Our look at
Propane Trains
Shipping Marcellus Shale gas liquids by rail

Some areas of the Marcellus Shale produce 'wet gas' that is rich in hydrocarbons such as propane, ethane, butane and more. These gas liquids come out of the wells with the methane, and need to be separated or 'stripped' from the methane before it is 'pipeline ready' for househould use. These gas liquids add great value to production activities. Much of the talk in early 2012 concerned ethane, and where an ethane 'cracker' would be built; Ohio, Pennsylvania or West Virginia.

In the meantime, other operations are underway that ship gas liquids, such as propane, in LPG railcars. The Rook Railyard, part of the Wheeling & Lake Erie RR (W&LE), grew in 2011 due to increased inbound shipments of frac sand and outbound shipments of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Tractor trailer loads of LPG are brought into the railyard and loaded onto railcars for shipment to markets outside the Pittsburgh area.

propane rail car

In early 2012, one of the major processors of wet gas in the Pittsburgh tri-state area began construction of a new rail spur from Westland, Pa to a connection with the W&LE southwest of Pittsburgh. MarkWest plans to initially rail-out 30 railcars of propane per day from their Houston Pennsylvania gas processing plant to the W&LE mainline, and eventually shipping four 50-railcar trains (200 railcars) of propane per day.

This page takes a look at 'propane trains' and related operations around the Marcellus Shale in southwestern Pennsylvania.

ROOK RAIL YARD
Carnegie, Pa