Business View - December 2015 33
LOGISTICS
stimulation technique in which rock is fractured by a
hydraulically pressurized liquid made of water, sand,
and chemicals. It has led to a rejuvenation of extrac-
tion operations in the oil-rich Permian Basin of West
Texas, which now produces over half a million barrels
of crude a day. And the movement of millions of tons
of fracking sand from Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin to
the oil fields makes up 90 percent of Texas-Pacifico’s
current business on its 391 miles of track.
So, in a sense, the well-worn South Orient Line was
simply in the right place at the right time to profit from
a technology much newer than railroading, itself. And
so, in 2015, TXPF now operates with 28 locomotives.
It has a daily inbound and outbound interchange with
BNSF and the Fort Worth & Western Railroad. It moves
approximately eight inbound and eight outbound trains
per week across its San Angelo subdivision; operates
a continuous service to customers between San Ange-
lo and Big Lake on its Alpine Subdivision; and provides
a five-day-per-week road switcher service to custom-
ers in San Angelo and customers located between Fort
Stockton and Rankin.
Of course, in order to accommodate more than the
20,000 rail cars now riding on its tracks each year,
TXPF had to upgrade an asset that had been all but
abandoned. According to Grindstaff, the infrastructure
needs were “tremendous.” She continues, “Our com-
pany lost $1.5 million each year during our first ten
years of operation. We are still very young, but now,
with significant volume growth. We are very strategic in
investment and have been able to invest the last three
years of revenue back into an asset that we don’t own.”
Now that the South Orient has a new lease on life,
what does the future hold?
Grindstaff elaborates: “Although we have greatly ben-
efitted from the energy sector (the railroad also moves
crude oil, hydrochloric acid, and drilling mud), and
wish it to stay robust, our hope is to be more diversified
for the future in the commodities we move. With the
assistance of the State of Texas and the Army Corps
of Engineers, we will be responsible for rebuilding the
international rail bridge at Presidio/Ojinaga. This al-
lows opportunity between Chihuahua City and Dallas/
Fort Worth, and far beyond for the movement of raw
and finished products. Moving southwest, our line al-
lows shippers the opportunity to avoid California ports,
Silos at Big Lake looking SE
