Performances by musicians Sierra Noble and Kelly Prescott from a travelling stage car kept the audience warm.

PHOTOS: Holiday train rolls through Manitoba

The CP Holiday Train is celebrating its 20th season this year, and stops in Whitemouth, Winnipeg, Portage la Prairie, Carberry, Brandon and Virden between Dec. 3 and 5. Dec. 4 the rolling party was in Brandon and photographer Sandy Black stopped by to capture a few images. There was a half-hour musical performance and local

Canadian Pacific is promising slow and steady growth in its grain-hauling capacity.

CP’s new grain VP walked in grain shippers’ shoes

Joan Hardy was in charge of grain transportation at Richardson International before becoming a senior railway executive

Joan Hardy knows how vital reliable rail service is to grain shippers because she’s been one. Hardy, who became CP Rail’s vice-president of sales and marketing for grain and fertilizer April 1, was for 12 years before that Richardson International’s vice-president of transportation. Before that she worked 21 years for CN Rail, in various roles,


CP's CEO said it will not sign a bad agreement that threatens the company’s long-term profitability.

Pending CP Rail strike bad news for Manitoba farmers

The railway supplies most rail cars in 
the province

A pending strike at CP Rail will hit Manitoba farmers especially hard, says Dan Mazier, president of the Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP). “Sixty-two per cent of all Manitoba car orders are with CP,” Mazier said in an interview April 23. In Manitoba there are 50 and 29 grain elevators on CP and CN Rail lines,

Bill C-49: Helping the railways farm the farmers

This legislation is flawed and will deregulate railways by stealth

Here we go again! Some Prairie farmers cannot ship their grain. Grain companies and their friends are blaming the railways for not getting the grain to port. After months of railway lobbying, the federal government is pushing new transportation legislation, claiming Bill C-49 will punish the railways for neglecting grain shipments. Yet this legislation effectively

Grain movement is already prompting some concerns this season, with a larger-than-average crop in the bin.

Unexpectedly big crop moving slower than last year

That worries KAP president Dan Mazier, but the WGEA and 
grain monitor aren’t overly concerned — yet

Western Canada’s bigger-than-expected crop is moving to export slower than at last crop year’s record pace, and while grain companies aren’t panicking, Keystone Agricultural Producers’ (KAP) president Dan Mazier says it’s costing farmers. “It may not be a crisis, but it’s still taking money out of farmers’ pocket,” Mazier said in an interview Oct. 20.



railcars at grain elevator

Railways say they’re ready to move grain

A late start to the shipping season, big crop and the forecast for a 
harsh winter are combining to challenge the railway

Canada’s railways are still ready to move Western Canada’s grain crop despite forecasts for a harsh winter. Poor weather has delayed harvest in parts of Saskatchewan and Alberta, resulting in a slow start to the 2016-17 shipping season, but grain companies and the railways are still expecting farmers will harvest in the low- to mid-70-million-tonne

railway line

Room for improvement, says railway report card

Data collected for the Ag Transport Coalition says the railways deliver most of the cars grain shippers order but many arrive late

Railway service for Western Canada’s grain shippers was “highly variable and timeliness of delivery was an issue,” in the 2014-15 crop year that ended July 31, the Ag Transport Coalition (ATC) said in a news release Aug. 15. Canadian National Railway Company (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP) supplied shippers with 69 and 43


CP Rail says it’s ready to move this year’s crop to market

CP Rail says it’s ready to move this year’s crop to market

The company is investing billions to move even more grain as western Canadian production continues to increase

A senior executive with CP Rail says the company is “well positioned” to move this year’s grain crop despite recent cutbacks in staff and locomotives. Grain is, was and will continue to be Canadian Pacific Railway’s biggest cargo, John Brooks, vice-president of sales and marketing for bulk commodities, said in an interview Aug. 6. And

grain terminal with rail cars

How are the railways doing? Depends on whom you ask

Grain companies deny the railway allegation 
of ordering ‘phantom’ cars

The railways are moving more grain than during the same period a year ago, but whether shippers’ needs are being met depends on whom you talk to. “Contrary to claims recently made by the new Ag Transport Coalition (ATC) that CN is somehow failing to meet demand, we know we’re responding very efficiently to all