Railroad improving freight site in Toledo

Pavement is installed as part of the rail reconstruction on Dorr Street. The work should allow, by late this year or early next year, bigger trains to pull in or out without delaying other trains on Norfolk Southern’s main line through Toledo. THE BLADE/LORI KING Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Little of the fanfare that accompanied construction of a CSX intermodal rail terminal near North Baltimore, Ohio, has heralded the work under way for several months to improve the efficiency of a terminal operated by rival Norfolk Southern in central Toledo.

But a railroad official says that when the track and signal work that Norfolk Southern has been doing near the terminal — work intended to allow bigger trains to pull in or out without delaying other trains on the railroad’s main line through Toledo — is finished late this year or early in 2012, the volume of freight handled there could double.

The facility, known variously as the Toledo Intermodal Terminal, Toledo Mega-Terminal, or Air Line Junction Intermodal Terminal, could accommodate 60,000 trailer or container “lifts” annually based on the amount of train and truck parking it has, said Lee Cochran, manager of strategic planning for Norfolk Southern.

But because of the way tracks leading into the terminal were laid out generations ago, only a limited number of trains could add or drop cars there on a normal day without jamming up the main lines, he said.

“There were opportunities for business, but we couldn’t get approval to work more trains,” said Mr. Cochran, who became involved in the project during his previous role as the railroad’s manager of intermodal asset development. “We’ve got to keep the main line free, get the trains clear.”

That has meant that the number of truck trailers and containers transferred to and from trains at the Toledo terminal has been about 30,000 a year, he said.

Track and signal work, funded largely by $9.7 million in state and federal grants procured by local leaders, is intended to correct that.

Most visibly to the general public, it has included rebuilding a connecting track removed long ago near Dorr Street and Westwood Avenue that will allow grain trains traveling to or from an elevator in Whiteford Township to exit or enter the Norfolk Southern complex from its west end, instead of at the middle.

The track’s reconstruction closed Dorr for nearly two weeks.

Once it is finished, other track crossings nearby on Westwood and Dorr will no longer be needed and will be taken out, requiring additional street closings.

But out on the main line is where most of the money is being spent.

New tracks and switches have been installed just west of the former Westwood crossing on the main, and also just east of Wenz Road, to provide more route alternatives for trains and allow them to go in or out of the terminal at higher speeds than now allowed.

Accompanying the track work is the installation of modern signals, replacing equipment installed mostly during the mid-20th century, from the terminal’s west end all the way out to Swanton.

Overall, the project is costing about $12.3 million, although most of Norfolk Southern’s share is credit for other track and signal work it had done near the terminal to enhance operations there.

And without the government support, Mr. Cochran said, some of the work now being done might have occurred anyway — but not necessarily right away.

“It’s a good project. But every year we have lots of good projects at Norfolk Southern that we can’t fund,” he said. “Some of this might have been done over time, some of these things would have come along, but it wouldn’t have happened as a package the way it is now.”

Without the city of Toledo’s involvement, “this probably would not have come together,” Mr. Cochran said.

“We understand the value and need for intermodal transportation,” said Brad Peebles, the city’s commissioner of development. “There are markets that are better suited for rail than for trucks, and this will provide us access to a transportation asset that we have not had previously.”

A study released late in 2008 by a local task force predicted that expansion of the Airline Junction facility could generate 900 or more jobs, with a payroll estimated at $25.6 million, in and around the terminal.

“We believe this will have a major impact on Toledo’s economy over time,” said James Tuschman, the task force’s chairman.

CSX’s $175 million North Baltimore terminal, opened early this year, sprawls over 500 acres and has more than 200 employees. But for the time being, it is anticipated to serve mainly as an en-route sorting facility for containerized freight, with only about 1 percent of the 2 million annual shipments expected to be handled there being trucked in or out from nearby businesses.

Most of the projected Toledo jobs would be in trucking or warehousing, and the expanded terminal itself would have a relatively low employment impact. A fair traffic increase could occur before the rail terminal would need to add equipment or employees, Mr. Cochran said.

“The jobs will come from industries that set up warehouses or logistics” nearby to take advantage of the terminal’s greater capability, he said.

Once the track construction is finished, Mr. Cochran said, Norfolk Southern plans a marketing campaign to promote the terminal’s expanded capability.

Such an effort before the railroad could handle the traffic, he said, would have been unproductive.

“If you don’t have the capacity, if you can’t do the service, they [customers] are going to move on,” he said.

Mr. Peebles said the city also would be involved in marketing the terminal, but he was unsure how that would be done other than that it would be “a partnership effort with NS.”

“Now that we’re getting close, I’m looking forward to promoting it,” he said.

Contact David Patch at: dpatch@theblade.com or 419-724-6094.