Patriot Rail to open L&NW Railroad transloading facility Oct. 5

Revitalization of a shortline freight railroad is spurring the creation of new jobs and business opportunities in rural Northwest Louisiana. By investing $3.3 million in new tracks, equipment and a transloading facility slated to open officially on October 5, Patriot Rail is providing cost-efficient connections for the region's energy producers. "Patriot is committed to improving our shortline railroads, serving our customers and strengthening local economies," said Gary Marino, president and chief executive officer of Patriot Rail. In 2008, Patriot bought the 68-mile Louisiana &North West, which connects the Haynesville shale formation, one of the nation's largest natural gas fields, with two national Class 1 railroads, Kansas City Southern and Union Pacific. For the past year, Patriot has been developing the Iron Bridge Road project, a 40-acre transloading facility near I-20 in Gibsland that now makes it easy for energy producers to transfer bulk cargo from rail to trucks. The facility allows energy producers to bring in carloads of sand to be used in the natural gas extraction process and send out carloads of crushed rock for use in aggregate, concrete or cement mills. With the opening of the new facility, Johnnie Raab, general manager, expects the L&NW's service to quickly grow to more than 5,000 carloads in the first year of operation, with each rail car the equivalent of four trucks. Raab added, "We are negotiating for an additional 100 acres, allowing us to accommodate additional customers and design the yard for maximum efficiency." Patriot's private-sector investment is already creating economic activity in one of Louisiana's most economically depressed areas. "We've seen a lot of excitement about the new rail project," said Charlie Andrews, who owns the Gibsland Grill Café with his wife Marsha. "We recently hosted a lunch meeting for 14 people from the electric company and our business is up in general. This project is really good for the whole area." Raab said L&NW will be hiring new crews, maintenance workers, office personnel and security professionals, while its customers will be adding new operational positions in the Iron Bridge Road yard. "We expect to bring a substantial number of new jobs to Gibsland in the next year," he added. "That's just the tip of the iceberg once things really get rolling."