NCWEDD Board learns about short-line railroads

CHELAN - The North Central Washington Economic Development District (NCWEDD) Board met on June 12, at the Chelan City Hall Council Chambers to hear from Zach Boehme of Genesee and Wyoming industrial development railroad services.

As part of his job in the industrial or economic development in the west coast, Boehme described that he works with existing customers to help with expansion and new products, recruits businesses and  works with groups such as NCWEDD and have open dialogue and provide resources.

Boehme referred to his presentation as a 101 introduction of railroad services. He first gave a quick background of G&W. Boehme stated that “G&W has doubled in size every five years in the last 25 years.”

They also operate in 41 states across the United States which “gives them a pretty good view of the landscape across the country.”

 The company which was founded in 1899 owns or maintains 120 railroads worldwide, employs 8,000 and serves 3,000 customers. In Washington, G&W operates three railroad lines, the closest one to the region being the Cascade and Columbia River Railroad. Boehme mentioned that the other two lines are further East.

The difference between Class I railroads and short-line railroads briefly was explained by Boehme. A Class I moves commodities from point A to point B with the least amount of stops possible. On the other hand, a short-line is used as a connection between customer and Class I. He also touched on transloading, “this is probably the most beneficial thing to everyone in this room. It allows someone to participate in a rail network without having to put all of money their into it.”