Port Authority Seeking Bids for Rail Siding into Shipyard

Erie Western-Pennsylvania Port Authority is now seeking bids on the installation of a 3,000 foot long rail siding to cross the Bayfront Parkway into Donjon Shipbuilding and Repair's facility. This is the same siding that was talked about for several years for Erie Shipbuilding but never seemed to get built. The line would connect to CSX's tracks on the south side of the Parkway, which winds up to CSX's Erie yard and the mainline. The bayfront trackage also services the Mountfort Terminal and Erie Coke Corporation and is generally serviced on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

WHITE, McKEE SONS,FLOTA in Port Together; CSX Derails Biodiesel Car at Mountfort Terminal

INVINCIBLE/McKEE SONS arrived at Erie this afternoon at 1445 hours with stone from Stoneport. The tug/barge unit backed into Erie harbor and secured at the Mountfort Terminal behind the PANAM FLOTA, which continues loading biodiesel and should be done around 0700 Sunday.

Right behind the McKEE SONS was the H. LEE WHITE, which arrived at 1700 with stone from Calcite and docked at the Old Ore Dock. The WHITE should be outbound later this evening.

McKEE SONS departed at 2045 hours this evening.

While switching biodiesel cars at the Mountfort Terminal this morning, CSX shifted one of the empty cars too far backward and it jumped the track, knocking out part of the fence on the east side of the dock.

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FLOTA and McKEE SONS at the Mountfort Terminal.


1999-built PANAM FLOTA.


Wide view of the Mountfort Terminal.


H. LEE WHITE unloading.


Another view.


Bow-on.


Overhead view of the WHITE.


FLOTA and McKEE SONS at the Mountfort Terminal.


Another view.


McKEE SONS.


The damaged fence at the Mountfort Terminal.


McKEE SONS departing.


Backing away with the FLOTA in the foreground.


Away from the dock.


Turning.


Heading into the channel.


Close up at sunset.


This rainbow came out shortly before sunset. I was hoping to get it with the McKEE SONS in the picture, but alas, it wasn't to be.

Biodiesel Shipment Update

PANAM FLOTA is due in Montreal later this evening to unload her cargo of petroleum products. After unloading the vessel will sail to Erie to load biodiesel. In preparation for the load, CSX has 24 loaded tank cars stored on a siding on Erie's bayfront which will be moved to the Mountfort Terminal to load the vessel.

The PANAM FLOTA's visit will be shorter than the visit last December by the CLIPPER TOBAGO, as most of the the 3,000,000 gallons the PANAM FLOTA will be loading will be ready for the vessel. When the TOBAGO loaded last December, the cargo was not completely ready and in order to fulfill the order and get the vessel out of the Seaway before closing, Lake Erie Biofuels was forced to buy some of the biodiesel from other plants and have it shipped in to finish the load on the vessel.

Although the PANAM FLOTA's time in port will likely be shorter than the TOBAGO's, the actual load time on the FLOTA will be longer, as the load the FLOTA is taking is double the size of the first biodiesel shipment.

I will continue to follow this story and update as it develops.

History in the Making

An oil containment boom has been deployed around the CLIPPER TOBAGO today, and at around 1415 this afternoon CSX local train Y120 delivered 12 tank cars loaded with biodiesel to the Mountfort Terminal. Loading of the TOBAGO will begin shortly. This is the first of many cargoes that will be shipped by Lake Erie Biofuels through the port of Erie.


TOBAGO at dock.


Railcars loaded with biodiesel are delivered to the Mountfort Terminal.


Another view.

Biodiesel Update; TENACIOUS Expected; Lakeshore Towing Remains Busy

CLIPPER TOBAGO remains sitting quietly in port, as loading of her Europe-bound cargo of biodiesel from Lake Erie Biofuels has yet to begin. Loading should commence sometime later this week. Crews will be racing the clock to complete loading and have the TOBAGO out of the St. Lawrence Seaway before it closes at 2359 hours on December 24.

In response to a question I received earlier today, there are plans to deploy a containment boom around the TOBAGO during the loading process. Cargoes of fuel and oil have passed through the port numerous times in the past; however, this is the first time in at least 25 years that there is a cargo of any type of fuel product passing through the port. In the 1960s both Sun and Shell Oil were active in the port of Erie.

Late this morning the CSX local delivered five boxcars to the Mountfort Terminal to load paper products brought in by the W.N. TWOLAN and McALLISTER 132 in early November. Three more boxcars remain on a rail siding near the Bayfront Parkway. More are on the way to load the cargo that has sat at the terminal for over a month.

Tug TENACIOUS should be arriving in Erie later this evening.

