NORTHWOODS RAIL TRANSIT COMMISSION
2015 TIGER GRANT
The purpose of the Northwoods Rail Transit Commission (NRTC) is the preservation and development of railroad service in Northern Wisconsin and Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
The harvesting and transporting of logs throughout the Great Lakes Forest region (“Region”) has long suffered from an inability to effectively compete for sufficient private sector investment to provide an adequate fleet of railcars dedicated to transportation of logs forest-to-mill in the Region.
Establishment of a Great Lakes Forest Log Car Fleet will contribute to improving the health of the Region’s forests, to a more effective and efficient use of the Region’s highways, to highway safety and to the welfare of our communities; generally, by reducing highway miles, fuel consumption and emissions necessary for transporting logs from forest-to-mill within the Region.
The NRTC has agreed to sponsor an application to the U.S. Department of Transportation for a TIGER Discretionary Grant to purchase new railcars designed for transportation of logs. The goal is to increase the size of the log car fleet thereby addressing the issue of lack of availability of log cars to transport the raw forest products from the Great Lakes Forest Region.
2015 TIGER Grant Application