THERE IS STILL LIFE IN RETAIL RAILROADING.

Most people think of the Strasburg Rail Road as that tourist attraction in Pennsylvania Dutch country with the steam trains.  They are a common carrier rail road (that antebellum technology is deliberate, as it might antedate Union Pacific) serving a couple of businesses on the outskirts of Strasburg, and they're expanding their team track in Paradise.

In September, the railroad purchased 4.1 acres adjacent to Amtrak's Keystone line, at the far end of the railroad's interchange track with Norfolk Southern, which handles freight on the Amtrak line. Initial construction will include a couple of team tracks, with more to follow in phases, [vice-president of roadway Stephen] Weaver said.

An additional three acres has been leased by Capital Forest Products, a shingle manufacturer expected to become a major customer. The railroad will also lease a strip of land from Amtrak to access the new yard. Work is expected to begin in in the spring.

Weaver said the new yard will allow the railroad to shift some of its freight business away from the current freight delivery yard across the main track from its shops at East Strasburg, away from the tourist train operations that are its bread and butter. The new yard, however, will allow the railroad to triple its freight business from the current 500 cars annually. Current traffic includes grain, lumber and agricultural products.

The challenge for short-line railroads lies in obtaining reliable car deliveries from the trunk lines, which have revealed a stronger preference of late for hauling trainload lots.  Sometimes, notes my distinguished colleague David Foster, the short lines are spun off from the trunk lines, and perhaps in that division of effort there is an incentive for the trunk carriers to put their connections in a position to succeed.