For other articles of the same name, see Great Western Railway (disambiguation)

Great Western Railway (disambiguation)

Great Western Railway or Great Western Railroad may refer to:Australia:* Great Western Railway Canada:*Great Western Railway *Great Western Railway Great Britain:* Great Western Railway...

.

The Great Western Railway is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 short line railway company operating on former Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

 trackage in southwest Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

. GWR is the operating company whereas Westcan Rail Saskatchewan Ltd. is the owner of the track and structures. WRS was owned by WestCan Rail of Abbotsford, British Columbia

Abbotsford, British Columbia

Abbotsford is a Canadian city located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, adjacent to Greater Vancouver. It is the fifth largest municipality in British Columbia, home to 123,864 people . Its Census Metropolitan Area, which includes the District of Mission, is the 23rd largest in Canada,...

, a railway contracting and maintenance company.

In 2004 the railway was purchased by local investors from the area of Saskatchewan it serves. It is now locally owned and operated. Great Western Railway continues to serve many producer loading sites along their entire railnetwork, but also provide railcar storage for Class I railways and railcare companies.

The Great Western Railway line network consists of 471 km, when combined with the Fife Lake Railway (97 km) and Red Coat Road and Rail

Red Coat Road and Rail

The Red Coat Road & Rail Ltd. is a Canadian short line railway company operating on trackage in Saskatchewan. Red Coat Road & Rail Ltd. is a community owned short-line railways in Saskatchewan. The former Canadian Pacific Railway line from Pangman to Assiniboia, was purchased from CPR in 1999...

 (114 km) the resulting network is 682 km.

Engine Roster

Great Western Railway had humble beginnings hauling hopper cars of grain for small producer loading sites, but as Great Western Railway gradually gained trackage rights over Red Coat Road & Rail and Fife Lake Railway, the railway required more motive power to provide sufficient customer service for their new customers. Up until 2011, Great Western Railway utilized an all MLW M420

MLW M-420W

The Montreal Locomotive Works M-420 is a diesel-electric locomotive built between 1973 and 1977 in Montreal Quebec, Canada. A total 88 units were built for Canadian railways, including 8 B-units built for the British Columbia Railway; most of production went to the Canadian National Railway...

roster; however with the increased maintenance cost of operating Montreal Locomotive Works locomotives, Great Western Railway decided to purchase their first General Electric units. In March 2011 the Canadian Railway Observations announced Great Western Railway would receive two former Burlington Northern Santa Fe GE B40-8Ws for the original Great Western route.
The shorter branch lines that are owned by Red Coat Road & Rail and Fife Lake Railway will continue to utilize three M420s, while GWRS will sell off two of their MLW locomotives. Great Western Railway