Heller Lumber Co. thanks railroad for new lifeline

Officials at Heller Lumber Co. are crediting Union Pacific with replacing aging tracks on a railroad spur line that provides a lifeline to their long-standing business in Arlington Heights.

The spur connects the Union Pacific Northwest Line with the lumber supplier at 24 N. Hickory Ave., which receives deliveries of wood by train from as far away as Canada.

"It is important to us," said Bob Heller, whose dad Gene and uncle Lewis started the company in 1924. "And they haven't sent us a bill so far."

The tracks were last replaced in 1993. The spur line has been around almost as long as the business has.

Heller says it's more cost effective for lumber to arrive by train instead of by truck. Improvements over the years in train car design and technology have also helped the business.

"It would take two men at least six days to unload four box cars," Heller said. "One man with a forklift can (unload a centerbeam flatcar) in two hours now."

Heller has been retired from the business since 2001, but still checks in now and then on his grandkids - the fourth generation involved in the business.