Small roads, unique opportunities: North Shore Railroad utilizes team track docks to serve new-to-rail shippers
10/22/2025
By Bridget Dean, Associate Editor
Like many short lines, North Shore Railroad Cos. and Affiliates makes the most of local business opportunities, no matter how small the shipment. Witness North Shore’s Lycoming Valley Railroad (LVRR), which in September utilized a public team track dock to support a local business looking to receive a single box car.
The railroad learned of the shipping need of the customer — Pine Creek Seed Farm — during a canvassing call, says Todd Hunter, North Shore’s chief marketing officer. The wholesaler sells bagged grass and other bulk seeds that it typically receives via truck from the Pacific Northwest. The company doesn’t have a spur or siding.
“Just because they don’t have a siding doesn’t mean they can’t be a customer,” says Hunter. “A lot of short lines still utilize team tracks.”
Once commonplace in small towns, team track docks have gradually been phased out of use in favor of bulk transloading and last-mile deliveries via truck. Team tracks got their name from the teams of horses and the “teamsters” that would drive them to the railroad for unloading goods and materials, Hunter says.
While not used by larger railroads, the six short lines owned and operated by North Shore still have several team track docks in use. The dock used for Pine Creek’s delivery is a simple concrete slab with a roof that allows for easy transloading between a truck and a box car. Pine Creek used a forklift to transfer four truckloads’ worth of its wholesale supplies from the box car to its own truck.
‘It all starts somewhere’
The dock on LVRR is like a “business incubator,” enabling potential customers to try receiving or sending a shipment via rail, Hunter says. Customers can figure out the price difference and the flow of using the dock versus having a truck delivery. Offerings like team track docks are unique to short lines.
Shipping via a larger carrier and then using a transload facility for last-mile delivery can be difficult for smaller companies, Hunter says. Transloading facilities often prioritize bulk commodities or containers, and adding a third-party company can increase shipping costs significantly, he adds.
The scale and complexity of Class Is’ shipments make completing smaller, one-off deliveries more difficult. By working directly with a local short line, Pine Creek received its shipment without having to coordinate with a third-party for transloading.
“If the larger [railroads] have a difficult time with a small shipper like this, we’re happy to accommodate them. And small shippers can turn into larger shippers,” Hunter says.
Pine Creek is already considering using LVRR for more shipments, Hunter says. Several North Shore customers began as dock customers and later went on to build facilities on one of the railroad’s lines.
“Our goal is to help someone do a test shipment in an easy fashion,” he says. “It all starts somewhere, and that’s what excites me about handling a single car for a customer who’s never used rail.”
