Dutchtown Southern just might be the biggest story in railroading, reports Trains.com. The Watco short line began operations earlier this year on 1.76 miles of track leased from Canadian National in Geismar, La. Located some 20 miles south of Baton Rouge, the Dutchtown Southern track parallels the former Illinois Central main and serves a cluster of nine petrochemical plants that fill 35,000 freight cars per year.
Watco Chief Commercial Officer Stefan Loeb sees “staggering growth potential” by offering more flexible, frequent and reliable switching. Dutchtown Southern serves the plants every day and gets paid by the carload. It could become a model for future Class I railroads. Read the entire story.
