A new twist on railroad tracks is pushing the western Canadian grain industry towards greater efficiency, reports the Journal of Commerce.
Facilities using traditional “ladder” tracks, where a new series of parallel tracks branch off into a yard, require trains to detach cars and remain stationary while the cars are loaded with cargo.
Loop tracks allow cargo such as grain to be loaded as the train continues to move. Locomotive crews leave the train and are replaced by loop track crew while the train is loaded.
GrainsConnect currently has two facilities operating in Maymont and Wilkie, SK, GrainsConnect Canada President Warren Stow told the Journal of Commerce. Other grain elevator facilities are also using loop tracks.
GrainConnect is also building two new loop track facilities in Alberta.
