CN buys Savage Alberta Railway

2-8-2

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EDMONTON (CP) - Canadian National Railway Co. (TSX:CNR) is buying the 555-kilometre Savage Alberta Railway from Savage Companies of Salt Lake City, Utah, for $25 million.

"The acquisition represents an opportunity for CN to solidify its freight franchise in resource-rich northwestern Alberta," Montreal-based CN said Friday.
The Savage Alberta Railway transported about 35,000 carloads of freight last year, and CN said it will upgrade the shortline's track to transport more coal, grain and forest products.

The SAR's primary connection with CN is at Swan Landing, Alta., about 60 kilometres northeast of Jasper. It then runs north to Grande Prairie, the base of operations, where one branch runs west to a connection with CN at Hythe, Alta., and another branch runs northeast to Wanham, Alta.

CN said it began operating the line Friday and is offering employment to SAR's approximately 75 employees and would honour the existing collective labour agreement which covers about half the workers at the railway.

© The Canadian Press, 2006

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Triplex

Active Member
Not good... This is the end of SAR's Dash-7 power for sure.

Think of what's happened to BCR's GEs. As soon as CN took over, they started retiring them - some went to SAR! http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=161683 CN isn't going to want its old engines back.

Why is that the first thing I thought of? Because it's one thing that made SAR distinct from a railfan perspective. Older GEs are always interesting, and older GEs in Canada is just cool.
 

2-8-2

Member
555 kilometers = around 345 miles (for those of us in the US who are still trapped in the stone age of the "standard" system of measure).

$25 million for that kind of trackage seems like a bargain to me. Was the SAR in some kind of financial trouble? I don't know much about these kinds of things, but I think that figure is pretty low.
 
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