Leaders at the Nyssa rail center believe that the revival of a major rail facility in eastern 华盛顿 confirms that shipping commodities is a good idea, 但同时, its resurgence brings more uncertainties to the beleaguered Treasure Valley Reload Center project.
Union Pacific Railroad recently announced that it inked an agreement with the transportation company Tri-Cities Intermodal to acquire its specialty rail shipping facility in Wallula, 华盛顿. 铁路中心, 位于三城东南方，距离尼萨230英里, 我们专门从事铁路货物集装箱运输吗, 先是到西雅图港口，后来到芝加哥.
这将提高可靠性，节省货主的卡车运输成本, 三城联运公司首席执行官特德•普林斯表示. The Wallula facility is slated to open in three to four months, according to Prince.
The center could come back to life while the Nyssa project remains dormant with no scheduled opening.
普林斯是Tiger Cool Express的创始人之一, the Kansas City company that took over the Wallula rail center in January but then went out of business in June. Prince said the commodities the rail center intends to ship to Chicago include apples, 梨, 冷冻薯条和红酒.
他拒绝就Tiger Cool的关闭发表评论. 然而, 当Tiger Cool关门时，Prince说, 他很快就找到了另一位投资者, PNW资本, 总部设在佛罗里达的一家公司.
普林斯说，他一直在与俄勒冈州东部的农业生产者进行交谈. 但他拒绝透露潜在托运人的名字, 他说 that Tri-Cities is talking to larger producers in and around eastern Oregon. As a startup company, 他说 one or two large-size shippers could significantly impact the business.
到目前为止, 他说, those conversations with potential ag shippers have been productive.
“他们基本上都在等我们，”他说. “他们打电话给我们说，‘我们准备好出发了.'”
肖娜·彼得森是马勒尔县发展公司的执行董事., 负责Nyssa项目的上市公司, 她一直在关注瓦卢拉的最新进展. 彼得森说，她已经和参与该项目的一位领导人谈过了.
根据彼得森的说法, it’s important to note the Wallula facility was operating when the concept of the Nyssa rail facility was developed in 2018.
Organizers at the time represented that thousands of truckloads of onions were leaving Malheur County for the 华盛顿 depot only to pass back through on trains. 项目官员后来承认，事实并非如此.
The Nyssa rail reload center was touted as a significant economic boost for Malheur County, where onions would be trucked in and loaded onto trains for shipment across the country.
2020年5月, 联合太平洋公司关闭了瓦卢拉工厂, the board of the Nyssa reload center speculated the closure could attract commodities from across the Northwest.
“I think it is pretty much across the board of people who are looking at this positively from our area,Grant Kitamura说, 开发公司总裁在2020年的董事会会议上.
上周，北村没有回复记者的多次置评请求.
In 2020, producers and agriculture executives in the region said they would only be interested if the Nyssa development could offer expedited rail service.
而联合太平洋公司在2019年承诺为Nyssa铁路设施提供服务, 该公司无法保证在高峰时段将洋葱运送到所有目的地. 它提供的是基本的铁路服务，而不是特快专递.
尽管如此, in 2021, a report commissioned by the Oregon Department of Transportation to justify funding for the rail center noted that Union Pacific’s decision to shutter the Wallula shipping center freed up refrigerated rail cars for the Nyssa project.
The idea behind the publicly-financed rail shipping center is that it would cut costs for onion shippers that rely on expensive trucking or unreliable rail service to their packing plants. 洋葱运输商之间的合作关系, the national ware住房 company Americold and Union Pacific Railroad would also open new markets for the onion industry.
Project officials said the public would benefit by taking trucks off Oregon highways, 减少对维护的需求，减少碰撞. 这是根据当时开往瓦卢拉的卡车流量计算得出的. No update has ever been done to newly assess the public benefits from government investment in Nyssa.
Americold, the original operator for the facility, pulled out of the project in July. Americold notified rail project leaders the shipping depot was not “financially viable” for the company.
彼得森, 今年早些时候谁接任执行董事, noted that Tri-Cities Intermodal’s acquisition of the Wallula facility would factor into projected volumes for the Nyssa rail center as the development corporation devises a new business plan.
9月, the state Transportation Department notified the Nyssa reload center’s leaders that it planned to hold back the $8 million set aside for the rail center until project leaders found a new operator for the facility and developed a new financial plan. 到目前为止, 该州为这个项目投入了2500万美元, 该网站原定于2020年秋季上线, 接下来是多个上映日期，来了又去.
现在, the state is considering whether to continue to support the project or find a way to recoup the $25 million in public money it has invested.
With roughly three miles of partially built rail lines and a steel building that sits in pieces at the site, 彼得森 told the Enterprise in September that she is mulling what else the reload center could be used for. 她说，入境商品可能是“一个有前途的商业计划角度”.”
彼得森 said she wants to learn if freight trucked into warehouses along Interstate 84 between Boise and Ontario could instead go by less-costly rail to Nyssa and then be trucked shorter distances.
普林斯说，俄勒冈州东部可能会成为一个全球物流中心. 普林斯说，40年前沃尔玛在全国大约有10个配送中心. 根据沃尔玛的网站，有超过200个.
Prince said the reason for that is because the model used to be that distribution centers needed to be no more than 300 miles from each retail store. 但是今天, 他说, 与电子商务, 配送中心也是履行中心, 一种仓库，用来包装和运送订单以完成订单, 尤其是那些由网上顾客制作的. Prince said E-commerce centers now need to be within 50 miles of customers to provide expected rapid delivery.
Eastern 华盛顿 and Oregon are “uniquely” designed to drive the shift from truck to rail.
“你可以用铁路把所有东西运送出去，”他说. “你有劳动力、土地、电和水. 没有其他地方有这样独特的组合.”
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