Western Rail Switching

Western Rail Switching
Reporting mark WRS
Locale Spokane County, Washington
Dates of operation 2004–
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Headquarters Airway Heights, Washington

Western Rail Switching (reporting mark WRS) was a switching and terminal railroad operating a line west of Spokane, Washington. It was owned by Western Rail, Inc., a used locomotive seller located on the line.

In 2004, Spokane County bought the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway's Geiger Spur,[1] and designated WRS to operate it, beginning in October.[2]

Following the takeover of the nearby Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad by the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad (EWG), the Washington Department of Transportation financed a newly constructed connection to the new short line operator. This realignment was opened on January 2, 2009, bypassing Fairchild Air Force Base, through which the spur had run.[3] The west end of the spur is now at the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad near Medical Lake.[4]

Not long after beginning operations, EWG filed with the Surface Transportation Board to replace WRS as operator and now runs the Geiger Spur an exclusive operator.[5]

Traffic carried on the Geiger Spur consists primarily of inbound steel loads.

References

  1. ↑ "STB Finance Docket No. 34541". October 1, 2004.
  2. ↑ Railroad Retirement Board (December 2, 2004). "Employer Status Determination: Western Rail Switching, Inc.".
  3. ↑ "Spur Rail Opens Next Week". Spokane Spokesman-Review. December 25, 2008.
  4. ↑ Washington State Department of Transportation. "Rail - Geiger Spur/Airway Heights - New Rail Connection". Retrieved February 2009.
  5. ↑ "STB Finance Docket No. 35201". December 5, 2008.

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