Washington Eastern Railroad
The Washington Eastern Railroad is a shortline railroad located in Eastern Washington in the United States. It runs on the CW Branch built by the Northern Pacific Railway from 1889–1890 and was previously used by the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad until 2018. The WER is owned by the Western Group.
Overview | |
---|---|
Headquarters | Medical Lake, Washington |
Reporting mark | WER |
Locale | Eastern Washington |
Dates of operation | 2018– |
Predecessor | Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
Length | 114.8 miles (184.8 km) |
Other | |
Website | washingtoneasternrr.com |
History
The Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad was established on June 1, 2007, after the purchase of the CW branch of the Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad (PCC) by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).[1][2] The branch, which saw low traffic and high deferred maintenance costs, was slated to be abandoned by the railroad. The state purchased the line in February 2007 for $5.6 million, after lobbying from grain growers in the region.[3][4]
The Inland Northwest Rail Museum was constructed in 2016 in Reardan, Washington, adjacent to trackage owned by EWG. The museum is home to several pieces of historic railroad equipment from Eastern Washington.[5]
EWG went out of business on November 4, 2018, with operations assumed by Washington Eastern Railroad, a new entity operated by the Western Group.[6] The last EWG train ran on November 3, 2018.
The Western Group won the bid from WSDOT to operate the CW Branch on September 4, 2018.[7] In late 2018, WER began building an extension on the Geiger Spur to serve Spokane International Airport and surrounding industrial facilities.[8][9]
Route
The WER operates on the state-owned CW Branch, which runs from Cheney to Coulee City while roughly parallel to U.S. Route 2. It also operates on the Geiger Spur, owned by the Spokane County government.[10]
Operations
The WER currently hauls scoot trains 1-4 times a week depending on the time of year. It goes out to Coulee City dropping off empty cars at various communities and comes back 1–2 days later picking up those loaded cars and taking them to Highline Grain (Four Lakes). After the Grain is unloaded it heads back out and repeats the process. Every few days they run a Geiger Turn which switches cars around for various customers of the Geiger Spur and it also interchanges with BNSF at Cheney. Occasionally they will run a Davenport Turn which is a hospital train. It takes broken train cars to Davenport to be repaired and brings the fixed cars to their destination. BNSF will run unit trains over WER trackage from Cheney to Highline Grain once a week to pick up grain and take it elsewhere.[11]
References
- "Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad Company-Lease and Operation Exemption-Washington State Department of Transportation". Federal Register. June 1, 2007. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
- "Palouse River and Coulee City Rail System" (PDF). Washington State Department of Transportation. June 2011. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
- "Chapter 4: Rail System Strengths and Challenges". Washington State Rail Plan (PDF) (Report). Washington State Department of Transportation. March 2014. p. 56. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
- Buxton, Graham (February 8, 2007). "State agrees to buy railroad in Eastern Washington". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Associated Press. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
- Prager, Mike (December 5, 2016). "Inland Northwest Rail Museum opens new digs near Reardan". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
- "Washington Eastern Railroad, LLC-Change in Operators Exemption". Federal Register. Surface Transportation Board. October 11, 2018. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
- "Washington Eastern Railroad LLC change in operators". Federal Register.
- "Spokane International Airport Receives Federal Grant to build Rail Line". Spokesman Review.
- "Mcmorris Rodgers announces $113 Million to fund train rail to Spokane International Airport". KXLY.
- "The Western Group Wins Bid to Operate Washington State Shortline". Progressive Railroading.
- "It's the same tracks but a new operator". Cheney Free Press.