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Rail line lets Yuengling plant in Port Carbon run at full capacity.
By Bob Laylo
Of The Morning Call
January 17, 2003
The new D.G. Yuengling & Son brewery in Schuylkill County can produce 1.2
million barrels a year, but it has operated at half capacity for the past year
and a half.
Things began to change Thursday morning when an engine lumbered up the tracks
near the Saint Clair Industrial Park, hauling two railroad cars, each carrying
195,000 pounds of malt.
The engine snapped a banner, marking the opening of a 1.1-mile Reading, Blue
Mountain and Northern Railroad spur, built at a cost of about $1 million, that
will carry grain to the plant in Port Carbon and allow it to run at full
capacity.
''I've been waiting for this to happen for years,'' brewery President Richard L.
Yuengling Jr. said.
Yuengling said the new brewery, which cost $50 million, hasn't been able to run
at full capacity because he hasn't been able to get enough grain there by truck.
It takes 2.5 truckloads to equal the capacity of a railroad car, said Ed Heck,
traffic manager for Reading, Blue Mountain and Northern.
''It's more efficient,'' Heck said.
The brief ceremony also marked the end of a long, sometimes bitter process to
get the railroad line built.
Port Carbon, the railroad and Yuengling battled over details. The borough had
been concerned about the impact of the railroad on neighbors and areas where the
line crossed three streets.
''There was a lot of red tape,'' Yuengling said. ''It was a nightmare.''
The sides eventually settled their differences, signing a final agreement in
September that allowed the line to be built and Yuengling to receive $625,000 in
state grants toward the project.
With those issues behind, Yuengling looked forward to expanding his business and
creating jobs.
Yuengling, who already employs 120 people at the new plant and the old plant in
Pottsville, said he could create another 50 jobs at both his Pennsylvania
breweries. The company also has a brewery in Tampa, Fla.
Having the new plant with the ability to run at full capacity gives the company
room to expand in the Northeast.
Yuengling said he'd like to sell more beer in New York. He said the company,
America's oldest brewery, is doing well in cities such as Albany and Elmira, but
he would like to do more business in the Big Apple.
He also said the company, which has made inroads in North Carolina, also can
expand its reach in the Southeast using its Tampa brewery.
With the three breweries, Yuengling can produce 3.5 million barrels a year.
It's come a long way since 1829 when David G. Yuengling opened the Eagle Brewery
on Centre Street in Pottsville. When the company first started brewing, the
ingredients were shipped by boat to Pottsville on the former Schuylkill Canal.
The railroad has been hauling grain and other ingredients to Mount Carbon, where
it was trucked to the breweries.
Copyright (c) 2003, The Morning Call
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This article originally appeared at:
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/lehighton/all-b1_1yuenglingjan17,0,5557078.story