Lakeshore Towing (website recently updated) remains busy dredging the Old Ore Dock and completing other projects. Already 1,200 cubic meters of material have been moved to the Confined Disposal Area near the South Pier; twelve trips with barge 501 have deposited this material there. Lakeshore is to remove 5,000 cubic meters of sediment that has built up alongside the dock and prevented ships from docking alongside while loaded. If the weather holds they will remove another 5,000 cubic meters from farther out in the slip. Another barge, built from sections of the former breakwater at Perry's Landing Marina and measuring 40'x30', could be in service as early as this week to help carry the dredged sediment to the disposal site.

Meanwhile, divers from Lakeshore, in conjunction with Marine Services of Erie, continue work on the new breakwaters at Perry's Landing Marina. When completed the breakwaters will catch the seas from the northwest, protecting the docks and boats in the marina.


CLIPPER TOBAGO at dock on Monday afternoon


An O.N. Minerals employee secures the area around the TOBAGO.


Dredged material is pumped into the CDA.


DON HENRY, FLATTOP, and barge 501.


FLATTOP.


Dredged material is pumped into the disposal area. Note how much material is visible.


Dredged material is pumped off of the 501.


Marine Services of Erie's LOW BIDDER at Perry's Landing Marina.


Close up of the new breakwall.

CROW Moves, CSX Suffers Derailment on Bayfront Track

On Tuesday, the tug CROW moved from her position north of the WITTE 4003 and is now moored south of the barge, facing north in the West Slip.

Wednesday afternoon at 1500, as the train was backing into the rail siding leading into the Erie Coke plant, the CSX local train suffered a derailment of one engine and two empty coke cars. The train tripped the signal at West 6th and the Bayfront Connector, delaying traffic for almost an hour until the signal was fixed.


CROW tied up in the West Slip on Wednesday.


Bow view.


CROW and the WITTE 4003.


CSX engine 6097 derailed aside of West 6th Street.


Another view. Note how far off the rails the empty coal hopper is.

TWOLAN due in Thunder Bay for another load; Lumber and paper shipping out via rail; No word on sand vessel

The W.N. TWOLAN and McALLISTER 132 are due in Thunder Bay tomorrow to load again for Erie. They should depart sometime this weekend and be back in Erie around a week later judging by their last load's timing. Meanwhile, the first load is already being shipped out. Monday afternoon five rail cars-four centerbeam cars for loading lumber and one boxcar for paper, were delivered by CSX local Y120 to load at the Mountfort Terminal. At least two of the cars are bound for Idaho Timber Company in Henderson, NC. These cars will be picked up by Y120 tomorrow and moved to the CSX yard at Downing Avenue, where they will leave Thursday for Buffalo, and then on to Cumberland, Maryland and finally arriving in North Carolina next week. Five centerbeam cars remain on the siding along the Bayfront Parkway.

Also yesterday an 18-car ballast train was moved into the Mountfort Terminal by CSX and loaded.

There is still no ETA for the vessel carrying the first load of sand for Presque Isle State Park.

First Ship Arrives, Decides to Stay For Awhile; Boland Arrives; Erie Management Group Continues to Chase a Rainbow

The tug/barge unit JOSEPH H. THOMPSON/JOSEPH H. THOMPSON JR. arrived in Erie at 0400 today to become the first vessel of the 2007 shipping season, arriving with stone from Calcite, Michigan for the Old Ore Dock.

However, the THOMPSON JR., which had been plagued by troubles with the differential in the propellor shaft since last year's repowering at Erie Shipbuilding, decided to spend some more time in port with the troubles, and early this afternoon moved across the slip to the east wall of Erie Shipbuilding. She'll be here a couple of days.

The JOHN J. BOLAND arrived at 0700 with stone from Calcite, backing into Erie harbor and tying up at the Mounfort Terminal. The BOLAND departed at around 1500 this afternoon.

Erie Management Group continues to attempt to start a container shipping service out of Erie, having recently acquired control of Great Lakes Feeder Lines, Inc. The company supposedly will start shipping containers through Erie this year; however as of yet they have not acquired the vessel they list on their website. EMG tried to beat Erie Shipbuilding out for the lease of the shipyard in 2005 on the basis that they would make it a multipurpose shipyard, container facility and warehouse; however at the time they asked the Port Authority to make $9,000,000 in upgrades to the facility before they even took over the facility. Seeing is believing and I'll believe this container service is the real thing once it has been up and running for several sucessful, profitable seasons. Several companies have tried to start container services similar to this one on the Lakes over the years, with little, if any sucess at all.

While along the harborfront today I noticed a CSX locomotive pull a train full of rail construction equipment up along the siding closest to Erie Shipbuilding. I'm not sure if this is for the construction of the new rail siding into the yard. I'll see what I can find out.