Presentation by Andrew Kaufman and Gerald Drumm  – Sills Road Realty and US Rail

This morning we had two speakers that gave us information on the new intermodal yard that has been proposed and permitted at Sills Rd and the Long Island Expressway. Andrew Kaufman and Gerald Drumm brought a large design plan for us to see as they spoke.
The facility has partners that are in the asphalt business and presently move 340,000 tons of stone and aggregate onto Long Island. This is done using mostly trucks. This facility is designed to remove that truck traffic from the roads when this project is finished. The site has the benefit of having the LIRR tracks close-by. A short spur will have to be built to service the yard. 
The yard will be operated by a midwestern company, US Rail, that has a lot of rail experience. It will still be serviced by NY & Atlantic Railroad, the company that owns the freight franchise on Long Island.
One of the reasons that this site was chosen is the American Power and Light had purchased it to build a power plant, and had spent $7 million on an extensive environmental review. They did not win the bid to build to service LIPA,so they were interested in selling the property. Having that extensive review behind them made the property that much more attractive. It, more importantly, is in a strategic place to receive and distribute freight. 
The aggregate business will be the anchor tenant, but the facility will also be able to bring in lumber and sheet rock as well as other heavy loads. These heavy loads lend themselves to movement by rail. Removing trucks from our roads will save our roads from considerable wear and tear.
The facility is large enough to be able to accommodate a large train and off-load it quickly. 
This facility is one of several that will be needed to accommodate future rail projects, including the rail freight tunnel from Bayonne to Brooklyn that congressman Gerald Nadler spoke about when he came to LIMBA awhile back. The Port Authority of NY & NJ has expressed interest in making that link a reality and is appropriating funds to design it.
All of this fits into the picture that was outlined by LIMBA a few years ago of moving up to 10% of our freight by rail instead of the present 2%

If you would like to see the entire discussion by streaming video use this link.http://www.proimagegroupinc.com/limba/10-30-09