With this drought raising a ruckus across the nation, but some areas are overly damp (PNW), I got to wondering. I know shipping hay is prohibitive, due to gas prices, but what about the train? Is hay ever shipped via rail? I’m pretty sure grain is, in its “raw” form (god knows, all the wheat grown in E. WA heads across to Asia via barge and rail here!)
Anyone ever seen hay on a train?
How does one contract that? Would it be cost-effective? Hmm…
I think Tamara’s husband, Calvin, did look into this some time back. The short answer was “no” but for reasons other than fuel economy. Maybe she can provide a fuller answer.
G.
Just musing here, but it’d be on the train as a piggy back load I think, in which case you lose the use of the trailer plus have to have it returned somehow. I live just north of a big railyard and see trailer after trailer. Quite alot of them say Triple Crown but I don’t know if that’s the feed.
Trust me, I’ve wondered too!
Standlee says on their website that they’ll do drop shipments but I don’t know whether they truck 100% or piggy back or what. ( A drop shipment is when the truck comes straight to you bypassing the feed store entirely, and you get to unload it all, even though you bought it through the feed store)
There’s a hay hauler/buyer who comes to this area and hauls it by truck to Texas. Hay prices there much higher than here, but not sure how much profit is in it. They buy whole fields of hay. As for shipping by rail, I’ve never seen hay on a train, don’t know. One railroad advertises they can go so much further (I forgot how far) on a gallon on a diesel, thus more economical to ship by rail. Guess downside would be having to go to the rail yard and unload it. Does seem like a good way to ship in rail cars, hay would stay dry, ect. Interesting question.
I think it must, because my BO brokers it to Thailand, some of which she grows here in Eastern Canada and it goes by container ship sailing from Vancouver. If it’s not on one on the container trains, it’s on a container truck.
Used to see flat cars loaded with hay and straw years ago, but haven’t seen that since the 70s when they pulled livestock cars as well, and rolling stock went from 45’ to 90’ and more. I do know that the cube and compressed hay places do get producer cars delivered to a siding and they have to load them then the cars are picked up just as with grain cars but as far as a person ordering one flat car, i dunno.
Yes they do, and here is CSX’s policy on hay and cottonseed
and the pricing
Yes, hay is shipped by rail. I buy my hay from Larsen Hay in Ocala and it is shipped by rail from Idaho. I also know of people that bought hay brought in by rail in Valdosta, GA from out west.
… horses used to be shipped into Churchill Downs by rail… one of the holding siding was near our farm in Oldham county … but I can also remember seeing the steam engines pulling the feight cars
I remember the last trainload of horses that shipped out of Assiniboia Downs in 77. After that, it was only private cars that CP took with horses. They were still shipping hay on flat cars at that point as well…what’s in containers, who knows.
I, too, remember steam engines and passenger trains twice a day each way from here. Hasn’t been a passenger train on this line, save for a special train pulled by a Royal Hudson a few years ago. Last passenger train through here was in the 60s and the last one in the southern part of the province ran over 20 years ago and stupid Via advertises rail travel, the last civilised way to travel…BAH!!!
My old stable was 200 yards from a rail spur and I have wondered about it myself.
That particular location was perfect (it even had a concrete ramp/dock) Never saw them bring in hay on anything but a truck though.
Reviving this old thread as it came up when I Googled. Has anyone ever had personal experience shipping hay via train? I have been talking to a hay broker in Wisconsin and he offered this as a method of getting me more hay than he can personally haul. But in our climate (Charleston, SC- hot and humid) I am wondering if the hay is going to mold on the inside if it sits in a metal box in the sun for any length of time.
One of our hay dealers periodically gives shout outs to hay delivered by train but this is a temperate climate.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
