The Brookhaven Rail Terminal (BRT) is a truck-train
trans-load facility in
Yaphank, New York
Yaphank () is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 5,945 at the time of the 2010 census.
Yaphank is located in the south part of the Town of Brookhaven. It is served by the Lo ...
on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
. The 28-acre initial site was built with $40 million in private funds and opened on September 27, 2011. It is projected to take 40,000 long haul trucks off Long Island roads and handle 1 million tons of freight a year by 2016. It includes 13,000 feet of new track, with three tracks for construction material, such as
asphalt
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
and
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...
, and six tracks for merchandise, such as flour and
biodiesel
Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat (tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil with ...
.
Operations
Train operations on the site are handled by U.S. Rail of New York, LLC (
reporting mark
A reporting mark is a code used to identify owners or lessees of rolling stock and other equipment used on certain rail transport networks. The code typically reflects the name or identifying number of the owner, lessee, or operator of the equip ...
USNY), a Class III shortline railroad formed to operate the facility. Two
EMD GP38
The EMD GP38 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by Electro-Motive Diesel, General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1966 and December 1971. The locomotive's Prime mover (locomotive), prime mover was an EMD 645 16-cyli ...
locomotives are used for on-site switching, while rail cars are delivered and picked up by the
New York and Atlantic Railway
The New York and Atlantic Railway (NY&A) is a short line railroad formed in 1997 to provide freight service over the tracks of the Long Island Rail Road, a public commuter rail agency which had decided to privatize its freight operations. An af ...
which operates over the
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
Main Line
Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to:
Transportation
Railway
* Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system
* Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...
. The site was chosen to minimize residential and traffic impacts: it is close to exit 66 on the
Long Island Expressway
Long may refer to:
Measurement
* Long, characteristic of something of great duration
* Long, characteristic of something of great length
* Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate
* Longa (music), note value in early music mensur ...
and 1/4 mile from the nearest home. (A proposal for a similar facility at the former
Pilgrim State Hospital, 18 miles to the west, was stymied by local opposition.) Adjacent tracts totaling an additional 93 acres are available for further expansion, including possible facilities for
intermodal container
An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, is a large standardized shipping container, designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different Mode of transport, modes of trans ...
s and refrigerated storage. The facility expected to handle over 10,000 railcars in its first full operating year.
The Town of Brookhaven originally tried to stop the project claiming in 2007 that BRT had not received proper approvals from the town nor environmental impact review. However in 2010 the town settled with the developers after being advised that the federal
Surface Transportation Board
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the United States is a federal, bipartisan, independent adjudicatory board. The STB was established on January 1, 1996, to assume some of the regulatory functions that had been administered by the Intersta ...
likely had jurisdiction over the project. The settlement included mitigation measures, such as dust controls, storm water retention, a visual landscape barrier, replanting 30% of the property, and $1 million in payments to the town. Under the agreement, the site is not to be used for loading or processing solid waste.
As of mid-2012, the facility is handling three commodities,
construction aggregate
Construction aggregate, or simply aggregate, is a broad category of coarse- to medium-grained particulate material used in construction, including sand, gravel, crushed stone, slag, recycled concrete and geosynthetic aggregates. Aggregates ...
,
flour
Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...
and
biodiesel
Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat (tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil with ...
. The last is a result of a New York City Council requirement that heating oil sold in the city contain at least 2 percent biodiesel. In March 2013, BRT signed a 3-year agreement with
Home Depot
The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the l ...
to accept rail shipments of lumber for Home Depot stores on Long Island. A warehouse and new siding will be built to handle the estimated 1820 rail-cars a year in additional traffic.
The terminal and its New York and Atlantic connection can accept railcar sizes up to Plate F
loading gauge
A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and ke ...
with a gross weight for four-axle cars up to 263,000 pounds.
Expansion
In late 2011, the company acquired two adjacent properties, increasing the site to 121 acres, anticipating future traffic growth. BRT intends to build track on its additional property in the form of a stub-end loop, with trainload and terminal facilities along three sides of the loop. In March 2014, the Town of Brookhaven filed a lawsuit attempting to stop work on BRT’s planned expansion. BRT, in response, asked the Surface Transportation Board for a declaratory order that the new rail track under construction is a spur track, and therefore is under the STB’s exclusive jurisdiction and is not subject to licensing requirements or environmental review under the
National Environmental Policy Act
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a United States environmental law that promotes the enhancement of the environment and established the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The law was enacted on January 1, 1970.Un ...
. According to BRT’s filing, the facility has experience strong traffic growth and its original 28-acre parcel is close to capacity, with all tracks in use. In 2014 BRT has averaged 130 rail cars per month and has 11 major customers. Commodities include lumber and building supplies for Home Depot and other companies, flour for several commercial bakeries, and biodiesel. Two tracks are used for arrival and departure trains, with a third "runner track" which allows the NY&A locomotives that deliver a train to return to the inbound end of the departing train. Four 1100-foot stub tracks and a track to the Home Depot facility are used for freight unloading. A short stub track originally intended for locomotive storage is also used to unload lumber. In 2017, BRT accepted 3,215 rail cars.
In June 2014, the town obtained a
temporary restraining order
An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in par ...
barring "sand mining" operations on the site. The company says sand excavation is needed to lower the yard elevation below that of the LIRR main line for safety reasons. In November 2015 the town and the terminal reached a tentative agreement that would allow for the terminal's expansion. A final agreement was signed on March 16, 2016 that requires BRT to submit its expansion plans to town review under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), pay the town $500,000 BRT and to keep 62 acres as undeveloped green space. Previously BRT had maintained federal railroad regulation preempted local review.
The railroad operation, but not the terminal, was sold to Winter Brothers, which plans to build a waste to rail transfer facility nearby.
See also
*
Rail freight transportation in New York City and Long Island
From the start of railroading in America through the first half of the 20th century, New York City and Long Island were major areas for rail freight transportation. However, their relative isolation from the mainland United States has always pos ...
References
Heating oil rail facility opens in Yaphank (July 19, 2012)
External links
Official WebsiteBrookhaven Rail Terminal Map (TrainsAreFun)
{{Coord, 40.82283, -72.939895, display=title
Rail transportation in New York (state)
Railroads on Long Island
Brookhaven, New York