Boatright on track for railroad tie plant in Clanton

By Michael Tomberlin | The Birmingham News

Published Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Boatright Cos. is ready to invest more than $40 million on a new railroad tie plant in Clanton, creating as many as 75 jobs when the plant reaches full production.

Chief Executive Shane Boatright said construction on a railroad spur onto the site off CSX Railroad's main line will take place over the next month and that the 100-acre site is being prepared for the plant.

"I am over-building this site so other industries in and around the area will have a location they can come to ship on CSX as well," Boatright said. "It will be a trans-load point, especially on the front end as we're ramping up and we have excess space for companies that otherwise might not have access to rail shipping."

Boatright said design work is complete on the facility but there is no hard timetable for when it will open.

Cross-ties produced at the plant will be used to build new rail lines or improve existing ones, he said.

"I'm looking at this as an investment in community to create jobs as well as an investment in railroads," he said. "I'm putting my money where my mouth is. This is a project that will ultimately help improve the quality of the infrastructure of American railroads."

Boatright Cos., which is headquartered in Inverness, operates a number of railroad-related subsidiaries, including Boatright Railroad Products, which makes cross-ties for tracks on mainline and shortline railroads. It has a cross-tie operation near Montevallo in Shelby County.

The Clanton plant could see a huge boost in business if Boatright can secure new deals in the works since he first said he wanted to pursue the project in September.

"We are working with CSX as well as short-line railroads to ultimately, in the long term, service their cross-tie product needs," he said.

That doesn't mean Boatright Cos. would not welcome a chance to be involved with Norfolk Southern on that company's planned $112 million railroad hub project in McCalla. The hub, where shipping containers will be loaded and unloaded from trains, is expected to open in 2012.

Another move that could signal more work for Boatright and other rail service companies is the purchase of BNSF Railroad by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway's last year.

"Warren Buffett, by taking Burlington Northern/Santa Fe private, opens the door for that railroad to make investments long-term, which a publicly traded company cannot do when you're trying to keep shareholders happy from quarter to quarter," Boatright explained. "Now they have an opportunity to really improve not only their infrastructure, but their locomotive and rail car fleets."

All of those factors could mean the new plant in Clanton and other Boatright facilities will be adding jobs down the line.

The Clanton cross-tie operation has now received its necessary permitting and approvals and is set to break ground in the coming days, Boatright said.

"The city and county have been outstanding to work with and helped us with this project tremendously," he said.

A Boatright worker places a load of fresh timber in a chamber for pressure treating
at the company's Shelby County plant. Boatright plans a similar facility in Clanton to
produce cross-ties. (Bob Farley | The Birmingham News)