The Spokane International Connection - A Back Door for Canadian Wheat Exports

CEFX 101 S. at Vancouver Center, 2005 - Grain empties from Kalama

A study of old Official Guide maps showed me long ago that the straightest railroad line between two points is not neccessarily the route taken. Railroad alliances, gateway points, terminal congestion, and capacity play a great part in how traffic is routed. CP could presumably send all of its wheat traffic over the Rockies, and Selkirks, and turn Tacoma, or Kalama, Washington bound trains over to the BNSF in Vancouver, B.C. But a back door exists which both CP and UP expolit to their mutual advantage.