Paterson Grain shipped grain on the longest-ever train chugging through the Canadian Pacific rail lines.
The train running from Paterson’s Bowden, Alberta terminal to the Alliance Grain Terminal in Vancouver had 167 new hopper cars carrying 16,300 metric tonnes of grain.
That’s about 388 semi loads of grain.
The train took less than 14 hours to load and less than four days to get to the port, according to the company.
“Our new third generation grain terminals are among the most efficient grain facilities in the world today,” said Andrew Paterson, Paterson’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “From the producer to the supplier to the end-use customer, our system can process and ship grain to exceed expectations.”
The grain industry has invested significant capital in high-throughput loading systems at elevators and railways have added new hopper cars capable of bigger loads.
CP has invested $500 million for 5,900 new hopper cars with 15 per cent more volume per car than previous units. The railway is also switching to longer 8,500-foot long high efficiency product trains.
The rail company says 14 grain elevators are now capable of loading them. With the new hopper cars, the company says these longer trains carry 40 per cent more grain than 7,000-foot trains.
Canadian Pacific and Canadian National Railway (CN Rail) reported record monthly grain movement in April.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
