A rail shipment of wheat in Alberta marked a significant milestone.
Battle River Railway (BRR), a farmer-owned shortline railway, and CN, worked together to bring five cars of wheat to Westlock Terminals – its first ever wheat shipment by rail – from Battle River’s elevator in Rosalind.
The parties, which include the Port of Westlock, owners of Westlock Terminals, reached the agreement on Oct. 29. The shipment arrived the following day.
The distance between the elevators is roughly 270km and is about a three-hour drive.
BRR operates an 83km stretch of track from Alliance to Camrose, where it then interchanges with CN. CN previously owned that section of track before BRR purchased it in 2010.
Westlock previously trucked in its wheat.
The organization would’ve needed 11 trucks to transport the same volume of grain as the five rail cars.