Starting a railroad (school project)

[jettrainfan]

I got a chance to make up a project for science, and decided to do something along the lines of how to run a railroad. For the scenario, A person buys the Flats Industrial Railroad, but they have no rolling stock or locomotives (other than a track mobile, but that's owned by one of the companies that gets served). The line is in Cleveland, Ohio and is 4 miles long, running from an interchange off the Norfolk Southern Cloggsville Line to some sidings at the end of the 4 mile stretch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flats_Industrial_Railroad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1wmsSfkw0M (old video but the only one on hand to give the general idea)

For the scenario, I'll say that there are 12 hoppers needed 3 times a week (Monday-Wednesday-Friday) and the hoppers all go to a customer in Chicago. In a perfect world, they'll be back by the time the 2nd load is ready to be shipped out. Norfolk Southern would basically pick up loaded cars and drop off empties Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Nothing happens Sunday, the hoppers just sit at the interchange till the locomotives from the new railroad, called the L&WI (Lakewood & Winterton Industrial) pick them up Monday morning.

Now for the questions...
1. What locomotive/s should be used? I was thinking, just to compare and contrast a GE-44 ton, a SW1200, a GP38 and a SD40-2. (Im tempted to add a F unit just to mess with the crew.  ) There really isn't much work for a second locomotive but should another one be bought/leased just in case the first one breaks? The flats industrial originally had one SW1200 but now they have 2 SW1200s and a SW1500. Im open to suggestions to other locomotives to add to the list. What would be compared is their horse power, fuel consumption and efficiency/reliability to the job at hand (hauling covered hoppers).

2. Should the railroad buy its own rolling stock/locomotives or lease?
What I figured rolling stock wise was to have 24 hoppers, and 2 box cars. The box cars would be parked on a siding as storage for parts and materials. Sites for buying/Leasing rolling stock/locomotives would be great!

4. What parts should be on hand, if any?
Basically if there's an engine like a SW1200 on property, should there be a motor on hand if needed, or is there other parts that are more important to have ready?

5. What would it cost/need to keep the railroad maintained?
Considering there is about 4 miles of main line, from the interchange to the first siding and about a quarter mile worth of sidings, about 9 switches and a lift bridge.  What maintenance needs should I look into? This is just an industrial railroad, but im sure some maintenance is needed every now and then.

6. Any other info I forgot to ask?
I figured Norfolk Southern would bill the company, so the shipping cost really wouldn't be a problem for the L&WI.

The reason for this project is just to get the general idea what it takes to run a small railroad. Any suggestions or advice would be great. The time for a lease/maintenance would be for a year, and the railroad was fully operational when bought. The one site im looking into at the moment is Sterling Rail (http://www.sterlingrail.com/classifieds/Listings.php?type=Locomotive&fsw=FS) If you have any other sites that you recommend, it would be great if you can share them with me. Hopefully this isn't too confusing.

Thanks!

[jward]

motive power wise, parts for a 44ton would be very hard to find, the sw1200 parts are more common, but still not currently supported.  gp38-2s are in high demand so it's unlikely you'll find one at an affordable price. your best bet motive pwer wise would be an emd sw1500. there are plenty of the floating around, from ns, up and bnsf. best of all, parts are readily available. you may also be able to find the smaller sw1000, if you don't need the extra horsepower.

old ge locomotives like dash 7s and dash 8s are around dirt cheap, but they are unreliable and expensive to maintain (which is why they're dirt cheap)......

[Doneldon]

jtf-

I'll toss in my two cents: Go with an SW 1500. They're available and repairable. Skip the second locomotive; it would be a large unnecessary expense. Also, don't purchase parts until you know that you need them. A small operation like yours would hire out any repairs or service beyond the most elementary. And don't buy the loco; lease it. Leasing will give you an option to change your motive power if you need to. And it will avoid a major capital expenditure. Lease the rolling stock, too, for the same reasons. Hire right-of-way work; you wouldn't have nearly enough revenue to cover a road crew. Norfolk Southern won't collect your revenue for you unless you have a contract with them to do so. Of course, they'll expect remuneration for their billing services. This is something you can do yourself, particularly since the billings won't change much, if after all, from month to month.
                                               -- D

[J3a-614]

One other thing to consider--you'll want to put some sort of resources into looking for new customers.  It's a general rule of thumb in the shortline business that a small road will loose 10% of its customers over a certain amount of time (yearly? per decade?  I'm afraid I've forgotten the latter part of the formula), so you'll always have to be going after new business just to keep up with the business that goes away for whatever reason (plant closing, truck conversion, etc.)  Keep in mind that in some cases the business need not be right on your railroad, but may be accessible to it, i.e., a truck transfer. 

