Western Rail Switching

{{Infobox rail | gauge={{Track gauge|ussg|allk=on}}

|railroad_name=Western Rail Switching

|logo_filename=

|logo_size=

|marks=WRS

|locale=Spokane County, Washington

|start_year=2004

|end_year=2009

|hq_city=Airway Heights, Washington

}}

Western Rail Switching {{reporting mark|WRS}} was a switching and terminal railroad, operating a line west of Spokane, Washington.

Ownership

It was owned by Western Rail, Inc., a leasing company.

In 2004, Spokane County bought the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway's Geiger Spur,{{cite web| url=http://www.stb.dot.gov/decisions/readingroom.nsf/WEBUNID/3543C2FC8411C9BB85256F200044BCD8?OpenDocument| title=STB Finance Docket No. 34541| date=October 1, 2004}} and designated WRS to operate it, beginning in October.{{cite web| author=Railroad Retirement Board| url=http://www.rrb.gov/blaw/bcd/bcd04-59.html| title=Employer Status Determination: Western Rail Switching, Inc.| date=December 2, 2004}}

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.

Opening

This realignment was opened on January 2, 2009, bypassing Fairchild Air Force Base, through which the spur had run.{{cite news| work=Spokane Spokesman-Review| title=Spur Rail Opens Next Week| date=December 25, 2008}}

The west end of the spur is now at the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad, near Medical Lake.{{cite web| author=Washington State Department of Transportation| author-link=Washington State Department of Transportation| url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/Rail/SRS_GeigerSpur/default.htm| title=Rail - Geiger Spur/Airway Heights - New Rail Connection| access-date=February 12, 2009}}

Operator

Not long after beginning operations, EWG filed with the Surface Transportation Board to replace WRS as operator, and now{{when|date=March 2013}} runs the Geiger Spur an exclusive operator.{{Update after|2010|11|16|Rail transport articles in need of updating}}{{cite web| url=http://www.stb.dot.gov/decisions/readingroom.nsf/WEBUNID/670AC305D472DD6D85257512005E792E?OpenDocument| title=STB Finance Docket No. 35201| date=December 5, 2008}}

Cargo Traffic

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

References

External links

[http://ewgrr.com Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad (official site)]

Category:Washington (state) railroads

Category:Switching and terminal railroads

Category:Railway companies established in 2004

Category:Spin-offs of the BNSF Railway