Tracking the DM&E's big dream: Chapter 9

Pierre, which has a population of about 13,000, is one of only eight of the 56 cities directly along the 680-mile extended DM&E route with more than 2,000 residents.

Steve Rilling, left, who operates a produce stand near the railroad tracks in Pierre, S.D., and raises hogs just outside of town, says the project would cause a lot of headaches for Pierre area residents and farmers.

Two others are in South Dakota -- Huron and Brookings, where the railroad is based. The rest are in Minnesota -- New Ulm, Mankato, Owatonna, Rochester and Winona.

It is these larger cities that are giving Schieffer his biggest headaches as he attempts to gather support for the project.

In Pierre, a Missouri River town and the state capital, people have grumbled about the possibility of three dozen or more coal trains rumbling through town daily. And some residents are pushing for a bypass around the city. But city leaders have not taken a formal position against the project.

"I don't know who's in favor of it, to be honest," says Steve Rilling, who runs a produce stand near the railroad tracks in Pierre and feeds out about 200 hogs along the Missouri River about six miles east of town. "A lot of people are going to suffer for what few are going to benefit," he says. "There's going to be a lot of people miserable. It's going to cause a lot of disruption."

Rilling contends that even if Schieffer keeps his pledge to continue hauling grain once the line is diversified, grain farmers are going to be frustrated.

"When coal's the priority, the grain's going to be sitting on the tracks waiting. Are they going to take the time to let a grain train on the track when you've got a coal train blazing through here?"

About 30 miles up the road in St. Lawrence, population 200, Kenneth Vamzee is putting a load of sunflower seeds into a storage bin for a friend. Vamzee shares Rilling's concern about the DM&E's priorities once coal is being hauled along the line.

"Some years they can't get cars in here fast enough as it is," he says. "They end up dumping grain on the ground."

But Vamzee, who owns ranch land on either side of the tracks east of town, says the project might be a blessing in one respect. The DM&E says that once its track is improved, trains could travel up to 50 mph, where now they trundle along in many places at a blazing 15 mph, or even slower.

"They take forever to get by my driveway," Vamzee says.