The Strasburg Rail Road locomotive rumbles into the yard an hour after sunrise.

Its silhouette is black as coal. Its headlight gleams like the morning star.

But it belches no steam, tows none of the shortline's famous russet-hued passenger coaches.

This is a freight train, folks.

One of a multitude riding The Strasburg's rails this summer.

A rapidly increasing multitude.

The shortline handled nine freight cars in 2009, according to Stephen Weaver, Strasburg Rail Road superintendent.

It's on track to haul up to 300 this year, thus increasing its freight operation by an expected 3,233 percent.

The growth is deliberate, fueled by a $1.5 million project to boost the railroad's freight operation.

But the project, funded in part by the state, was stimulated by larger market forces.

Freight volume on major U.S. railroads has more than doubled since the early 1980s, according to the Association of American Railroads.

Strengthening the trend is a government push to get more long-haul commodities onto freight trains.

The reason is that one freight train can carry the equivalent of 280 or more truckloads, according to the AAR.

The Strasburg freight operation intends to be a vital cog in the rail renaissance.

Over the long haul, Weaver said, "Freight railroading is going nowhere but up."

Growth engine
The Strasburg, known for its meticulous portrayal of historic 20th-century railroading, was chartered in 1832.

Its steam locomotive-powered tourist excursions will always remain center stage, Weaver said.

What casual visitors don't know is that the line has hauled freight since before the Civil War.

But Weaver said that business, which was not actively marketed, was declining by 2004.

In 2008, the number of freight cars transported by the railroad fell to zero.

Meanwhile, Weaver added, income from tourist excursions also was shrinking.

And so the company decided to aggressively recommit to the freight business.

Weaver swapped his railroader's garb for a blazer and began pitching Strasburg's niche to local businesses.

That niche is called transloading, which means transferring goods from railroad cars to delivery trucks.

Advocates want more transloading to be done locally to cut the number of long-haul trucks on the highway.

The Strasburg is suited to the task.

While it has only 4.5 miles of track, Weaver explained, it's perfectly positioned to pick up freight cars from the Amtrak mainline at Leaman Place, shuttle them to Strasburg and transfer their contents to trucks.

That capability is key to shippers.

Much right of way was lost in the 1970s and 1980s as railroads were consolidated and many corridors dismantled, Weaver said.

"There are a lot of industries that would like to take advantage of rail but don't have the line sidings," he noted.

To fill the gap in the eastern and southern parts of the county, the Strasburg built a freight dock just east of the passenger station in 2008.

This year it beefed up its freight yard.

It tapped nearly $1 million in competitive matching state-grant money released in 2010 by then-Gov. Ed Rendell.

The Strasburg also invested $500,000 of its own funds — one-third of the total project cost — as a requirement of the grant, Weaver said.

It was one of 38 grant recipients –– most of them small shortline railroads –– given a total of $32.5 million for rail improvement initiatives in November, PennDOT spokeswoman Erin Waters said.

The Strasburg project also will rehabilitate Leaman Place track pounded by modern freight cars that outweigh antique passenger coaches by threefold.

And it will pay for piping and other infrastructure to better offload biofuel from tank cars.

Lastly, Weaver said, the money will be used to replace a Civil War-era railroad bridge near Black Horse in November.

Staffing shift
Strasburg Rail Road eventually will dedicate five of its 40 or so full-time employees to the freight business, Weaver said.

It acquired a diesel locomotive for freight work in 2008.

The 1951 yard switcher, formerly used on the New York Central, is "our newest piece of equipment," Weaver joked.

But on The Strasburg's hilly terrain, its 1,000 horses can't easily handle more than eight railroad cars per trip.

When a longer string of cars had to be retrieved one morning about a month ago, workers needed more power.

They fired up their biggest steam locomotive, No. 90, to assist the diesel.

That thrilled rail fans, some of whom are finding their way down to the yard to learn about the freight operation.

It presumably also thrilled the customers.

Weaver declined to identify any, citing the competitive nature of the business.

However, he said, the number "is passing half a dozen," and all are within 10 miles of the freight depot.

Strasburg Rail Road manifests consist mostly of liquid biofuel, dry bulk agricultural products and "niche" market lumber not used for building houses, Weaver said.

To protect its adjacent tourist operation, he added, it will not haul hazardous materials.

The freight business is breaking even so far.

"We're not making money yet," said Weaver, who noted that track improvements cost about $165 a foot.

But the project is already benefiting the county.

Weaver expects it to divert more than 6,300 truckloads from busy local roads over five years. Strasburg does its switching and unloading early Wednesdays and Fridays to avoid conflicts with the passenger side, Weaver said.

On a recent Friday, he served as conductor as No. 8618 trundled into the yard, wheel flanges screeching.

Recently hired forklift operator Mike Cronk unloaded lumber from a boxcar that originated in the Pacific Northwest.

Next week, they'll do it all again.

"They'll be coming up over the hill, regular as a church," Weaver said.

Contact Sunday News staff writer Jon Rutter at jrutter@lnpnews.com.