WA inland port cites intermodal advantage

Central Washington state’s Port of Quincy is again promoting itself as a less-congested inland alternative to coastal intermodal centers.

“[T]rains could be loaded at the Port of Quincy Intermodal Terminal with ocean containers of Washington State dry agricultural products (wheat, dry corn, dry beans, hay, legumes, and other grains), and then be railed to the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma to be loaded onto ocean container ships,” the port said in a release.

A recent report by the Northwest Seaport Alliance highlighted the advantages of an inland port such as reduced truck traffic around Puget Sound; less pollution moving exports via rail; container yards closer to shippers; new investments in warehousing and other industries supporting the agriculture market, and better turn times for shippers out of less congested marine terminals.

Quincy, located 200 miles east of Puget Sound on the BNSF Railway’s Stevens Pass route, features over 8,000 feet of rail storage/siding tracks and could accommodate loading westbound short-haul intermodal trains with 40- or 20-foot containers of dry goods such as hay, corn, wheat, beans and other grains or legumes. The modern terminal includes a container maintenance and cleaning facility; nearly 1 million square feet of warehousing for distribution, cross-dock and storage capacity; a container reach stacker; a top pick container loader, and a yard goat to move and organize double stack railcars within the terminal.

The Intermodal Terminal sits on 16 acres of land with another 20-plus acres available for expansion on adjacent port-owned property to the east of the existing terminal.

From 2010-14 BNSF and partner Rail Logistics operated the Cold Train Express out of Quincy, loading refrigerated containers onto railcars for pickup by high-priority intermodal trains. Food products via Cold Train receive BNSF’s fastest service to the Midwest, and were ultimately distributed as far east as Boston. Annual volume reached 7,000 containers.

“We appreciate the discussion and interest in the Port of Quincy Intermodal Terminal as an inland rail port in which ocean containers would be received and hauled by train to Seattle and Tacoma marine ports, and we look forward to working with various shippers, decision makers and other interested parties as these discussions continue,” said Curt Morris, chairman of the Port of Quincy.