Puget Sound and Pacific Railroad

The Puget Sound and Pacific Railroad ( PSAP, PS & P) is an American Short Line Railroad Company in the state of Washington, at a length of around 130 km. Seat of the RailAmerica Group company owned by Elma (Washington). Most important transport goods are wood and wood products.

Route network

The company is running on the former BNSF line from Centralia over Oakville by Elma. There the route (atomic submarines base ) and Bremerton branched west to the Port of Grays Harbor in Aberdeen and Hoquiam and to the northeast by Shelton and on to the U.S. Navy bases Bangor Base (reserve the Pacific Fleet ). The latter route is from Shelton owned by the U.S. Navy. From Centralia, the route network extends south to Chehalis and from there via the owned of the Port of Chehalis route to Curtis.

Transitions exist for BNSF in Centralia and the Union Pacific Railroad in Blakeslee Junction.

History

In the 1980s and early 1990s, the traffic began to ports to Aberdeen and Hoquiam to subside. The main reason was the declining timber transport from the Olympic Peninsula to the rest of the United States. After 1980 had already withdrawn the Milwaukee Road from Washington, introduced in 1985, the Union Pacific their own route to Aberdeen and used the tracks of the Burlington Northern Railroad with. In 1997, the BNSF, the successor Burlington Northern decided to cease operation due to the low transport volume. Since this would have meant the end for the port, was looking for a solution. This was the acquisition of the route found by the Shortline operators Sierra Park. The company, which already operated several routes in California and Arizona, acquired in August 1997, the Harbor and Bangor Subdivison BNSF. In the following years, the new company began an intensive quest for new customers. Especially in conjunction with the Port to acquire new transport services managed. This made it possible to increase the annual transport volume to 2002 from the original 7,500 carloads in 1997 to 14,000 charges. The transport orders also occasionally heard the removal of nuclear material from the submarine base in Bangor. In January 2002, Park Sierra was acquired by RailAmerica.

Vehicle park

The operation started with eight locomotives EMD GP10 and GP38 series. The older GP10 were later replaced by locomotives of the series EMD GP40 and GP38 further. The fleet consisted of 2005 15 locomotives in the fall. A special feature is the use of radio-controlled locomotives for shunting.

Swell

• Thomas Hillebrant: Somebody's gotta step up In: Trains. 02/ 03, Kalmbach Publishing Co., pp. 64-69, ISSN 0041-0934