Freight rail could become a big player in Boise

Freight train service is an improvised matter in Ada County.

Once a day on each weekday, the Boise Valley Railroad rolls from the Union Pacific depot in Nampa to southeast Boise and back, dropping off and picking up rail cars at the yards of clients with rail sidings on their properties.

Businesses that don’t have rail service have to rely on a business that does. Only a few of BVRR’s 60 Treasure Valley clients follow that route.

BVRR and the city of Boise see the potential for a much larger freight rail transport market in Boise if the area had a dedicated facility for loading and unloading rail cars.

“We hear from businesses all the time that the logistics (of transporting goods and supplies in and out of Treasure Valley) is a challenge,” said Nic Miller, the city’s economic development director.

The city owns 300 acres of desert scrub and ranch land that wraps around two sides of the WinCo distribution center near Interstate 84 and Eisenman Road. It’s near the airport and the freeway. Nearly 9,000 linear feet of railroad track that the city owns runs alongside the property.

“Rail has always been a top issue,” said Matt Brookshier, the city’s strategic real estate manager. “The city has had this issue in mind for at least 10 years.”

The vision is to create an intermodal hub and transfer station – a formal place for rail-to-truck loading. This could serve as a rail market from Payette to Glenns Ferry, he said.

“In general, it is our desire to see a rail-oriented industrial park developed in this area,” Brookshier said.  “With excellent connections to I-84 and the airport, the location is perfect from a logistics standpoint. Also, due to large areas of available land, it could encompass 1,200 acres or even more depending on how far west the developer chooses to extend.“

The city has had talks with several nearby landowners about the plan. But Miller said the city is just in the very early stages of exploring the potential for a rail hub and possible industrial park.

Today’s Union Pacific mainline bypasses Boise to the south via Kuna. Union Pacific still owns the branch line that runs through Meridian to Gowen Road and, since 2000, the city of Boise has owned the remaining 18 miles until the tracks rejoin the UP mainline near the Elmore county line at Orchard Road. BVRR operates on 25 miles of that line to Gowen Road.

The Boise Valley Railroad has operated through the Treasure Valley since November 2009. Union Pacific delivers and picks up Treasure Valley freight cars in Nampa, where BVRR then transports them through Meridian and Boise, said Ted Kadau, senior marketing manager for Watco Services, operator of the BVRR and numerous other short-line railroads.

J.R. Simplot Co. is BVRR’s largest customer. Other large customers are Boise Paper, Snake River Oil & Gas and Idaho Asphalt Supply.

“We’ve been in ongoing discussions with the city economic development and real estate staff,” Kadau said. “I would say a multimodal concept is something we’re absolutely on board with. It would be very valuable for us.”

BVRR typically hauls bulk materials such as asphalt, scrap metal and lumber. Trains usually have about 25 to 30 cars that are decoupled at customers’ siding and reattached to the train on the return trip to Nampa.

“There are many customers who don’t have rail service,” Kadau said. “We’re a very growth-driven company. We don’t have a clear number at this point (for additional Treasure Valley customers). This is something we’re analyzing as we speak.”