Wind River Electric Rail

*Illustration courtesy of David Meikle, Salt Lake City.*

North American freight railroads are facing many challenges: Several bulk-commodity shipping markets are in decline, including coal, oil, ethanol, frac sand, and ores, and driverless and battery-powered trucks are on the brink of rendering moot rail’s natural advantages of superior labor and energy efficiency. Shipping by rail has too many steps, stops, and delays while further advancements toward reducing rail’s reliance on fossil fuels appear to be on hold for want of workable solutions. Because rails don’t go everywhere while roads are ubiquitous, railroads have always been inherently handicapped in first and last-mile service, especially in lucrative shipping markets of less than 500 miles. In addition, as of late, globalization and international trade have proved to be not quite the bright lights that many had once envisioned, due in part, to logistical transportation bottlenecks that have become increasingly more obvious.

To be fair, trucking -- railroading’s primary competitor – also has its difficulties. Many bridges and roads need major overhauls; gridlocked traffic can be a daily frustration for truckers, commuters, and other highway travelers alike; truck driver shortages regularly are problematic; and new regulatory edicts continue to be more restricting. What’s more, it seems that motorists would just as soon not have to share the road with truck traffic, yet few would be in favor of adding new and expensive roads and freeway lanes that might only temporarily address congestion.

This web site explores a vision of railroading that seeks to clear a sizeable number of trucks from the highways, provides seamless, point-to-point shipping that seldom stops, removes railroading’s dependency on fossil fuels, eliminates railroading’s greenhouse gasses, and funds it all through new markets and improved efficiency.

The means for achieving these objectives will entail increased intermodality, nearly universal containerization, electrification, bidirectional running on paired tracks, greatly expanded automation, and the enhanced use of sensors, computers, and artificial intelligence in every aspect of land-based freight shipping. Long trains will be replaced by individual motorized well cars whose operation mirrors that of trucks on freeways, minus drivers. With a goal of uninterrupted passage, freight will move by rail, by road, or by a combination of rail and road -- whatever is most efficient, environmentally sound, and economically feasible. Electricity, that is relatively cheap, abundant, and green, will provide the power. A guide for a quantitative analysis of savings, revenues, and costs is included. Read on.

~for more efficient, more economical, and greener freight transport~

windriverrail@gmail.com