Speedy service promised at Daysland terminal
Loop track will minimize grain loading times
Winnipeg-based Paterson Grain has announced plans to build a $25-million unitt-rain loading facility near the central Alberta town of Daysland.
The facility will be the company’s third large terminal in Alberta, after others at Cypress and Gleichen.
It is expected to begin accepting-grain—mainly-wheat and canola — in 2016.
It will have a dual receiving area for grain trucks, a loop track system to minimize railcar loading times, and 55,000 tonnes of grain storage capacity.
Farmers won’t waste time waiting to unload their grain and railcar loading will be equally efficient, Shane Paterson, the company’s corporate development officer, said Friday.
“We are of the opinion it is going to be the fastest train-loader facility on the Prairies,” Paterson said.
“Within the industry, if you ask around, candid people will tell you that our
“We are of the opinion it is going to be the fastest train-loader facility on the Prairies.” SHANE PATERSON, PATERSON GRAIN
facility in Gleichen can load grain faster than anywhere else on the Prairies, and we hope to duplicate that here in Daysland.”
Unit trains transport a single commodity to a single destination.
The facility at Daysland, 140 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, will be able to handle trains of up to 120 cars, Paterson said.
Its loop track, shaped like a horse racing track alongside a Canadian Pacific rail line, will allow rail cars to be loaded without being uncoupled, he said.
The company is in the process of applying for a development permit.
Construction will start as soon as possible, Paterson said.
It will be built by PTC Construction. That company and Paterson Grain are divisions of family owned agri-business Paterson Global-Foods Inc., founded in 1908 by Manitoba grain trader Norman Paterson.
About 30 contract positions will be created during construction, Paterson said. Once completed, the facility will provide 15 to 20 full-time jobs.
Gerald Kuefler, a grain farmer and reeve of Flagstaff County, said the project is a good fit with the county’s new economic development strategy.
“We’re pretty happy this development is going ahead because agriculture is our mainstay,” Kuefler said.
“It’s the first big development we’ve had in Flagstaff for a number of years outside the oil industry out at Hardisty.”
He said farmers will be pleased they won’t have to wait long to deliver their grain.
“The turnaround time when you come in to unload ... is just going to be spectacular.”
The area is currently served by four other grain handling facilities, Kuefler noted.