It's the same tracks, but it's a new train operator

You probably haven't noticed, but there's a new railroad in town.

Tucked unobtrusively beneath a covered walkway on Lefevre Street in downtown Medical Lake are the offices of the Washington Eastern Railroad (WER), the new operator of the Central Washington Branch of the state-owned and managed Palouse River and Coulee City Rail System.

They're a small but busy crew. From his small office space, WER operations manager Gary Durr, and his conductors and maintenance crews manage, maintain and operate the train that hauls more wheat to market than any other in Washington state.

"We have more traffic now than since the Coulee Dam was built," Durr said.

That traffic is mainly wheat that all ends up in the bowels of the concrete silos of Highline Grain Growers which are visible from Interstate 90 near the Four Lakes interchange.

"We'll take the cars out of (Highline) today, and peddle them up and down the railroad, based on the needs of our customers" Durr said. "We do that over and over."

Part of the state-owned Palouse and Coulee City railroad system, the CW branch is a 108-mile-long stretch of track that runs between Cheney and Coulee City, stopping at places like Davenport, Wilber, Almirea, "and everywhere in between," Durr said.

It's a busy and productive commercial rail line. The entire PCC rail system moved 33 million bushels of wheat valued at $139 million in 2016, according to Bob Westby, Washington State Department of Transportation's PCC railway manager. The CW Branch alone was responsible for approximately half of that amount.

Getting wheat to national and global markets is a complex logistical dance, with WER serving as a middleman.

While Cheney serves as the interchange point where WER conductors take over train operations from conductors for the likes of Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Highline serves as a pivot point, according to Durr.

It works like this: WER hauls empty train cars west toward Coulee City along the CW Branch, dropping them off along the way to whomever needs them. They then haul the full cars back to Four Lakes where they are emptied for storage in Highline's silos.

When those silos are full, Highline contacts BNSF, who delivers an empty train to Cheney. WER conductors take the empty train from Cheney to Highline, where the cars are loaded then delivered back to Cheney, where BNSF again takes charge of the now fully-loaded train and hauls it to its export destination.

WER took over operation of the CW Branch last October, according to WSDOT, which contracts operation of PCC rail lines to third party operators like WER.

Durr touted the benefits of rail shipment, noting that one rail car can haul as much wheat as three semitrailers.

"That's three less trucks on the road," he said.

According to the intermodal shipping company Freightera, rail shipping is both a cheaper and environmentally cleaner method of long distance transport, especially for bulk commodities like wheat.

WER's locomotives pull 7,000 tons of material with a full contingent of 60 cars that can stretch three-quarters of a mile and run at a top speed of 10 mph, according to Durr.

During the next two years, the CW Branch's tracks will be upgraded from Class I to Class II track, allowing for speeds up to 25 mph. About $4 million of an $11.3 million BUILD grant for upgrades to the entire PCC system will be used for the CW Branch, along with a $740,000 state grant - plus an additional $640,000 in matching funds in labor and equipment from WER - that will together fund the improvements.

Not everyone is excited about the train's sometimes twice daily trips through towns, however. While some wave as the train passes, others complain about its horn, an action mandated by federal law. It's one of the more frequent complaints Durr gets.

WER may not be limiting their efforts to just hauling commodities, however. According to Durr there were "a lot" of train enthusiasts who would like to see an occasional excursion run to the Inland Northwest Rail Museum in Reardan or somewhere else along the line.

Similar ideas are percolating as well. Although wishful thinking at this point, Durr mentioned a mystery dinner train, or maybe a Christmas train that might coincide with Medical Lake's Winter Festival.

"Who knows," Durr said. "We'll see what happens in the future."

Westby said he was aware of the idea, but that it would require some modification to the agreement the state has with WER, which is strictly for commercial use of the tracks.

"At this point it's a casual conversation between the two organizations," Westby said.

The railroad is planning a locomotive tour during Founders Day, Durr said, but emphasized that the railroad has an open door policy.

"Come on in, ask questions," he said.

Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected]