
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Re: Port Huron Industrial (PHIN)

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PHIN now belongs to the TOAD family of railroads including TOAD, WDIN, DIND, PHIN, LIND, PONB, JAIL and CHIN.

The SW1200 was sold and replaced with:
Owner: Port Huron Industrial
Model: EMD SW900 Built As: BFC 5323 (SW9)
Serial Number: 18589
Order No: 4230
Frame Number: 4230-1 Built: 7/1953
Notes:
Other locos with this serial: PHIN 903(SW900) ADBF 1223(SW900) SGVY 999(SW9) AEX 999990(SW1200) SCTR 5323(SW9) BFC 5323(SW9)
Image

Vibracoustic moved from Sandusky, MI into the south side of the old Domtar plant. They have two spurs and three docks for the following:
• 2-4 cars a week of rubberized pellets (the dock holds two cars, so it needs switching twice a week).
• 1-2 cars a week of liquified rubber (the dock holds one car, so it needs switching twice a week).
• Once a month they receive 1-3 cars of synthetic bulk rubber (the dock holds two cars).

OX has shown interest in moving into the north side of the old Domtar mill. They will have two spurs to receive scrap paper bales (2-4 per week) and resin (about one car a week) for a specialty line of coated paper for the medical industry.

The old Dunn Paper plant remains vacant for now.

Operations is Sunday and Wednesday. Sunday, they interchange with CN in Port Huron yard. Wednesday, they shuffle cars around at Vibracoustic. A crew performs the work who also work DIND (Monday and Thursday) and TOAD (Tuesday and Friday).
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AARR
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Re: Port Huron Industrial (PHIN)

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PHIN has changed its days of operation to Monday and Thursday. This crew also works LIND on Tuesday and PONB on Wednesday.
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AARR
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Re: Port Huron Industrial (PHIN)

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PHIN is no longer part of the TOAD family of railroads. TOAD accepted an offer from a new company, Transportation Holdings LLC. under their Adrian & Toledo (ADTO) division. This includes CHIN, DIND, JAIL and LIND.

PHIN is now part of a group consisting of PONB, PONW and WDIB. Two crews rotate among the four railroads. PHIN continues to be switched Monday and Thursday. Monday, the crew reports to CDW where SW900 903 is staged. They switch customers and interchange with CN. Thursday is usually just for switching customers and shuffling cars around their spurs.
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AARR
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Re: Port Huron Industrial (PHIN)

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Vibracoustic is the only active customer now and requires switching twice a week. They received 270 cars of rubber pellets (162), rubber liquified (81) and bulk synthetic rubber (27). Once a week PHIN’s SW900 903 runs into CN’s Tunnel Yard to exchange cars. The other day PHIN shuffles cars around Vibracoustic pulling empties and spotting loads.

OX remains on schedule to open in June 2024.

The old Dunn Paper plant has a prospective buyer. Hopefully more will be known in the near future.
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Erroneous Monk
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Re: Port Huron Industrial (PHIN)

Unread post by Erroneous Monk »

How are you calculating those carload numbers? I would like to do something similar with my smaller roads

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AARR
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Re: Port Huron Industrial (PHIN)

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Erroneous Monk wrote:
Sun Jan 14, 2024 7:35 pm
How are you calculating those carload numbers? I would like to do something similar with my smaller roads
Thank you for your interest.

I guessed based on Vibracoustic having 300 employees. I suspect in this case I am on the high side. I may go back and readjust those numbers.

The paper plants I found on the internet how many tons of paper they produce a year and estimated how much of that would be shipped by rail.
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