Motorists in southwestern Saskatchewan faced long waits at a number of level crossings the week before Christmas.
On Dec. 21, the first 112-car grain train was shipped from Great Sand-hills Terminal in Leader, Sask., over the Great Sandhills Railway short line.
That’s twice as long as a typical grain train.
The 10,000 tonnes of durum were shipped to Swift Current, where they were hauled by Canadian Pacific Railway to a transfer elevator at Trois-Rivires, Que. for shipment overseas.
Jeff Simpson, marketing manager for GSR, said it’s the heaviest train the rail company has ever hauled. The railway leased additional locomotives from CPR.
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He said the railway and terminal would be happy to do more.
“We’d love all the trains from GST to be 112 cars but that’s not going to happen,” he said.
“We hope to see it a few times a year.”
GSR began operations in March 2009 and has been working with the Canadian Wheat Board since then to organize a 112-car train.
The opportunity presented itself with the resumption of the CWB’s winter rail program, in which wheat board grain is shipped by rail directly from the Prairies to export terminals on the lower St. Lawrence River while the seaway is closed.
The shipment was eligible for freight incentives from CPR of $8 per tonne, which translates into a total saving of about $80,000.
Those savings will be used by the terminal to offer trucking incentives and other premiums to attract more grain deliveries in the future.
“It certainly helps keep the terminal competitive with other options for producers,” said Simpson.
Great Sandhills Terminal is a locally owned independent grain handling and agri-business facility near Leader, Sask.
GSR is a locally owned short line operating 200 kilometres of track in southwestern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta.
