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Loading dock completed at Castle as part of multi-million dollar Merced County inland port project
Castle rail port
From left to right, Supervisor Lloyd Pareira, Supervisor Daron McDaniel, Atwater Mayor Mike Nelson, Dave Chambers of Hydra Logistics, Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, Patriot Rail CEO Brandy Christian, Morning Star President Bob Henry, Rep. John Duarte, Supervisor Josh Pedrozo, and Supervisor Scott Silveira are shown during a grand opening for a loading dock at Castle Commerce Center on Oct. 30 (Photo courtesy of Merced County).

Local elected officials and other dignitaries gathered Oct. 30 to recognize an important milestone in the development of an inland port at Castle Commerce Center in the Atwater area. 

A grand opening ceremony was held for a new loading dock as part of the inland port project, which will use railroad trains to move goods, supporting Valley agricultural producers and manufacturers. 

The grand opening comes a little more than a year after the county received $50 million from the California State Transportation Agency to develop 70 acres of land for the port at the former U.S. Air Force base.

Local leaders were joined Wednesday by officials with Patriot Rail, the company Merced County contracted with back in 2022 to establish a rail district at Castle.

“It takes a strong partnership between the public and private sectors to make projects like this possible,” Supervisor Daron McDaniel said in a news release from Patriot Rail. 

“We appreciate our partnership with Patriot Rail and look forward to continued infrastructure investments that serve customers like Morning Star and the other rail shippers here in the Rail District, and across the county.”

“We are proud to serve Merced County and be their partner in growth. Patriot Rail takes immense pride in working together to solve for the broader freight transportation needs in the Central Valley Region and the state of California,” Brandy Christian, Patriot Rail CEO, said in a news release. 

A news release from Patriot Rail said the company’s investments in Merced County’s rail district in just over two years include construction of 5,500 feet of new rail connection track and acquisition of 16 acres within the 70-acres as part of a 2023 merger of Sacramento-based Hydra Logistics.