ALMA, Wis. – Two-mile long unit trains of trans-Pacific cargo are rumbling through Alma as the Covid-triggered worldwide supply-chain crisis begins to ease. These are trains heading east from ports in Portland, Seattle and Tacoma. The eastbound trains pass empty container trains that are westbound back to Chinese and other Asian factories for another roundtrip trip back. The rail traffic each way on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe backs up downriver at Bluff Siding and Trempealeau, where a section of the BNSF mainline narrows to a single track.
Supply chain progress. Trains passing through the Mississippi River town of Alma. Image: Steve Lunde