About Us

Great Western Railway

Nestled in the rolling hills and prairies of southwest Saskatchewan, GWR consists of former CPKC trackage that was slated for abandonment. Acquired by local producers in 2004, we have remained locally owned by a diverse group of producers, ranchers, agricultural businesses and communities along our line.

We proudly serve shippers in the Southwest including agriculture and energy. Our primary objective is to facilitate a competitive and alternative way for producers to get their products to market. We also provide an important alternative access to international markets.

Short lines provide supply chain connectivity, create employment, and enable regional economic competitiveness.

Shipping by rail can reduce negative externalities associated with road transport, including emissions, road wear and tear and congestion.

One in five car loads originating on Canadian railways originates on a short-line.

While present in all Western provinces, Saskatchewan has the most extensive network: 24% of Saskatchewan’s 8722 kms of track are owned and/or operated by short lines.

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Our History

We are located in Southwest Saskatchewan and Interchange with CPKC via Assiniboia, SK. We operate almost 400 miles of track, which includes the Shaunavon, Vanguard, Altawan and Notukeu Subdivisions, as well as our recently purchased Fife Lake Railway subdivision. GWR also operates and maintains another 72 miles of track along the Red Coat Road & Rail under an operating and maintenance agreement.

History

2000

2004

2017

2018

2020

Today

Our History

Great Western Railway found it’s humble beginnings through the support of the local community. We were founded by people that fought to keep the railway open, and are deeply rooted in their lives & in agriculture.

In the last two decades, both the Canadian National Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway had divested themselves of thousands of miles of track over the Canadian prairies in favor of establishing huge grain terminals on their mainlines. This, along with the removal of the Crow Rate, which reduced the cost of shipping the grain to the world market, made it more economical for producers to ship their grain through the larger mainline terminals. These developments led to a decreased volume of cars moving via Railway, and contributed to the decision for CP Rail to abandon Great Western Railway’s portion of track in Southwest Saskatchewan.

2000 - January

CP Rail approached Westcan Rail, a BC company, to offer the 4 branch lines for sale. By May, 2000 Westcan Rail Ltd. started negotiations with CP Rail to purchase 550 km of track to set up a shortline for the area. It was proposed that Great Western Railway would become a Saskatchewan subsidiary of Westcan with the operation running out of an office in Shaunavon.

2000 - June

An agreement had been made between the two parties for the purchase of the 4 subdivisions, Notukeu Subdivision from Val Marie to Consul; Altawan Subdivision from Consul to Shaunavon; Shaunavon Subdivision from Shaunavon to Limerick; and the Vanguard Subdivision north from Meyronne to Wymark.

The initial business plan was based on 4,000 cars shipped annually, working with local producers and grain companies to restore viability to the grain dependent rail line. Moving 4,000 cars per year by rail is equivalent to 10,000 fully loaded B-trains or 30,000 fully loaded axle trucks that would not be traveling on our secondary highways and municipal roads.

2000 - August

There were 23 elevators along the 332 miles of track (SWP-18; PIO – 4 and PAT-1) which played a major part in the initial business plan. However, in early August, 2000, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool announced their plans to close its 18 elevators by January, 2001. Some producers started up talks with SWP to buy the abandoned elevators to load and ship producer cars.

2000 - September

Westcan Rail Ltd. received provincial government approval to purchase 550 km of branch lines in Southwest Saskatchewan. This announcement brought to a close an intensive negotiating process that began in May, 2000.

2004

In the fall of 2004, GWR became locally owned when the Municipalities, local businesses and producers banded together to purchase Great Western Railway Ltd. from Westcan Rail Ltd. to keep the line from being abandoned and dismantled.

2017

We entered the realm of Railcar ownership, when we purchased 150 grain hopper railcars from the province of Saskatchewan. We have now built up that fleet to 270 grain hopper cars to provide more car supply reliability and service flexibility.

Fife Lake Railroad

In 2017 we purchased the FLR, where we operate from Assiniboia as far south as Coronach. Our focus to grow grain shipping on this subdivision has seen success with growth out of the Popular Hills Producer site, as well a new development focusing on organic grains now shipping out of our south siding in Rockglen.

2018

We introduced our own mobile transloading service which has allowed us to increase our inbound fertilizer supply, where we have grown shipments from just a few carloads per year to over two hundred last year. Our railcar storage service has space availability for 2500 cars. While shipping grain and Ag related products will be at the core of our business, this thriving storage revenue stream provides great support to ensure the organization remains strong in even the toughest of shipping seasons, just as we have seen in the past couple years.

We acquired the buildings and 5 acres of land within the CPKC Assiniboia rail yard to allow us to expand our operation, including our current double-bay locomotive shop facility.

We introduced Great Western Commodities, our new co-ordination, purchasing and marketing division, in order to drive more grain freight to the rail and reduce the time and expense for producers to truck the many miles to the CPKC main line. This helped grow our grain freight by over 90% in the two years following. The key role of Great Western Commodities is to bring producers, shipper and buyers together, and to help look after the coordination from farm to port. We are also able to buy the grain directly from producers on occasion to help bring these opportunities together.

2020

We expanded our maintenance services to include a brand new AAR-Certified railcar repair department, and constructed two railcar repair tracks at our Assiniboia shop. Our reliable fleet of locomotives have been streamlined into a pure GE locomotive fleet, including 4000 horsepower locomotives, with our newest addition as recent as 2021.

Today

Great Western Railway Ltd. ships grain, fertilizer, feed & frac sand, as well as running a thriving storage car business. Besides servicing our own lines, (GWR and FLR), we also service the Red Coat Road & Rail.

Over it all, we have remained committed to supporting local communities and producers along our line, striving to maintain competitive rates for facilitating a thriving economy in the southwest.