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First grain cars loaded in Falher Sept. 24
Susan Thompson
for Smoky River Express
Grain cars started loading in Falher last week after CN abandoned the short rail line to Girouxville over the summer.
The closure of the rail line forced producer car companies such as Wesport Grain and Merlot Ag. Services to move their facilities to Falher, although Wesport will keep its main office in Girouxville.
The moves may hurt the Francophone community of Girouxville, which relies on the business the rail line generates. A petition was circulated back in May requesting the federal and provincial governments intervene in the rail line closure, but both governments responded that it was out of their hands. Now the rail line between Falher and Girouxville will remain shut down unless someone purchases it and puts it back in operation.
Producer car companies have since been leased land by CN and have new offices in Falher, and at press time were just waiting for hook-ups such as electricity. Grain began loading at the end of the week.
“CN said they’d send us 10 cars a week,” says Denis Boisvert of Wesport Grain.
“That’s less than what we had before, so we do need to work that out with CN. It’s a bare bones minimum.”
Boisvert likens the new deal to an employee having their hours severely cut back.
Merlot Ag. Services is also getting 10 cars at a time, but Rolande Johnson says CN has agreed to come more than once a week.
“They could come two or three times a week,” Johnson says. “Each week is different, and we find out by the website postings.”
The days CN comes aren’t necessarily set in stone.
“Farmers know to keep an eye out,” says Johnson.
Until now Girouxville was the largest volume producer car facility in Western Canada, with Merlot and Wesport loading 1,200 rail cars per year with grain.
Both Wesport and Merlot have had to take a big financial hit to move to Falher.
“Financially it’s hurt us somewhat, since we had to move a scale, get our scales re-calibrated, set up an office, etc.,” says Boisvert. “All of that is dollars we had to spend ourselves, but we survived the move.”
“The move probably cost easy $200,000, but if you want to be in business, and you want to stay in the area, that’s what you’ve got to do,” agrees Johnson.
“We’re ready to roll.”
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