I stopped by the liquor store on the way home tonight which is a block away from my house. A rail line (the one that carried last year’s big anhydrous ammonia spill) runs past said liquor store and the houses across the street had a freight train. It wasn’t anything unusual, but I did notice a predominantly large amount of grain hopper cars stenciled “Government of Canada”.
Am I to understand that the Gov’t of Canada owns many grain cars? If so, why? I’ve seen Canadian Pacific locomotives go past, BNSF, ConRail, AMTRAK (which gets a lot of US gov’t subsidies IIRC), etc. . .
What’s the point of owning grain cars, which seemed to be travelling southbound, into the US? Are they more to import grain into the US or for export out? What’s the big idea?
Tripler
This is a political curiosity. Much like my Canadian built truck (Ford Ltd. Canada).
The Government used to own the Canadian National Railway, but privatized it a few years back, so no, the railways aren’t nationalised.
However, the transport of grain is a big deal in the western provinces, and there has been a continual debate about the best way to ensure it moves steadily. Since there are only the two main railways (CP and CN), there are always fears of monopolistic practices emerging. As well, at various times the two main railways have been perceived as not wanting to carry grain. The big inland terminals that the grain companies are setting up require uniform hopper cars instead of box cars to acheive max efficiency, and the two main railways weren’t interested in the capital output necessary to buy the necessary fleet of hoppers.
So, in the 70s the feds set up the federal grain cars to carry grain, in trains run by the two main railways. In more recent years the feds have been re-examining that policy and have made noises about privatizing the hopper cars, but the question is to whom? The railways have expressed some interest, but so too have farmer co-ops. Last I’ve heard, the feds haven’t been able to decide on a privatization plan.
You may also see some blue hopper cars, owned by the province of Alberta, and some red ones, owned by the province of Saskatchewan. Same thing, just on a smaller scale.
Then, maybe to change the tone of this thread a little (and hijack my own damn thread), what’s the point? I understand that some national economies depend on the import/export trade, but why is the Canadian Wheat Board so harsh on the export of grain? Is the grain trade so imperative to Canada?
Tripler
I am totally ignorant of agribusiness. Help me out here.
