Next stop Rainy River! CNR terminal reopens Friday

Ken Johnston
Editor

After six years of running through Rainy River, Canadian National Railway trains will begin stopping here again this Friday.
The move follows weeks of speculation that the company would return to the Rainy River terminal, following a recent failed bid to get the local crews to work 12 hour runs.
After those efforts failed, word from the company filtered down that crews would be switching at Rainy River as they did for nearly a century before the runthrough in 1996.
The company was having to spend exorbitant amounts of money taxiing crews to and from trains in the middle of nowhere due to them running out of time on the rails. Delays in getting in and out of Symington Yard in Winnipeg and delays at the border between Fort Frances and Ranier-International Falls, MN, often ment the crews ran out of time on their shift. They are allowed to work up to ten hours per run.
CNR spokesperson, Jim Feeny, said Monday the first train to stop in Rainy River since the runthrough will be leaving Winnipeg just after 12 Noon on Friday. He said crews will operate on the Winnipeg to Thunder Bay run from Rainy River. He said the run from Rainy River to Ranier will not be serviced out of Rainy River.
That is contrary to what a number of local railroaders told the Record in the past week. They said the crews from Rainy River will be doing all the same runs they did prior to the runthrough.
One source also said that there are negotiations in place to have Rainy River crews operate trains through Ranier to Virginia, Minnesota.
Feeny wouldn’t confirm where the out of town crews would be staying when working into Rainy River, but he did say the Road Runner Motel was one of the places being looked at. Local railroaders said that the company is looking at putting out of town crews in the Road Runner Motel’s main building. Office space is currently being made in the former garage owned by the motel.
Most of the men who worked out of Rainy River prior to the runthrough have remained in Rainy River and one who transferred into Fort Frances chose to live in Rainy River.