AUBURN – Morse Bros. uses it to get scrap wood from Canada.

Safe Handling uses it for paper-making products from the Pacific Rim.

Cascades Auburn Fiber uses it to deliver finished recyclable paper to customers throughout New England and, soon, Tennessee.

The link among these companies is the three-mile spur of track operated by St. Lawrence & Atlantic railroad. The rail line connects the three Auburn-based companies to each other and, more important, to their suppliers and markets around the world.

It’s a connection that’s growing, according to Ed Foley, vice president of sales and marketing for the rail line. Tuesday, Foley and a small group of rail customers and economic developers led a tour for visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of Transportation Emil Frankel.

“We can create economic activity with a strong transportation infrastructure,” said Foley. “These businesses would not be here if not a for a resurgent, regional rail service.”

Rail line owners are hoping to make a $1.6 million expansion in Auburn. They’re eyeing space for four 3,500-foot-long tracks – preferably in the industrial park created recently in the newly designated Foreign Trade Zone. The additional tracks will allow the rail line to store more containers on site and enhance its flexibility to respond to customers’ needs. The rail’s major storage area now is in Richmond, Quebec.

The state has funneled matching funds of up to $800,000 for the expansion, said Ray Goss, general manager for St. Lawrence & Atlantic. Railroad staff are waiting to hear about a request for funds from federal sources.

“We’re trying to keep up with the growth,” said Goss.

One example: Cascades Auburn Fiber is building a new rail dock to deliver its product via rail. Right now, the company brings 300 tons of waste paper into its facility every day, where it’s de-inked and converted into clean, recyclable product. Craig Martin, sales manager for Cascades, said they expect to send between 50 and 100 rail containers of finished product to customers when the rail dock is completed.

“We’re looking to maintain our position as the primary supplier of post-consumer paper products,” said Martin. “We have the logistics and the quality. We’re perfectly positioned to do that now.”

Morse Bros. has begun getting its scrap wood from forests in northern Canada, accessible only by rail. The raw material is transported to the Auburn company’s West Hardscrabble Road site, where it is processed into mulch for landscaping and nursery use.

Tim Morse said 95 percent of his company’s finished product goes out of state by truck, but the company is considering using rail for delivery as well.

“We’re getting our raw product at a cheaper price,” he said. The rail line “is helping us be efficient and strong in the marketplace. As a small manufacturer, you have to be innovative to stay competitive.”

Other companies along the spur that use the rails include Panolam and Saxonville Lumber. The track extends into the Auburn Intermodal Facility and the Auburn Municipal Airport as well.

Frankel was invited to see how the rail service has enhanced jobs and business growth in the local community. The tour started at Safe Handling, a logistics and processing company for paper-making products that expects to ship 2,300 rail cars of product to its customers this year, up 40 percent from 2002.

Frankel said he was particularly struck by how a small rail line has helped spur economic development, and the cooperation among the rail line, businesses and state and local officials.

“Quite frankly, I think most people here in New England think of how depressed Maine is,” he said. “But seeing this growth and how it relates to the railroad is quite extraordinary. You have something very good going on.”