WisDOT provides $2.6 million loan for co-op's freight-rail project

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker yesterday announced a $2.6 million loan for Country Visions Cooperative to construct nearly 3,000 feet of railroad spur and a rail-car unloading system as part of a new $11 million dry fertilizer plant in Plymouth, Wis.

The Freight Railroad Infrastructure Improvement loan is part of a revolving loan program used to improve rail infrastructure and construct new rail-served facilities, according to a Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) press release.

Country Visions Cooperative is in the process of converting its dry fertilizer operations in several eastern Wisconsin locations to ship by rail so that dry fertilizers will be available to farms on a more timely basis for spring planting, WisDOT officials said.

Wisconsin & Southern Railroad will serve the new facility along track from Plymouth to Sheboygan Falls. The track was recently reconstructed with a grant from WisDOT's Freight Rail Preservation Program.

The grant program covers up to 80 percent of project costs to help preserve freight-rail service or rehabilitate track on publicly owned rail lines.