Equipment sits off in the distance at the site of a new rail car storage area being built by Scotts Miracle-Gro. Scotts officials said the project will allow them to store cars on-site, rather than rent storage elsewhere.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Will Channell)
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Residents who have noticed a project on Scottslawn Road next to the railroad crossing don’t have to wonder anymore: it’s a rail spur.
Scotts Miracle-Gro is building the spur, which is a track that breaks off from the main route to allow unloading or storage of train cars.
According to Scotts officials, the project is about $1 million.
The manager of the Marysville Scotts plant, Ellen Ahijevych, said of the 2,500 rail cars that come through Scotts yearly, the company leases about 200 from CSX. Scotts does not have enough storage on site to keep those cars, so it has to pay CSX additional money to store them off site at CSX facilities.
“CSX kind of has us over a barrel,” said Materials Lead Brad Griffin.
This rail spur, Ahijevych said, will allow the company to keep store the cars without having to pay anything extra.
As it stands, officials said they’re paying about $75 per day per car to keep off site.
Alijevych said the project is Griffin’s brainchild. Griffin specifically cited the slower times of year as problematic.
“When we slow down, we have to have some place to hold on to these cars,” Griffin said.
Overall, the project will lay about 1,500 feet of track and have the capacity for 60 cars. Ahijevych said that currently, the plant has the capacity for about 100 cars. That will decrease the amount of overflow cars that need to be stored at CSX facilities.
“It really just increases our flexibility,” said Scotts Director of Public Affairs Molly Jennings. “That’s really the big win here.”
Officials said the project started in July. If all goes according to plan, the project will hopefully be wrapped up by mid-December.
There were a few delays with permitting and approval, officials said.