Pipeline on rails. A six-axle Canadian Pacific locomotive strains with a train of tankers in approaching the LaCrescent Wye from the south, heading either upriver to Winona and beyond or across the Mississippi River swing bridge to LaCrosse and Wisconsin points. Some 101 cars back is a remote-controlled Union Pacific distributed-power pusher. Because corn-based ethanol doesn’t lend itself to transport through pipelines, the only practicable alternative to distant refineries is unit trains. Image: Steve Lunde