tomato plant expanding

[redside20]

At a Red Gold Facility in Orestes Indiana, haven't a clue if they see rail service
http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/ne ... p?ID=42994

[thomas]

the plant is by the NKP but has never saw rail service..

[Shorthaul]

Fresh fruits and vegetables (especially ones like Tomatoes) are not really game to be shipped by rail directly, and the only intermodal terminal for perishables that I know of is in the New York area, so their inbound tomatoes will never see rails. I don't think that perishables usually go TOFC, and I have yet to see a refrigerated domestic 53' container. I have no idea about what else goes into tomato products, but I doubt that they will ship in any additives in great enough quantity to use rail. Only rail involved here may be shipping finished product intermodally.

[CSX_CO]

Fresh fruits and vegetables (especially ones like Tomatoes) are not really game to be shipped by rail directly, and the only intermodal terminal for perishables that I know of is in the New York area, so their inbound tomatoes will never see rails. I don't think that perishables usually go TOFC, and I have yet to see a refrigerated domestic 53' container. I have no idea about what else goes into tomato products, but I doubt that they will ship in any additives in great enough quantity to use rail. Only rail involved here may be shipping finished product intermodally.

After processing they wouldn't need to be refrigerated. Canned tomatoes go out in regular box cars or dry vans. NS serves a large Red Gold tomato plant on the east side of Indiana. Inbound tomatoes come directly from the fields. Not sure what they ship out, but I do know they get rail service. That's why processed tomatoes, katsup, etc are usually found on the grocery shelves, not in the coolers. Which is what most of these tomato plants do, process tomatoes.

Indiana is known for its tomatoes. In fact, Heinz and other BBQ sauce makers prefer Indiana tomatoes over other areas for their taste.

As far as perishables via TOFC, what do you think is in all those Clipper trailers (et al) going EB across Northern Indiana?

Practice Safe CSX

[Shorthaul]

I know I was referring to inbound tomatoes needing to be refrigerated. I really had no idea that Indiana produced tomatoes in significant volumes, thanks for the information on that. I guess food processing plants are usually near a source of raw materials if they process perishables. Should have thought about that more Is it normal for plants like this to ship in from California/Mexico in the winter, or do they have storage?
As for the Clipper trailers, I guess you're also right. I was just thinking about the trains magazine article on the UP fruit train/Q090/091, which said that pretty much all fresh produce goes 100% by truck except for the perishables on that train, but what else would ride in reefer trailers? If these clipper trailers run mostly on NS, I have an excuse, but I bet I've seen them on CSX and not given them a thought. Thank you for correcting me, apparently I need all the help I can get

[CSX_CO]

I know I was referring to inbound tomatoes needing to be refrigerated. I really had no idea that Indiana produced tomatoes in significant volumes, thanks for the information on that. I guess food processing plants are usually near a source of raw materials if they process perishables. Should have thought about that more Is it normal for plants like this to ship in from California/Mexico in the winter, or do they have storage?
As for the Clipper trailers, I guess you're also right. I was just thinking about the trains magazine article on the UP fruit train/Q090/091, which said that pretty much all fresh produce goes 100% by truck except for the perishables on that train, but what else would ride in reefer trailers? If these clipper trailers run mostly on NS, I have an excuse, but I bet I've seen them on CSX and not given them a thought. Thank you for correcting me, apparently I need all the help I can get

To be honest, I don't really know what they do in the winters. I do know they get tomatoes from all over the state shipped to those processing plants. Not sure if they keep a stock pile on site, or just process everything all at once. I do believe there is a bit of a 'rush' at harvest time, and they process as much as they can as quickly as they can to retain freshness.

Q110 used to carry a healthy block of Clipper stuff, as did some of the other high priority intermodals. The short lived roadrailer on CSX off the BNSF was mostly refrigerated stuff from the Pacific Northwest. That traffic had moved on Q110, got its own train, and then went back on Q110. CSX has too much money invested in intermodal equipment to be using Triple Crown type trains. I know for awhile UPS had a contract with Clipper to use the return trip to back haul UPS stuff from the east coast to the west coast. They'd shut off the reefer unit, fill with packages, and send west. Made use of an otherwise empty trailer, and saved UPS from having to backhaul their own empty vans back east.

Not to get off topic, but perishables go on a quite a few trains to be honest. In Avon, Q687 comes off the UP with large blocks of refrigerator cars. They get classified for points around Nashville Tn, Birmingham Al, and Waycross, Ga. Solid blocks of box cars filled with non-refrigerated items head to Selirk out off the UP at Salem, IL and the SW (I've been told its box cars of Corona, the waybill only says 'beer'). You'll see potatoes, cheese, wine, chicken, etc in the cars. We have a few shippers in Indy that get beverages via box car, and another that takes in canned products and distributes them. They are the bain of my existance because I pull those trains, and have to make sure those running reefers don't end up next to a flammable car. Those two car types are magnets for each other...and a pain to remedy.

Practice Safe CSX

[CSX_CO]

I guess food processing plants are usually near a source of raw materials if they process perishables. Should have thought about that more

Yeah, you don't see an orange juice plant in Wisconsin. Then again, you don't usually see a large scale cheese plant in Florida either. Anything you can do to reduce the transporation of the materials, the easier it is to keep costs down. Transportation is usually the largest expense a company has (it's variable, I'm sure fixed costs of factories and whatnot are larger, but you get the idea). Anything they can do to keep transportation costs low, keeps costs low, and allows them a larger profit margin. Thats why there are large tomato processing plants in Indiana (not that most people realize it), its one thing Indiana grows, and grows well.

Practice Safe CSX

[canpac08]

I have seen and hauled many containers of perishables out of Schiller Park and Bensenville to Toronto and Montreal and back. We get blocks of 5-12 containers on both the 152-153 and the 241/240. I'm not exactly sure what the perishables are, since our paperwork only says perishables. course I have seen Cartons of Eggs and butter sitting on the tracks after a CP train has been broken into. I'm not sure what the NS hauls as far as perishables through Indiana, but I have noticed a pick up in there Reefer traffic as well