Essex Terminal Railway

Essex Terminal Railway (reporting mark ETL) is a Canadian shortline terminal railroad, running from the City of Windsor, Ontario through La Salle, to the Town of Amherstburg, Ontario, for a distance of approximately 21 miles (32 km). The ETR has direct connections to Canadian Pacific Railway, and Canadian National Railway. The railway is owned by Essex Morterm Holdings.

History

The railway was founded in 1902 as a western connection of the Grand Trunk Railway (now present-day Canadian National Railway) to factories in the eastern end of Windsor. Construction of the line took place between 1902 and 1918. During World War II, the trains hauled military and industrial equipment (i.e. Bren Gun carriers, and trucks) from Ford Windsor and other industries, to interchanges with Canadian National, Canadian Pacific. New York Central, Pere Marquette, and Wabash Railways. Its four-stall enginehouse, and main offices are on Lincoln Road in Windsor. Due to heavy development along much of the mainline, Essex Terminal runs its trains at a maximum of 12MPH (20km/h) in the city, and 20MPH (30km/h) in the county. (There is currently (2013) a slow order in the River Canard area.)

As a part of the urban renewal of Windsor, the railway sold several kilometers of spur line (The Factory Branch) in central Windsor to the City of Windsor and various developers in 1998, allowing new homes and businesses to be built along the former rail RoW. The Mainline was generally unchanged but the ETR became more dependent on down river traffic.

In September 2002, the ETR celebrated its 100th anniversary and brought its newly restored 1923 Number 9 0-6-0 locomotive down from St. Thomas, Ontario. The company was loaned several 1930s CPR and CN passenger cars to give rides to nearby residents that celebrated with the company. Number 9 currently operates out of Waterloo, Ontario.

Ironically, a week after the centennial celebration, the ETR had its first serious derailment in over 10 years, caused by abnormally heavy rains. Cars carrying soybeans were involved. There were no injuries, the tracks were repaired and two nearby grade crossings repaved.

On September 12, 2007, Essex Terminal Railway had its second accident when a transport truck tried to race a slow moving ETR train across the Weaver Road at-grade crossing. ADM and Morterm Terminal are accessed by Weaver Rd. The SW-1200 locomotive clipped the rear of the trailer, tipping the transport truck onto its right side (the truck was heading west at the time and the locomotive was headed northbound) and ripped the axles off the trailer's box and frame. Aside from damage to the transport truck, the locomotive also sustained some damage to one of its couplers, which had impacted the trailer. The driver (who was from Ohio) was uninjured and cooperated with Essex Terminal Railway officials and Windsor Police. Essex Terminal Railway later said in The Windsor Star that, "This is a reason why people should never try to beat a train."

In the summer of 2009 the Essex Terminal Railway signed agreements with the City of Windsor to allow 2 new rail spurs to be constructed on the west end of the city. The rail lines will serve 2 industries in the Ojibway industrial area. ETR currently has more than 15 customers in Windsor including BP Canada Energy and the Windsor Salt Company and serves several customers in the town of Amherstburg (Calverts and Honeywell). ^{[citation needed]}

In early 2013, a connection was made so that the ETR can switch the Hiram Walkers (Wisers) tank farm just west of the VIA passenger station. ex-CN track is accessed (as far east as George Ave.) but is not connected to the CN/VIA mainline.^{[citation needed]}

ETR Locomotives and Rolling Stock

Essex Terminal Railway

Legend 00.00 mi Connection to VIA/CN Rail - not in service 00.25 mi Ford yard (end of current trackage) 01.00 mi Walker Yard 01.50 mi Windsor (Lincoln Rd. - Yard Office; Main Office; Enginehouse) 01.75 mi Lincoln yard 02.00 mi Tecumseh Rd. East 02.67 mi Crossing with CP Rail Windsor Subdivision --.- mi Ouellette Avenue overpass 03.00 mi Interchange to CN Rail VanDeWater yard via CP Windsor Sub. 03.60 mi Tecumseh Rd. West 03.80 mi Interchange yard with CP Rail; connection to CP Windsor yard 05.05 mi CP railway tunnel to Detroit, Mi ; (ex-CN Rail/Michigan Central) 06.05 mi Huron Church Road 07.40 mi Westward spur to Hearn Trucking, Windsor Salt (brine operation) 07.90 mi Ojibway Parkway 08.25 mi Ojibway Yard - start --.- mi Spur to ADM and Morton Terminal via Ojibway Yard 09.05 mi Ojibway Yard - end 09.50 mi Windsor Salt mine - no longer served by railroad 09.90 mi Ojibway Parkway 15.00 mi River Canard (two bridges) 08.00 mi Texas yard 19.00 mi Yard Amherstburg 19.00 mi Eastward spur to Honeywell/Lasalle Packaging 19.00 mi Westward spur to Honeywell (ex-General/Allied Chemical) 19.50 mi Spur to Calvert's Distillery; via wye 19.50 mi End of track

External links

• ETR official website
• ETR Rolling Stock GIF Images at Trainweb.org
• Southwest Ontario Train at TrainWeb.org
• ETR train paint schemes