SEDA-COG, Graymont build track to serve Pennsylvania power plant

The SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority and its operator Nittany & Bald Eagle Railroad is working with limestone plant Graymont to build a new railroad track to serve the Homer City Generating Station in Pennsylvania.

Scheduled to be completed this month, the project was necessary to ensure enough track capacity for the anticipated increase in rail-car shipments of lime. The power plant reduces its emissions through "scrubbers" that use the lime for cleaning, according to a SEDA-COG announcement posted on its webpage.

Each lime train must be built in blocks of 45, with railroad siding space for a loaded and unloaded car set. Although Graymont had sidings for its current business, it lacked enough track capacity for the Homer City business, SEDA-COG officials said.

Rail cars carrying the lime will move from the Nittany & Bald Eagle to the Norfolk Southern Railway, then to the Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad for final delivery to the power plant.

Rhinehart Railroad Construction Inc. of Maryland and Jannotti Rail Consulting also were involved in the project.