A wooden bridge on a rail line burned down in the middle of the night near an S-shaped bend in the Smoky River. There was an old road nearby. All-terrain vehicles had to be used to get to the site. The fire was put out by water. The bridge was completely destroyed by the storm.
Canadian National Railway Co., which has its own police force investigating the incident, won't say who or what they think caused the fire. It quickly became clear how much was dependent on the old bridge across the valley.
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The branch line from Jasper National Park to Grande Prairie was snapped into two pieces without it. The train traffic was stopped in both directions. The five major grain elevators on that line couldn't get their wheat, oats, barley and oilseeds to ships waiting in ports along the St. Lawrence River and on the west coast.
It was the worst time of the year for that to happen. A bumper grain harvest was just coming off the Prairies, global demand for grain was surging, and farmers were lining up to sell their new crop and make some money.
On the morning after the fire, a grain elevator in Grande Prairie called Greg Sears, a farmer in Sexsmith, Alta., and told him to hold off on delivering 90 tonnes of Canola due to the rail shutdown.
A train goes by a grain elevator.
The photo is from the Daily-Herald Tribune.
He said that he wouldn't get a cheque for up to $100,000 of products.
The bridge proved to some in the industry that things can go wrong in the Canadian supply chain.
The fire highlights the sector's vulnerability to rail disruptions. It has the potential to snowball.
The main route into the Port of Vancouver was severed for a week because of a washout. Access to and from the British Columbia coast was blocked by the atmospheric rivers of 2021. One scholar said in testimony at the House agriculture committee last month that it probably wouldn't make sense to cram the Prairies' bounty through a few "umbilical" rail lines in the Rockies.
Evan Fraser, director of the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph, said that all of the food production in this enormous area is going through a few rail lines. The system is fastened to something. It goes up and down every few years.
The country needs a Plan B, according to a report by the national supply chain task force.
The system is fastened It goes up and down every few years.
Evan Fraser is the director of the food institute.
It could happen anywhere in the country, from the mountains of the West to the floods of Central Canada.
If the government does nothing, Canada's reputation as a reliable trading partner on the world stage will be jeopardized and that would jeopardize our exports, which make up half of Canada's GDP.
The co-chair of the task force said at the news conference that the report was an urgent call.
John doesn't give interviews a lot. He is one of the industry's most important executives, in charge of a network of grain elevators founded in 1909 that is now Canada's largest flour milling and exporting company.
The talk of spending billions to protect the supply chain against burned bridges and floods doesn't make sense to him. The things that are slowing down his grain shipments on their way to international clients are costing his business a lot of money in late charges.
Everyone wants to say we need more capital. Billions of dollars need to be invested in the supply chain. He denied that it was true. Grain is moved through mountains and over rivers. There will be problems from time to time. It isn't like a bridge is going out every two weeks and it isn't like there is always a slide.
There is a train on the prairies.
The photo was taken by the Canadian Pacific railway.
Grain shippers in Canada aren't known for being satisfied with the transportation system. The grain business has been frustrated with poor service from the railways for a long time. The railways have spent a lot of money in the last 20 years to upgrade their rail and car fleets. I am no fan of the railway here.
The fixing of the system isn't about money. Infrastructure could use some investment He has a lot of ideas on how to do that. The government is to blame for the problem. Our supply chain's biggest issues come from us.
It's a common gripe. A rule on the B.C. coast that prevents most grain ships from loading in the rain is one of the things thatShippers have been critical of the government for.
One of the main criticisms of the government is that it has been too soft on the two companies that control the rail system.
The grain elevators in rural areas are usually served by one of the two companies. The relationships between grain shippers and the railroads aren't balanced by normal market forces. Grain companies are stuck with whichever railway runs through town and have little choice but to accept whatever train service is offered.
Grain is being directed into a train car.
The photo was taken by Ryan Jackson.
Two railways act as a monopoly. It becomes very difficult to negotiate with monopolies.
It is a critique that has been leveled at the federal government many times for allowing a few companies in a few industries to monopolise the market.
David Gillen is the director of the Centre for Transportation Studies at the University of British Columbia.
There is a question about what to do about it.
The idea of interswitching was suggested by the task force as a way to increase competition. Federal rules dictate that if a grain shipper's facility is on a line that intersects with a line that doesn't, then the freight must be brought to the line that doesn't. The rule states that the interchange must be within 30 kilometres of the facility. The report doesn't give a new number on how wide the new interswitch zone should be
Nadine Ramadan said in an email that the recommendation was being reviewed.
It would have to include language that would stop the railways from dragging their feet in order for the change to work.
He was concerned about the detail. Is that possible? I don't know when I'll get those cars. The railways are not going to co-operation. Do I get the rail cars if I place an order next week? Is it possible that I get them in a couple of weeks?
A farmer harvests wheat in Canada.
The photo was taken by Jeff McIntosh.
Grain companies have been complaining about delays on the rail network.
According to forecasts by Statistics Canada, farmers in the Prairies finished harvesting their grain in October. Ghislain Houle said on a call with analysts that this harvest is a top five all-time Canadian crop.
This harvest has become one of the most anticipated in recent memory, coming off the fields at a time when Canadian grain storages are empty and food retail inflation is at a 41 year high.
Wade Sobkowich, who leads the industry's main lobby group, the Western Grain, said that Canada's grain exporters want to get the crops onto trains and into global markets as soon as possible, before Australia's grain harvest enters the market in December and drives down prices
In the months leading up to the surge, the two companies bulked up their fleets with new grain Hopper cars and tried to hire new people.
Tracy Robinson said on May 17 that every harvester will want to move. We have to be prepared for that.
By the fall, they began making excuses. In its annual grain plan, the railway said it wouldn't be able to keep pace with demand because it wasn't able to hire and train all the conductors it wanted.
