Train speeds on rise

Ken Johnston

If you noticed the trains are going faster through Rainy River you are not imagining things.
With the construction of the new rail bridge complete, trains can now cross the Rainy River faster than they could before. However, most trains going west will still be travelling slow in that direction as they have to stop for inspection by United States Customs.
East bound trains is where the biggest changes have come and may yet to come. The former Canadian National Railway yard in Rainy River used to be home to numerous sidings and at one time a roundhouse and coal dock. Being a switchoff point for crews as well trains basically idled in and out of the yard and stopped completely when changing crews.
However, CN has received permission from Transport Canada to raise the track speed in Rainy River to 15 miles per hour. But due to the fact that town crossings have a 10 m.p.h. speed limit the increase in train speeds heading east has not been very noticeable. Once the locomotive passes the Little Street crossing the engineers can then begin throttling up to 30 m.p.h.
Jim Feeny of CN said last Friday that the company is working with Transport Canada to make the necessary improvements to the crossings in Rainy River so that they can travel through the town at 30 m.p.h.
He was not certain when those changes would be made but it will likely occur in the next year.