New paint job part of maintenance for grain car fleet

Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food

The recently announced repainting program for grain hopper cars owned by the Saskatchewan Grain Car Corporation (SGCC) is one part of a multi-phase refurbishment plan aimed at keeping the cars operational for the balance of their useful life span, about another 24 years.

The SGCC was set up in the early 1980s after a shortage of grain cars ended up costing Canada some international sales. At that time 1,000 new grain hopper cars were built by the Government of Saskatchewan. The federal government and Government of Alberta also contributed new cars to the fleet.

According to SGCC Vice President of Operations Kelly Moskowy, the refurbishment program came about after sample inspections of the fleet by AllTranstek, a railway consulting company from Chicago.

“They inspected about 12 per cent of our fleet,” Moskowy said. “One of the recommendations that came out is that our cars need to be repainted because of corrosion.”

The first phase of refurbishment actually began last year when metal fatigue cracks in the cars were repaired.

“That upgraded our cars from a 260,000-pound gross rail load to 286,000 pounds, allowing us to load an additional 1,000 tonnes of grain on an average 100-car train,” he noted.

The repainting program will comprise about 100 grain hopper cars per year, which Moskowy says is roughly the maximum that can be done here.

“Since these cars are owned by the taxpayers of Saskatchewan, we want to paint them in Saskatchewan,” he said. “There are only two painting companies that do rail cars in the province, and between the two of them, that’s all they can handle given their other commitments.”

The main contractors are GE in Regina and Arco Graphics in Saskatoon. It will take approximately eight or nine years to repaint all the cars in the fleet.

The final phase of fleet refurbishment will take place between now and 2014, when all cars must have automatic slack adjusters installed on their braking systems to comply with new North American standards for rolling stock.

When the SGCC cars are used to move grain to the ports of Churchill, Thunder Bay, Vancouver or Prince Rupert, there is no lease charge included in the freight fees. As a result, it is estimated the fleet has saved producers $50 to $60 million in freight charges since 1981.

The new look for the cars is a background of what is called “Roughrider green,” Saskatchewan’s official flower, the prairie lily, a yellow stroke emblematic of wheat or canola fields, and the word “Saskatchewan.”

Moskowy notes that the new design “is a great way to promote our province across Canada and into the United States.”

He says the new colour scheme is actually about $1,500 per car cheaper to produce than the original paint job.

For more information contact:
Kelly Moskowy, Vice President of Operations
Saskatchewan Grain Car Corporation
Phone: (306) 787-0551
E-mail: kmoskowy@sgcc.gov.sk.ca