Jumping the tracks? The future of the downtown Chaska rail line is up in the air

By Mollee Francisco 

Nine months after a railroad trestle near Carver went tumbling into the Minnesota River, taking several railcars with it, Union Pacific is now looking at abandoning its line.

“We will be placing the line on our map for consideration in the future for abandonment,” confirmed Mark Davis, a media representative with Union Pacific.

High flood waters are still believed to have contributed to the trestle’s demise back in March. The collapse occurred less than a mile southeast of downtown Carver, rendering the line unusable.

According to Chaska City Administrator David Pokorney, Union Pacific based its decision to pursue abandonment on the high cost of reconstruction ($20 million to $25 million) as well as the fact that it had only one Chaska rail customer, United Sugars, at the time the trestle collapsed.

Pokorney has already made no bones about what a boon the abandonment could be for Chaska. The city would look to pick up railroad right-of-way, possibly preserving it for a future trail corridor, Pokorney said. It would also try to pick up key pieces in downtown, previously splintered by the rail line, for possible redevelopment.

Monday night, the Chaska council directed staff to execute a joint powers agreement with Carver, the Metropolitan Council and Scott and Carver counties. The agreement will be back before the council for final approval at its Jan. 28 meeting, but essentially would give the group the first chance to buy up right-of-way along the line.

However, while Chaska officials see opportunity in rail abandonment, Carver officials see big challenges.

Concerns in Carver

The Carver City Council had the abandonment on its agenda Monday night. City Administrator Jim Elmquist and City Planner Cindy Olness expected two issues to come up in relation to the railroad – namely how abandonment could affect the levee and the railroad bridge.

“The rail line serves as part of our ******,” explained Elmquist, of the portion of rail that extends from downtown Carver to the city’s depot park.

“We may not own all of our levee when it’s done,” said Olness, adding that the railroad owns pieces of the levee, and has easements along some sections. “We want to make sure the city has control over the levee.”

Also of concern will be river maintenance near the railroad bridge, just east of the downtown.

“Right now the (Union Pacific) clears out the log jams,” said Olness.

“The railroad has the capital and employee power to remove the logs and branches,” said Elmquist. “It would almost be an impossible task for a city to do from the shore.”

Despite the hardship that clearing log jams would present for Carver, no one is talking about tearing down the bridge, Olness said. Instead, Scott and Carver counties, along with the cities of Chaska and Carver, are seeking ways to preserve the corridor, in the face of possible abandonment.

“There are a bunch of uses for the corridor, all of which make a lot of sense,” said Olness.

In addition to a trail connecting Carver and Scott counties, the Metropolitan Council is reportedly interested in purchasing the corridor stretching from Athletic Park in Chaska to Carver’s depot park to extend a sewer line. A trail could also be constructed above the line, providing a link between Carver and Chaska’s downtowns.

United Sugars to protest

The last nine months have been full of question marks for the rail line’s sole customer, United Sugars. The sugar factory, located at the end of the line, just south of Stoughton Avenue, was receiving regular shipments of sugar from the Red River Valley before the bridge collapsed.

“It certainly has had a lingering effect on employee’s minds,” said Ray Smith, facilities and quality systems director with United Sugars.

The company is aware of Union Pacific’s intention to abandon the rail line and plans to “protest vigorously,” Smith said. It will ultimately be up to the state of Minnesota to decide the line’s fate, however. Meanwhile, United Sugars employees have worked to keep busy amid the logistic problems the collapse has created.

Initially, the factory relied on its stores of sugar to continue operations, but eventually, the company began trucking in sugar. That has required a lot more planning on the transportation side, Smith said.

“To be the most efficient, we need to be able to ship by rail,” he said.

Smith explained that their Chaska plant is equipped to load rail cars, not trucks. “Basically, you just dump it into a rail car,” he said.

Filling trucks takes longer, Smith said, and the trucks don’t carry as much as a rail car. “One rail car equals about four trucks,” he said.

Before the railroad trestle collapse, United Sugars was dividing its time up between shipping bulk granulated sugar and producing liquid sugar. Since the collapse, the factory has had to drop the bulk shipping and focus on liquid sugar production.

“We have very limited liquid sugar capacity, though,” said Smith. “So we’ve basically been doing made to order.”

Meanwhile, United Sugars has been looking at their options should the line be abandoned for good.

“Since March, we’ve been working on a number of alternatives,” said Smith, adding that they felt it was important to do everything possible to keep the Chaska facility operational.

“We’ve very interested in keeping Chaska open,” said Smith. “We have to have the ability to deliver to our customers in the area and we’ve got a lot of loyal employees there.”