BNSF deconstructs diesel shop

A similar scene has been unfolding since Nov. 1, when Burlington Northern-Santa Fe, Frisco’s ancestor several mergers removed, tasked Environmental Works Inc. with the deconstruction of its diesel shop that closed in 1996.

The approximately 50,000-square-foot diesel shop is located at BNSF’s main yard under the Kansas Expressway viaduct north of Division.

While demolition of the Frisco depot was motivated in part because it was condemned by the city, BNSF spokesperson Steve Forsberg said tearing down the diesel shop is purely a company decision.

“Removing this shop at this time makes it easier for us to consider options for potential expansion of yard tracks in the future,” said Forsberg, declining to release the cost of the project, which should be complete by January. “That doesn’t mean that we’re going to (build new tracks), but there are a couple of drivers for that potential consideration.”

Deconstruction drivers

Forsberg said the deconstruction drivers for BNSF’s possible main-yard rail expansion are increased business and the possibility of losing its south yard in West Meadows, an area the city wants to stretch Jordan Valley Park into one day.

According to Mike MacPherson, Springfield’s contract development specialist, the south yard encompasses all of West Meadows, an area of about 100 acres between Main Avenue and Kansas Expressway and College Street and Chestnut Expressway. He said the yard provides BNSF interchange service and storage.

“We do have interest in (the south yards), in such a way that the railroad can continue to serve their customers and do business, and we at the same time can develop Jordan Valley Park further to the west,” MacPherson said.

The diesel shop’s removal clears the way for those services to move to BNSF’s main yard if needed.

“The concept is to see if we can find a way to reconfigure the tracks and relocate that capacity,” MacPherson said.

However, City Manager Tom Finnie said no decisions have been made concerning JVP’s expansion into West Meadows.

“We have a large, federally funded study going on that includes the railroad and the city and property owners in that area,” Finnie said. “It’s a pretty extensive multiyear study to develop strategies for implementing the park vision, but there’s nothing specific that’s being proposed right now.”

Train traffic

On the business side, Forsberg said the company employs more than 900 in Springfield, up from around 800 three years ago, and has more trains and longer trains running through town.

He said BNSF, which has nine receiving and departure tracks and 30 assembly tracks at the yard, averages 50 trains per day that stretch up to 8,000 feet long. Ten years ago, he said, BNSF averaged 30 trains per day of 5,000 feet.

He said coal and truck trailers and containers are BNSF’s main freight.

The diesel shop was once a 237-employee operation, but BNSF transferred the majority of its diesel shop work force to other cities for efficiency reasons following the 1995 merger that brought Burlington Northern and Santa Fe together. When the shop closed in July 1996, it was reported the company would save $8.9 million per year by taking the action.

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