Overview | |
---|---|
Headquarters | Airway Heights, Washington |
Reporting mark | WRS |
Locale | Spokane County, Washington |
Dates of operation | 2004–2009 |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Western Rail Switching (reporting mark WRS) was a switching and terminal railroad, operating a line west of Spokane, Washington.
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,[1] and designated WRS to operate it, beginning in October.[2]
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.
This realignment was opened on January 2, 2009, bypassing Fairchild Air Force Base, through which the spur had run.[3]
The west end of the spur is now at the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad, near Medical Lake.[4]
Not long after beginning operations, EWG filed with the Surface Transportation Board to replace WRS as operator, and now[when?] runs the Geiger Spur an exclusive operator.[needs update][5]
Traffic carried on the Geiger Spur consists primarily of inbound steel loads.