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RailSense update: developer says BNSF interest, MSC discussions and multiple commodities under consideration for Battle Mountain rail park
Summary
RailSense presented progress on an intermodal container terminal concept for Battle Mountain and said BNSF has expressed interest; the developer named potential commodities (diatomaceous earth, hay, soda ash, copper concentrate) and said the project could start with a 35‑acre terminal footprint.
A developer seeking to establish an intermodal terminal at the Battle Mountain rail park told the Lander County Commission Feb. 13 that the project has advanced to private negotiations and rail interest beyond Union Pacific.
Tom Yardson of RailSense Enterprises said he and his team have been working since 2022 to attract containerized traffic and that Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) had expressed interest in stopping empty containers in Battle Mountain to be loaded locally. More significantly, Yardson said Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) recently expressed formal interest in building an intermodal terminal in the corridor, which would expand options beyond the Union Pacific line that currently serves the site.
Yardson said the terminal concept would start on roughly 35 acres adjacent to the Union Pacific right-of-way for container tracks and transfer operations, with the broader rail park comprising roughly 800 acres for future industrial uses. He identified four commodities under active consideration for container shipping: diatomaceous earth (produced locally by US Silica), hay for export, soda ash from Green River, Wyoming, and copper concentrate.
The developer described how loading could work: empty containers brought by a carrier would be swapped, then locally loaded (for example, bagging soda ash or compressing hay into containers) and sent back out to the Pacific Rim without the empty containers having to travel to the West Coast. Yardson said that for soda ash, bagging and transloading in Battle Mountain could avoid higher labor and handling costs at West Coast ports.
Commissioners and residents asked technical and environmental questions, including dust control for bulk transload operations and whether the county would retain oversight of permitted commodities. Yardson and other project advocates said modern covered conveyors and enclosed handling would control dust and that county ownership of the facility would allow the county to limit or preapprove commodity types.
No contract or county action was requested on Feb. 13; the presentation was informational. Yardson said additional project partners and a separate, larger rail‑park proposal could appear on a future agenda with requests for county support or leasing arrangements.
The item was presented as an informational update under agenda item 1.13.
