Andy Tullis / The BulletinCity of Prineville Railway Conductor Cody Muck drives a forklift while moving materials through the interior of one of the buildings in the Prineville Railway’s bulk transload facility on Monday.

The City of Prineville Railway’s freight depot has an ambitious mission, according to depot sales manager Dale Keller.

“We formed the Prineville Freight Depot to bring life back to the railroad,” Keller said last week.

In 2010, the 18-mile freight railway connecting Prineville with Redmond was awarded a $2.1 million grant from the state to build a facility for transferring bulk materials such as grain and gravel from train to truck and back again, according to Keller.

Construction was completed on the facility in July 2013. The facility has the capacity to load or unload up to 100 tons of bulk material per hour. It can also contain hazardous materials in the event of a spill, according to Bulletin archives.

The original depot just west of Prineville opened in 2005. Warehouse space at the depot is intended for loading, unloading and storing lumber, tires and nonbulk goods, according to Bulletin archives.

In 2004, the railway transported 87 carloads, Keller said.

He predicted the railway would transport up to 700 by the end of 2014, thanks in part to the expanded capacity the newly completed transloading facility provides. And there’s room to grow.

“We think revitalizing the railroad is going to open the door for more job stability,” Keller said. “Hopefully, it will allow us to attract another distributing center.”

As part of improvements in the past year, the railway has purchased a refurbished locomotive that’s more fuel-efficient to replace aging ones, Keller said.

Roger Lee, the executive director of Economic Development of Central Oregon, said the depot has had success in recruiting new businesses, such as Les Schwab and a company selling DDG (a byproduct of ethanol used to feed cattle), to use the railway for transport because of the unique transloading services the depot provides.

“It’s kind of a one-stop service deal that they offer,” Lee said. “They’ve been pretty innovative about building that business back up.”

Prineville City Manager Steve Forrester said the depot is positioned to increase services and continue expanding. Shipping by rail has advantages over truck shipping, especially over long distances. Fuel costs and “regulatory burdens” on the trucking industry in recent years have made rail shipping more attractive, Forrester said.

They’re already seeing the results. Keller said the fact the center is shipping lumber could signal a sea change in how goods are shipped through the region.

“The large forest products manufacturers haven’t brought in their raw material lumber or shipped out their finished products by rail for decades,” he said.

Additionally, other resources from Central Oregon, including aggregate materials for paving and cement production, may be attractive to companies who want the goods shipped from the source.

“We continue to get interest (from) companies that want to access (those materials),” Forrester said.

However, the kind of job growth that the Prineville Railway is angling for may still be a way down the line, Keller said. The depot is, as it stands, a five-man operation.

“We really aren’t that big,” Keller said. “The stars have got to line up.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0376,

cwithycombe@bendbulletin.com