SISSETON, S.D. — The Sisseton Milbank Railroad, owned by Twin Cities & Western Railroad, is seeking $24.7 million in grant funds to rebuild the railroad, the Watertown (S.D.) Public Opinion reported. The former Milwaukee Road branch line was built in 1893 and still has 75-pound rail. The railroad can’t handle 286,000 pound cars and the lightweight rails are prone to stress cracks.
“The train has to operate at walking speed,” Mark Wegner, Twin Cities & Western president told the Public Opinion. “And the condition of the rails means we cannot pull more than 13 loaded rail cars at a time.” Because the 75-pound rail is no longer being manufactured, compromise bars are being installed, and larger-sized rail is being used in the broken sections.
Some repairs have been made. The bridge over Lake Farley received nearly $1.7 million in grant funding and the structure was replaced in fall 2022. “This was the single largest structure along that rail line, and that’s done,” Wegner said.
The Sisseton Milbank Railroad project is estimated to cost $31 million. TCWR has applied for several grants for the project before but hopes it will receive the recently requested $24.7 million federal grant. “The federal grant is competitive for rail projects within the United States, while the earlier requested grants were for any mode of transportation projects. So, our chances might be better this go round,” said Wegner.
If the grant is received, it will be matched by $6.2 million in non-federal funds and $50,000 in kind. The state of South Dakota has also proposed $6.25 million in its budget toward the project [see “South Dakota seeks funds to upgrade deteriorating short line,” News Wire, Dec. 12, 2022].
“If we are awarded the grant, we are optimistically hoping that we will be awarded the grant by this coming March and will have finalized the grant agreement by late summer,” Wegner told the Public Opinion. If the grant is awarded, work is expected to begin in 2024 and be completed by 2025.
The Sisseton to Milbank branch gained a degree of notoriety in the 1970s and 1980s when the Milwaukee Road used its rare SDL39 diesels on the line. When the Milwaukee sold the branch in 1982 to Dakota Rail, Inc., DAKR used a pair of Milwaukee F7s on the branch until they were transferred to Minnesota in 1985. Sisseton Milbank took over operations in 1987. It was sold to Twin Cities & Western in 2012.
If I had the dough I’d donate a couple thousand sticks of 132 pound rail!
Compromised, indeed. Also, take a closer look at that date. It’s 1884.
I’ve run on sidings and yard tracks in my career at CSX which are 85# rolled in 1897. i.e. Keller, Fostoria. Still in good condition.
That compromise joint on the far rail looks compromised.