The first 112-car train run along the Great Sandhills Railway rumbled from Leader to Swift Current this past Monday.
The Great Sandhills Railway partnered with the Great Sandhills Terminal in Leader to load a 112-car Canadian Pacific Railway grain train of durum wheat. The train is bound for an export terminal in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.
This is the first 100 plus train run on the shortline since it began operating last March, however plans have been in the making for this train run for a while. The Great Sandhills Railway began looking at opportunities with the Canadian Wheat Board earlier this year. The CWB found an opportunity to make the shipment during the implementation of their annual Winter Grains program to Eastern Canada.
When the St Lawrence Seaway freezes up each winter, grain that is usually destined to Thunder Bay for loading, now travels by rail all the way to the export terminals in Quebec for shiping.
"Loading larger grain trains provides additional freight incentives to the Great Sandhills Terminal, which they can use to be more competitive in the marketplace," explained Jeff Simpson, Marketing Manager of the Great Sandhills Railway. "This is another example of how shortlines work with local customers to come up with unique opportunities to help increase business and profitability. GST and GSR look forward to loading more trains like this in the future."
