Oregon Rail Pictures
CP 8710
[ Gorge Week: Day 2 ] - (1 of 2)
The only red GEVO in the lineup, which doesn’t make it any better, but means you’ll only have to close your eyes once ;). In all seriousness, with conditions like this, I mostly just pray it’s not a pissbrick because just about anything else can be managed.
By now, many of you should be familiar with these trains. As of right now, the CP traffic makes up about two to four out of every 10 trains on the Portland Sub. Obviously this number fluctuates month to month, but it’s safe to say that roughly 20% or more of all traffic comes out of Eastport. This number has risen quite a bit in the past few years.
Back in 2018, Canpotex—the company that produces and ships potash out of Canada—completed a $150 million upgrade to Terminal 5 at the Port of Portland. The company said the upgrades would result in a capacity to export up to 7.5 million metric tons of potash annually. In August of 2024, UP published on their website that they had completed a record number of shipments of potash out of Terminal 5 in the second quarter of the year, but it gave no official numbers. The only statistic given was that Portland exports roughly 20% of Canpotex’s annual potash supply, which is “more than 13 million tons.” This didn’t seem to add up, or perhaps they were old numbers on their website, so I did some more digging. On the Port of Portland’s website, I found yearly export statistics going back to 1994. In 2024, listed under “Mineral Bulk Tonnage,” the port exported 7.59 million metric tons (8.37 million tons) to ocean going vessels. This was the third time they have eclipsed 7 million metric tons exported, and the first time since 2019. However, I’m unsure if this includes the soda ash trains out of Wyoming that are exported through Terminal 4, and being unsatisfied with the answer, I did some basic calculations.
Based on information I have, the trains run in sets of 189 (UP’s website says 188, but their computer says 189, so who knows) and are roughly 27,000 tons each. Numbers I found say that they export “more than a dozen trains per month”, which means UP probably exported somewhere between 4 million and 6 million tons of potash through Terminal 5 in 2024. That puts the train count somewhere between 15-18. I’ve also heard Canpotex wants to increase the train length closer to or even over the 200 car range, which would push these trains to 9500 feet in length. I’m a numbers guy so I found this all to be fascinating, though perhaps some of you find this to be rather abhorrent.
As for the grain trains, like the one pictured here, it’s harder to find information. Unlike the potash trains, these do not come from a single customer, and I would assume they come from all over the CPKC system. Perhaps someone out there has more information about how this handoff works or how the contract for these trains work, if that information can be shared.
GSKAET 28
December 30, 2024 - 9:37AM
Celilo, OR // UP Portland Sub
CP 8710
[ Gorge Week: Day 2 ] - (1 of 2)
The only red GEVO in the lineup, which doesn’t make it any better, but means you’ll only have to close your eyes once ;). In all seriousness, with conditions like this, I mostly just pray it’s not a pissbrick because just about anything else can be managed.
By now, many of you should be familiar with these trains. As of right now, the CP traffic makes up about two to four out of every 10 trains on the Portland Sub. Obviously this number fluctuates month to month, but it’s safe to say that roughly 20% or more of all traffic comes out of Eastport. This number has risen quite a bit in the past few years.
Back in 2018, Canpotex—the company that produces and ships potash out of Canada—completed a $150 million upgrade to Terminal 5 at the Port of Portland. The company said the upgrades would result in a capacity to export up to 7.5 million metric tons of potash annually. In August of 2024, UP published on their website that they had completed a record number of shipments of potash out of Terminal 5 in the second quarter of the year, but it gave no official numbers. The only statistic given was that Portland exports roughly 20% of Canpotex’s annual potash supply, which is “more than 13 million tons.” This didn’t seem to add up, or perhaps they were old numbers on their website, so I did some more digging. On the Port of Portland’s website, I found yearly export statistics going back to 1994. In 2024, listed under “Mineral Bulk Tonnage,” the port exported 7.59 million metric tons (8.37 million tons) to ocean going vessels. This was the third time they have eclipsed 7 million metric tons exported, and the first time since 2019. However, I’m unsure if this includes the soda ash trains out of Wyoming that are exported through Terminal 4, and being unsatisfied with the answer, I did some basic calculations.
Based on information I have, the trains run in sets of 189 (UP’s website says 188, but their computer says 189, so who knows) and are roughly 27,000 tons each. Numbers I found say that they export “more than a dozen trains per month”, which means UP probably exported somewhere between 4 million and 6 million tons of potash through Terminal 5 in 2024. That puts the train count somewhere between 15-18. I’ve also heard Canpotex wants to increase the train length closer to or even over the 200 car range, which would push these trains to 9500 feet in length. I’m a numbers guy so I found this all to be fascinating, though perhaps some of you find this to be rather abhorrent.
As for the grain trains, like the one pictured here, it’s harder to find information. Unlike the potash trains, these do not come from a single customer, and I would assume they come from all over the CPKC system. Perhaps someone out there has more information about how this handoff works or how the contract for these trains work, if that information can be shared.
GSKAET 28
December 30, 2024 - 9:37AM
Celilo, OR // UP Portland Sub