Page 1 of 1
Battle Creek customers....one less customer
Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2019 9:52 pm
by arty flowers
This news really sucks but Treehouse Foods will be closing the old Ralston Purina plant in June. How many more customers remain in bc for CN and NS. Is Treehouse the biggest customer?
https://www.powderbulksolids.com/news/T ... UXVBxBIIic
Re: Battle Creek customers....one less customer
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2019 2:25 pm
by dave989
Not many customers in Battle Creek anymore. Post , Kelloggs and what was St. Regis Paper. Most of that business is trucked. CN must be too expensive on their car rates. I thought it was bad when I moved from there years ago, but now its getting worse.
Re: Battle Creek customers....one less customer
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2019 5:01 pm
by 1TrackMind
Reconserve, Graphic Packaging and westrock. Did treehouse even get cars? Most of their tracks look unused.
Re: Battle Creek customers....one less customer
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2019 7:34 pm
by trainjunkie47
For food processors, their outbound loads are heading to grocery warehouses which are operating almost like auto plants, with just in time delivery. Most anything that would come inbound to a food processor can be handled at the bulk transfer.....no need to spot cars at the individual facility.
Re: Battle Creek customers....one less customer
Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 10:09 am
by NS3322
1TrackMind wrote:Reconserve, Graphic Packaging and westrock. Did treehouse even get cars? Most of their tracks look unused.
Yes, Treehouse received inbound cars. Things must be slowing down as I have not seen one parked out there in a few weeks.
They were using a trackmobile to switch cars in and out of the plant.
Re: Battle Creek customers....one less customer
Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 11:08 am
by AARR
At one time Purina had a few tracks into the plant. I don't know how many are still there but when I saw an occasional car it was on an outside spur.
Re: Battle Creek customers....one less customer
Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 12:38 pm
by dave989
It used to get switched by a local almost daily until CN car rates and the city of Battle Creek made life harder for R. P. Plus the smell of cereal and pet food will be gone from the nearby Amtrack station.
Re: Battle Creek customers....one less customer
Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 8:36 pm
by NS3322
dave989 wrote:It used to get switched by a local almost daily until CN car rates and the city of Battle Creek made life harder for R. P. Plus the smell of cereal and pet food will be gone from the nearby Amtrack station.
How did the city make things hard for R.P.?
And the smell of paperboard from Graphic Packaging has been the norm by the Amtrak station for a while now.
Re: Battle Creek customers....one less customer
Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 11:17 pm
by dave989
.How did the city make things hard for R.P.?
And the smell of paperboard from Graphic Packaging has been the norm by the Amtrak station for a while now.[/quote]
Industries have been leaving Battle Creek. The list would take forever to go thru. I was working for Clark Equipment back in
the 70s and the city fathers have offered little in the way of incentives to stay. They left for Kentucky, I left for Grand Rapids.
When I visit, it smells like cereal when I go to the Amtrak station when the wind is out of the west. You can bust my chops all you want but
there is no denying Battle Creek has lost a lot while other cities have done better at attracting business in Michigan.