Schenley Rail Spur Officially Complete
Check out aerial shots of the completed project
The estimated completion date for the Schenley Rail Spur Update was originally June 15, 2020. However, due to some weather impact, the ability of contractors to keep crews fully staffed amid COVID-19, and shipping delays for some electrical and control components, the completion date was shifted to July 10, 2020. See below several aerial shots of the completed rail spur and storage tanks.
The goal of this project was to integrate Black Velvet into our bottling operations in Bardstown, Kentucky, ultimately leading to significant cost savings for the company. The new rail spur will allow us to offload rail cars with Black Velvet product to be shipped to Bardstown via train.
The Schenley property where the rail spur was installed is located off of Louisville Road just outside of Bardstown, Kentucky. Black Velvet product will be loaded onto railcars in Lethbridge, Canada and shipped via train to the Schenley location in Bardstown where it will be picked up and transported to the bottling facility via truck.
This project was approved on January 10, 2020 and included installation of 950 feet of track, four 80,000 gallon storage tanks (two tanks for Black Velvet product and two tanks for Canadian Blending Wine), two offloading pumps, a truck loading station with pump, and required containment and fire protection to ensure the process is completed safely.
While this project was a large investment for the company, it is a great illustration of our commitment to continuous improvement. We expect to see significant cost savings and improved efficiency from this project due to two factors – Black Velvet product will now be shipped via train rather than truck as it was previously, and Black Velvet will now produce Canadian Blending Wine for Heaven Hill rather than sourcing from a third party company.
