From Amazon to agriculture. Can this rail hub turn Tri-Cities into a global logistics center?
The former Railex freight facility at Wallula Gap is back in business with a new manager at the helm.
Tri-Cities Intermodal launched in January and is sending a stream of Mid-Columbia agricultural products to the docks in Seattle and Tacoma via rail, cutting down on truck traffic and improving access to foreign markets for local farmers.
Tri-Cities Intermodal reopened the former Railex refrigerated rail warehouse about 10 miles southeast of the Tri-Cities, six months after its predecessor, Tiger Cool Express, shut down.
Ted Prince, CEO and founder of Tri-Cities Intermodal, said the facility has too much potential to move agriculture and other freight to remain unused.
He was drawn by the access to rail, roads, water and workers and saw the prospect of creating a “global transportation hub” in an area known for heavy industry and little or no residential development.
Spotty history
Prince vowed to make a go of the facility at 627 Railex Road, which first opened in 2006 with $50 million in private investment.
Railex later built a separate wine facility in 2012 to serve wine producers, primarily Ste. Michelle Wine Estates.
It sold the freight facility to Union Pacific in 2017, affecting about 88 workers. Northwest wine services, next door, was not impacted.
The railroad operated it as Cold Connect with a focus on fruit, vegetables and other temperature-sensitive cargo until shutting it down in 2020, putting 170 warehouse workers out of a job.
It remained idle for several years until Tiger Infrastructure Partners, aka Tiger Cool Express LLC, stepped in with big promises to create a freight hub and support agriculture.
Tiger inked a lease/purchase agreement with Union Pacific in early in 2023 and announced plans to create a “global transportation hub.”
Tiger Cool lasted only a few months. It halted operations on June 13, 2023, amid reports it faced financial challenges when its private equity partner withdrew from the project.
The shutdown was billed as a timeout, but proved permanent. About 50 employees were laid off and the property was put on the market for either sale or rent.
New venture
Prince, a freight industry veteran, stepped in.
He formed the new operations company with backing from new investors, PNW Capital, led by James Delaney Sr. During a recent gathering in Walla Walla with local officials, Delaney told the Tri-City Herald the investment was a vote of confidence in Prince.
The new team entered its own purchase/sale agreement with Union Pacific, which still owns the 200,000-square-foot station.
It consists of an office building attached to a long, narrow logistics warehouse. Railroad tracks run the length of the interior on one side and 67 truck doors run along the other.
The facility is further divided into six separate sections to accommodate individual users if necessary..
Prince said it began handling cargo for export early this year.
Ag exports worth $7.5B
Trains regularly pull through the refrigerated warehouse, picking up loads headed both east and west.
To facilitate shipments, Tri-Cities Intermodal sends shipping containers to its farmer customers, then loads the produce onto trains at Wallula.
It handles hay, grain, peas, beans and lentils for export through the Northwest Seaport Alliance docks in Seattle and Tacoma. The ports collectively handle the equivalent of nearly 2 million, 20-foot freight containers each year. It welcomed the revival of the Tri-Cities facility, noting it helps address demand for more export capacity, starting with the first fully loaded train in Tacoma on Feb. 8.
“We appreciate the significant energy Tri-Cities Intermodal has invested in establishing this new intermodal ramp,
its chaor, Hamdi Mohamed, said at the time.
The Washington State Department of Export valued the state’s 2023 agricultural exports at $7.5 billion.
Frozen french fries, a major industry in the Tri-Cities, are the state’s top export, with Japan, Mexico and South Korea as the top destinations.
Tri-Cities Intermodal does not link to Portland, which has struggled to secure regular ocean carriers service because of its awkward location 100 miles up the Columbia River from the Pacific Ocean.
Prince said Wallula’s chief advantage is its ability to move cargo onto rail, eliminating hundreds of miles of driving by truck.
That cuts driving distances in half, making it more efficient to schedule drivers for day trips and easing traffic around the contested ports in Seattle and Tacoma.
It also has the potential to eliminate some of the truck traffic that carries agricultural products from the east side of the Cascades west via I-90 and Snoqualmie Pass.
Another advantage: It moves freight in two directions. Products for export move west.
Frozen food, wine, potatoes, fruits and other Mid-Columbia produce move east by rail. The new operator has agreements with the Port of Walla Walla, well as Columbia Rail, a local rail operator, to facilitate movement on local tracks.
Building business
Prince hopes to pick up business from Tyson, the beef processor with a plant in the vicinity, near Highway 12 in western Walla Walla County.
Other neighbors include Packaging Corporation of America (Boise) and the future Rockwool insulation plant.
Prince said the facility may not become a major employer, but it can help Mid-Columbia farmers thrive.
“Our benefit is to agriculture,” he said.
Tri-Cities Intermodal handles some cargo for Amazon Inc., which recently opened an inbound cross dock in Pasco. The Pasco facility processes shipments between fulfillment centers and is not a warehouse.
Tri-Cities Intermodal “pulls” Amazon freight from Pasco. He hopes to begin “pushing” it into the facility as well.
While Prince and his crew build the business, the facility itself has plenty of capacity to grow.
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