:Washington Eastern Railroad

The Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad was established on June 1, 2007, after the purchase of the CW branch of the Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad (PCC) by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).{{cite web |date=June 1, 2007 |title=Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad Company-Lease and Operation Exemption-Washington State Department of Transportation |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2007/06/01/E7-10636/eastern-washington-gateway-railroad-company-lease-and-operation-exemption-washington-state |work=Federal Register |accessdate=November 12, 2016}}{{cite web|last=|first=|date=June 2011|title=Palouse River and Coulee City Rail System|url=http://www.wsdot.gov/NR/rdonlyres/38D90075-1D57-47EC-B4EC-69405C2F5EDA/0/PalouseRiverCouleeCityJune2011WEB.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230035401/http://www.wsdot.gov/NR/rdonlyres/38D90075-1D57-47EC-B4EC-69405C2F5EDA/0/PalouseRiverCouleeCityJune2011WEB.pdf|archive-date=30 December 2016|accessdate=23 September 2020|website=|publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation}} The branch, which saw low traffic and high deferred maintenance costs, was slated to be abandoned by the railroad. The state purchased the line in February 2007 for $5.6 million, after lobbying from grain growers in the region.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=March 2014|title=Washington State Rail Plan|url=http://wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/F67D73E5-2F2D-40F2-9795-736131D98106/0/StateRailPlanFinal201403.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017102139/http://wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/F67D73E5-2F2D-40F2-9795-736131D98106/0/StateRailPlanFinal201403.pdf|archive-date=17 October 2017|access-date=23 September 2020|website=Washington State Department of Transportation|page=56}}{{cite news |last=Buxton |first=Graham |date=February 8, 2007 |title=State agrees to buy railroad in Eastern Washington |agency=Associated Press |work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer |url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Railroad_Purchase.html |accessdate=November 12, 2016}}{{dead link|date=November 2016}}

The [https://inlandnwrailmuseum.com/ Inland Northwest Rail Museum] was constructed in 2016 in Reardan, Washington, adjacent to trackage owned by EWG. The museum is home to several pieces of historic railroad equipment from Eastern Washington.{{cite news |last=Prager |first=Mike |date=December 5, 2016 |title=Inland Northwest Rail Museum opens new digs near Reardan |url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/dec/05/inland-northwest-rail-museum-opens-new-digs-near-r/ |work=The Spokesman-Review |accessdate=June 4, 2019}}

EWG went out of business on November 4, 2018, with operations assumed by Washington Eastern Railroad, a new entity operated by the Western Group.{{cite web |date=October 11, 2018 |title=Washington Eastern Railroad, LLC-Change in Operators Exemption |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/10/11/2018-22173/washington-eastern-railroad-llc-change-in-operators-exemption-eastern-washington-gateway-railroad |work=Federal Register |publisher=Surface Transportation Board |accessdate=May 28, 2019}} The last EWG train ran on November 3, 2018.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}}

The Western Group won the bid from WSDOT to operate the CW Branch on September 4, 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/10/11/2018-22173/washington-eastern-railroad-llc-change-in-operators-exemption-eastern-washington-gateway-railroad|title=Washington Eastern Railroad LLC change in operators|last=|first=|date=|website=Federal Register|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}} In late 2018, WER began building an extension on the Geiger Spur to serve Spokane International Airport and surrounding industrial facilities.{{Cite web|url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/nov/06/spokane-international-airport-receives-federal-gra/|title=Spokane International Airport Receives Federal Grant to build Rail Line|last=|first=|date=|website=Spokesman Review|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.kxly.com/news/mcmorris-rodgers-announces-113-million-to-fund-train-rail-to-spokane-international-airport/1139661691|title=Mcmorris Rodgers announces $113 Million to fund train rail to Spokane International Airport|last=|first=|date=|website=KXLY|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}

Jaguar Transport Holding acquired the line on November 1, 2020.

{{Washington Eastern Railroad Routemap}}

The WER operates on the state-owned CW Branch. The route runs starts in Cheney in a junction with the BNSF Railway line. The route then proceeds along SR 904 to Four Lakes. At Four Lakes, the tracks cross under I-90 and meet the grain elevator operated by HighLine Grain Growers.{{Cite news|last=Delaney|first=Paul|date=3 March 2016|title=EW Gateway works behind the scenes|work=Cheney Free Press|url=https://www.cheneyfreepress.com/story/2016/03/03/news/ew-gateway-works-behind-the-scenes/17902.html|access-date=23 September 2020}} From here, the tracks continue north where they connect with the 6 mile long Geiger Spur, owned by the Spokane County government, that connects with Airway Heights.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=The Western Group Wins Bid to Operate Washington State Shortline|url=https://www.progressiverailroading.com/short_lines_regionals/news/The-Western-Group-wins-bid-to-operate-Washington-state-short-line--55569|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=Progressive Railroading}} The tracks follow SR 902 to Medical Lake, then turn north again to US 2. The tracks follow US 2 for the remainder of the route to where it terminates in Coulee City.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Washington Eastern Railroad Route Map|url=http://www.washingtoneasternrr.com/app/uploads/2018/11/wer-map-updated.jpg|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=23 September 2020|website=|publisher=Washington Eastern Railroad}}

The WER currently hauls scoot trains one to four times a week depending on the time of year. It goes out to Coulee City dropping off empty cars at various communities and comes back one to two days later picking up those loaded cars and taking them to the grain storage operated by HighLine Grain Growers in Four Lakes. After the grain is unloaded, WER heads back out and repeats the process. The company also runs a more infrequent train up the Geiger Spur that mainly transports steel. When the HighLine grain storage is full, WER contacts BNSF, who will send a train via the WER trackage from Cheney and take it elsewhere.{{Cite news|url=https://www.cheneyfreepress.com/story/2019/02/21/news/its-the-same-tracks-but-its-a-new-train-operator/24396.html?m=true|title=It's the same tracks but a new operator|last=|first=|date=|work=Cheney Free Press|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}

• List of Washington (state) railroads
• List of reporting marks: E

• [https://jag-transport.com Jaguar Transport Holdings]

{{Reflist}}

Category:Rail transportation in Washington (state)

Category:Railway companies established in 2018