Highline Grain begins to build shuttle loading facility in Washington

Highline Grain L.L.C. held a groundbreaking ceremony Nov. 13 for a grain loading facility in Spokane, Wash.

Slated to be operational in fall 2015, the more than $26 million facility is designed to store 2 million bushels of grain products and accommodate 110-car unit trains operated by BNSF Railway Co.

The shuttle loading facility is being developed by Highline Grain, a consortium that includes Almira Farmers Warehouse Co., Central Washington Grain Growers Inc., Davenport Union Warehouse Co., Reardan Grain Growers Inc. and Odessa Union Warehouse Cooperative.

The Washington State Department of Transportation had sought a $6 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery VI grant for a $7 million project involving upgrades to 6.9 miles of the Central Washington branch of the state-owned Palouse River & Coulee City Rail system rail between Cheney and the new Highline Grain facility.

However, the project — which would have enabled the line to better accommodate the length and weight of BNSF's unit trains — did not receive the grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The state has allocated $500,000 for the work, with the remaining $500,000 to be covered by private sources.