The steam-powered Strasburg Rail Road in Pennsylvania has gotten aggressive for freight business in recent years, and much, if not most of it, is to a team track in Strasburg, with final delivery by truck.  This business, based on videos, seems to be primarily building products (lumber on bulkhead flats), biofuels (delivered in tank cars), and what I presume to be food products (grain in covered hopper cars).  Boxcars show up, too, but I'm afraid I couldn't tell you what was in those.

[phillyreading]

for almost 15 years the FEC in Florida has been using re-built GP-38's and GP40's, usually three or four engines per train, but with around 85 freight cars.
An SD-40 would be overkill on a short line railroad, try a GP-30 or GP-35 if you can find one reasonable priced. Even an older GP-20 or GP-18 would work well if in good shape.
Don't know much about the SW series except that they are roadswitchers, which means they can double as a road engine or doo switching.

Lee F.

[jward]

the only problem with those engines is that they were all powered by the 567 series prime movers, whose parts were discontinued years ago. so you'd have to buy an extra locomotive or two for parts. best to stick with the 645 powered models even though they are more expensive to buy the parts would be available to repair them.

[J3a-614]

Interestingly, Alco parts are available, including blocks and complete new engines--although they are likely to be pricey.

http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=35087

A potential problem, despite the parts availability, would be finding mechanics who would understand these engines. 

The reason they are still in production is that they have turned out to be quite usable in stationary applications for things like oil drilling rigs and small municipal power plants.  Perhaps they get better maintenance than the locomotives got on what were bankrupt railroads in the 1960s and 1970s.

There is also at least one short line in Pennsylvania that's big on Baldwin power.  Again, I don't know about part availability, but it does require a management dedicated to  using these beasts, and mechanics who know a bit about them. 

The big, BIG question is your traffic base.  The traffic doesn't care what pulls it (it can even be with steam in a mixed train, which is what the Strasburg does), but if there's no traffic, there's no railroad at all!

[jward]

EMD discontinued parts support, probably hoping to generate sales of new locomotives, and other applications of diesel engines. many tug and towboats are EMD powered, as well well as stationary generators. EMD's problem is that, unlike the competition (ge) their locomotives can be rebuilt over and over and will run forever.

Alco parts are currently made by the corporate successor to Fairbanks Morse. I believe FM parts are also available, though there are very few operating FM locomotives left.

[Len]

The Providence & Worcester www.pwrr.com mainly uses EMD GP38-2, EMD GP40, GE B39-8E, and GE B40-8W locos.

For a model of a 4 mile short line a GE 70-Tonner might also work.

Len

[jward]

finding parts for a 70t would be a nightmare. that's what it seems to boil down to. you can find a locomotive for little more than scrap value, but won't be able to find parts to fix it. or you can bite the bullet and buy something that has parts support. it is similar to buying a used car. you could get a Yugo for dirt cheap, but as soon as something breaks on it you're done.

[Len]

I'm beginning to think a bit of clarification is needed on this one. Is the science project:

A. A model of this hypothetical railroad, to be operated in a realistic manner?

B. A 1:1 real railroad to be operated under the guidelines of the project and needing an actual locomotive?

C. A completely hypothetical railroad, no model, no real trains, to be planned and operated on paper?

Len

[GG1onFordsDTandI]

I'm beginning to think a bit of clarification is needed on this one. Is the science project:

A. A model of this hypothetical railroad, to be operated in a realistic manner?

B. A 1:1 real railroad to be operated under the guidelines of the project and needing an actual locomotive?

C. A completely hypothetical railroad, no model, no real trains, to be planned and operated on paper?

Len

Found myself asking the same questions.

[jettrainfan]

Its a basic on paper write-up, sort of like an essay, so I'd guess B. Would be the closest, its basically buying the flats industrial but starting at ground Zero, except current customers and current trackage.