CSX Southbound trash train at Park Jct., Philadelphia, about to duck into the tunnel under the Art Museum. It's called Park Jct because this is where the B&O main from Baltimore and Washington ended and the Reading passenger route to Trenton and Jersey City began. Taken June 5, 2011 on my iPhone.

Taking pictures of Railroads and How They Work has always been a passion. See a sampling of recent and older outings here.

Hot Tickets:
Norfolk Southern and Canadian Pacific held the annual Investor Update programs in June, 2011. Both were long on strategic positioning and operating details; the commercial side got somewhat shorter shrift, though the NS pipeline comments were helpful and encouraging. See their presentation slides by clicking on the road names, above. Week in Review subscribers may see the articles here; they are available to non subscribers on request.

Resources Page is your go-to place for solutions to your most challenging opportunities for improved results. All of the management tools offered here are FREE and all have evolved over the years through practical applications in the field.

Use them to score interchange compliance with your ISA, measure your shortline's operating and financial performance against your peers, determine whether the economic benefits of higher track speeds outweigh the expense, learn how to use market-based pricing to increase market reach for your customers, find the right value for any railroad you wish to buy, sell, or lease, and so on.

Benchmarks Spreadsheet. Shortlines, Class Is, Bankers, Backers and Buyers can now measure the commercial, operating and financial strengths and weaknesses of any shortline. Read this introductory page and then click the box in the upper right corner.

The Blanchard Company helps shortline railroad operators and investors, railroad shippers, and third party logistics providers improve returns by literally following the money. Learn how Blanchard's more than 20 years experience as a shortline operator, marketer, and financial consultant can save you boxcars of money and still make your customers smile. Write or call (215) 985-1110 today for details.

See also Blanchard Curriculum Vitae for more background and project work.

Who We Are and What we Do

Publications

Week in Review. All the railroad news you need most, delivered to your inbox.

Subscribe. Week in Review is a three-plus page newsletter in PDF format e-mailed to readers fifty weeks a year. The focus is how to make money in the shortline side of the merchandise carload business, generally everything but coal, automotove and intermodal. Indidivual subs are $150, corporate subs are $550. Click on the subscription page to start receiving Week in Review today.

Railway Age. The journal of record since 1856. Blanchard has covered the shortline and regional railroad beat since 1991. Recent: "New Rate Tools for Short Lines," April 2011

TRAINS. Blanchard covers the short line industry with a series of quarterly columns with a "how things work" theme. He writes the annual short line cover story each June as well as news artcles and other features from time to time. Recent: Short Line Recession Survival Guide, Short Lines of Canada, June, 2011. Upcoming: ArcelorMittal's Brandywine Valley and Upper Merion and Plymouth Roads,  Summer, 2012. Selected reprints here along with TrainsTube video interview with TRAINS Editor Jim Wrinn.

Consulting

Short lines today face a daunting task: making money when costs are rising, shrinking volumes limit revenue growth, and uncertainty about things like the 45G tax credit and the healthcare mandates can hamper the long-term planning process. Of the 500+ independent short lines and holding company names, it's conceivable that half or more could become Fallen Flags before the decade is out. Survival of the fittest is the Rule of the Day.

Short lines succeed by adding value to the first-mile, last-mile portion of the nine-haul move by being aware of and responsive to the shipper supply-chain dictates and Class I  operating margins. Knowing where to look, what questions to ask and how to translate what you learn into operating income is critical.

Check the Resources Page for some of the tools at your disposal. Then drop me a note to see how your peers are doing it.

Rule 99 in Effect. NYC Putnam Div, Briarcliff Manor, NY. Summer, 1955. Photo by Roy Blanchard (c) 2007