(Source: Red River Valley & Western Railroad press release, July 17, 2012)
WAHPETON, N.D. — The 577-mile Red River Valley & Western Railroad Company (www.rrvw.net) will mark its 25th anniversary July 19. RRV&W is a short-line railroad that provides local rail freight service to mostly rural North Dakota communities formerly served by the Burlington Northern, now BNSF Railway.
Since beginning freight operations in 1987, annual volume has increased 141 per cent to 55,600 carloads last year. During this time, RRV&W has moved more than 900,000 cars of grain, corn sweetener, sugar, ethanol, machinery and other products. Employment has risen from 46 to nearly 100 with an annual payroll of $5.8 million.
To celebrate the anniversary, RRV&W has invited customers, community leaders and employees to ride a series of special passenger trains July 19-20-21. BNSF, the railroad’s principal connection, is furnishing the passenger equipment.
Many new businesses have located or expanded along the line. Included are seven high-volume grain elevators capable of handling 110-car “shuttle trains” carrying grain destined to major markets in the U.S. and overseas.
In 1997, ProGold, a local cooperative, built a large corn syrup manufacturing plant on the RRV&W near Wahpeton. The plant is now operated by Cargill, and is one of the railroad’s largest customers.
Two ethanol plants built at Casselton and Hankinson have added thousands of carloads, boosting North Dakota’s economy. Meanwhile, due to unprecedented growth in western N.D,, RRV&W is staging and temporarily storing trains to help ease rail congestion in the Bakken oil fields.
Red River Valley & Western President Andy Thompson said, “The biggest thing that has fueled the success of the RRV&W is the relationship we have created between the railroad and the customers and communities we serve. Meeting and exceeding the expectations of our customers has been the number one job of RRV&W employees. They have been the key to achieving our success.”
RRV&W has spent about $27 million for capital improvements including heavier rail, bridge upgrades, freight cars, and track maintenance equipment. In addition, the railroad now spends approximately $5 million annually on track maintenance.
Most recently, RRV&W partnered with Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative in Wahpeton to build more than two miles of track, including a 7,500-ft. “loop track”. Thompson said, “This new track is expediting rail service at the sugar plant, benefitting local producers and the regional economy.”
In 2010, the railroad installed a 7,000-ft. siding at Casselton to handle the business growth that has occurred in the area.
Thompson noted that short line railroads like the Red River Valley & Western benefit customers and local economies by preserving and improving rail service to smaller communities. “Today, some 550 regional and short-line railroads pick up or deliver one out of every four railroad cars moving in the U.S.”