The railways were downsized during the Pandemic. They got rid of a lot of people. They don't have the crews because of the demand.
There is a locomotive in the city.
This photo was taken by The Canadian Press.
In September, the railways fell behind. The Ag Transport Coalition tracks the number of grain cars ordered and the number of railways that provide them. According to the coalition, the decline in the number of grain cars provided by the two railroads was significant and well below the 90 percent threshold.
They are behind in the heavy shipping period. It is very difficult to catch up once you get behind, according to Heimbecker. Every year it is the same story.
The railways have started to turn it around according to new reports and comments.
There is a bumper crop. There is a lot of expectation. The railway has hired 1,500 conductors since the beginning of the year, according to the CEO. We are in the best shape we have ever been. I don't want to become arrogant here. Mother Nature can affect us in a negative way. It is a difficult railroad to operate in. I am very happy.
By the first week of October the fill rates improved to 86 per cent.
The most hopper cars sent to western Canadian elevators was in that week.
A train is at a rail yard.
The photo was taken byGavin Young.
The news release boasted that it had broken an internal record. A previous record was broken during the week of October 17th. The second best September ever for grain movement from Western Canada was recorded by the company.
The grain lobbyist said that even an amateur golfer is known to hit a hole in one once in a while.
The grain industry has unrealistic demands on its network. This year's grain harvest will be able to be moved, but shipments need to be spread out over the next four years, according to DavidPrzednowek.
He said that the railway is only one part of a supply chain that is affected by things outside its control. In an interview last month, Przednowek said that moving the bulk of the harvest through the same corridor through the Rockies wouldn't work. The supply chain can only handle so much.
John Heimbecker doesn't think that's comforting.
The harvest time is October, November, December, and January. He said that they would supply it that way. He gets hit with penalties for late deliveries if he doesn't.
There is a worker at a grain elevator.
The photo was taken by Shannon Van Raes.
The costs are huge. He said they were huge. I have to pay if I don't deliver my grain to them. The railways will perform if they are accountable.
Penalties are involved in most grain elevator and railways deals. The railroad and the elevator agree to use a certain amount of cars. There is a cost for one side not holding up its end.
Shippers are allowed to take the railways to binding arbitration if they don't like the deal.
In statements for this story, both Canadian National and Canadian Pacific pointed to this system as proof that they are held accountable for the level of service they give to their customers. Federal protection has helped, but it isn't enough.
Grain can be moved by the railways. They won't move it.
John is a person.
The railways are capable of moving the grain. They won't move it. They won't do it because of their choices. The highest margin products are chosen.
The railways move a lot of grain. The category earned $5.20 for every ton shipped a single mile. In the third quarter, the company made $7.26 per ton per mile. The price of metals and minerals was $7.24, the price of timber was $8.32, and the price of coal was $4.47
The rail companies were accused of redirecting resources to take advantage of a recent surge in coal shipments. The spokesman for the company said last month that there was no preference for coal or any particular commodity. It wouldn't make sense to suck resources from grain shipments to another commodity because they use different types of rail cars and different routes.
It isn't as simple as moving a crew from one commodity to another on a rail line because crews are based in one place.
He said that it was not true to say that they were just moving a bunch of people from here to move a bunch of coal. It isn't the case at all. It's not how things work.
Gillen is the director of the Centre for Transportation Studies at the University of British Columbia. It is not impossible to switch over cars and assets to ship a commodity.
Coal is being carried on a train in Canada.
The photo was taken by the Canadian National Railway.
He said, "If you have a valuable commodity and you are making more money on it, then why wouldn't you want to do that?" If the grain companies want to pay more money, they should bid for that capacity fairly.
The maximum revenue entitlement is a program put in place by the federal government that limits the amount of money that can be made from the transportation of western grain.
Gillen said that when you cap the revenue that can be earned from a service the incentives are to shift use of your capacity elsewhere
The grain elevators argue that they are at a disadvantage when negotiating with railways since they can't afford to go through the federal process. He said that if a grain elevator wanted the railway to send more railcars, they would have to wait six months to a year to get their case heard. After the railway fulfilled its contractual obligations to competing grain elevators, they would have to compete for leftover.
He said that you had lost the harvest.
According to Gillen, legal fees can be as high as $1 million.
One of the more radical options when it comes to making the railways more competitive is not being talked about. Gillen said that expanding access for third-party railroads to rent Canadian National and Canadian Pacific tracks would be part of the plan.
There are railroad tracks by an elevator.
The photo was taken by Randy Vanderveen of Postmedia.
Gillen said that the emergence of a third cross-country rail line wouldn't happen if running rights were expanded. Instead, it might lead to a few grain shippers getting together to run a short line, from their remote region down to a main corridor, where they can access trains more easily than they can on a remote branch line.
He said that the railways would fight it.
More regulation from Canada could increase the burden on the rail system, which could undermine the system's efficiency, according to a response from the Canadian Pacific Railway.
The bridge that burned down near Grande Prairie was a wood trestle bridge, a style that uses short spans held up by a series of towers, each one stiffening by a weave of timber triangles. Railroads expanded the West in their golden age because they were easy to build in rugged terrain and inexpensive to make.
The staff from Grande Prairie came in and out to fix the problem. The railway took over the area where the bridge used to stand. The work lasted over a week. Rob Reilly, the railway's chief operating officer, wrote a post about the amount of earth that was sent to the area.
This is an example of a group of people working together.
The line to Grande Prairie was back to normal eight days after the fire.
The bridge has been there for a long time. There is a shiny track on a mound of gravel and fresh soil in Reilly's photo. Whatever it was, whatever it represented about our system, good or bad, is now beneath 60,000 square feet of dirt.
The email address is jedmiston@postmedia.
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