Washington & British Columbia Railway

The Washington & British Columbia Railway (AAR reporting mark WBC, commonly abbreviated W&BC) is the second-largest British Columbian railway company, owning and operating 694 miles of railway in BC and Washington state, USA. The W&BC provides extensive passenger and freight service throughout its network; in terms of network size, it operates the most extensive system of passenger trains of any major railway in the United States.

Organisation
The W&BC is a public-private partnership, with the BC government holding 45%, and the Burlington Northern & Gulf Railroad (BN&G) owning 55%, but it functions like any other Crown corporation in BC; responsible for it is the Ministry of Labour, Industry and Railways. All rights of way and infrastructure in BC are owned outright by the Dominion government; the lines in the US are held with the same 55-45 split as the company itself, to satisfy American law. However, all operations fall under the responsibility of the Ministry, including the US operations; in addition, the Ministry is also responsible for all maintenance and upkeep costs over the entire system. The Ministry also covers losses at the end of the fiscal year if losses exceed revenues by 10% or more.

History
When the Great Northern started considering abandoning some of its lines in the southern Interior in the early 1930s, the Dominion government countered by threatening to nationalise all GN lines and operations in the Dominion. This led to negotiations between the GN and government, which resulted in the establishment of a joint-venture company between the GN and the government. The Washington & British Columbia Railway was created in 1937, with the GN holding 60% and the Dominion 40%, under the terms described above.

The arrangement was initially expensive for the government, but over the long term it has proved advantageous to both sides, as the government encouraged the construction of new industries and businesses in areas served by the W&BC. And, unlike in places in the north-west US where the railways were allowed to abandon lines, there has been far less loss for communities due to the railway leaving town.

When the Great Northern became part of the Burlington Northern Railway in 1970, its share passed on to the new company. In 1974, the Dominion government bought a further 5% of the BN's share of the W&BC, and also took over ownership of the Nelson–Spokane Spokane Falls & Northern Line, which had belonged to the Northern Pacific Railway prior to the formation of the BN.

Most of the W&BC network was built prior to its creation, but some expansion did take place in the subsequent years.

An important amount of this expansion took place in Greater Vancouver. Firstly, a 6.1 mile branch from Boundary Bay on the Victoria Terminal Line to Tsawwassen was opened in 1959, and was later extended by 1.6 miles after the opening of the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal. In 1960, the 4.5 mile Tilbury Line was opened to serve the Seaspan Coastal Intermodal facility opened on Tilbury Island, Richmond that year; this spurred further industrial development of the area. The first new development was a rail-served industrial park inhabited by several food processing and cold storage facilities; later, a fertiliser factory and a liquefied natural gas plant were opened there, as well. Despite how short it is, this line provides the W&BC with a great deal of revenue. The industrial branches of the Victoria Terminal Line were then further extended, with the opening of a branch to the Guichon Auto Terminal in 1970, and another to the the Deltaport coal and container terminals in 1984.

Motive power and rolling stock
Although the W&BC does own its own extensive fleet of diesel and electric locomotives and multiple-unit trainsets, it's not uncommon to see locomotives of the BN&G or the British Columbia Railway on working W&BC trains.

Network
Like the British Columbia Railway, the W&BC is divided into x operating areas called Regions; responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the lines and infrastructure within a given operating area is the responsibility of the Region in question. The numbering of certain regions and lines is coordinated with those of the BCR.

In the listing below Secondary Lines (i.e. branchlines) are listed below the Trunk Lines (i.e. mainlines) to which they are officially attached. Only terminal stations and stations connecting to other lines are indicated.

1. Lower Mainland Region (HQ Brownsville)

 * Line 14 Semiahmoo Line: Vancouver Pacific Central (BCR)–Grandview Jct (BCR)–Brunette (BCR, CP)–[[Sapperton Station|Sapperton (BCH)–Brownsville (BCH)–Nordel Jct–Mud Bay–Blaine Jct, WA–Custer, WA–Bellingham (BN&G, NWP), 46.5 miles (New Westminster–Bellingham; 23.5 miles in USA); Brownsville–Bellingham ( miles) double tracked, New Westminster–Bellingham ( miles) electrified, Mud Bay–Blaine Jct ( miles) passenger only (Pacific Central–Brunette owned by BCR, W&BC has running rights)
 * Line 141 Burrard Inlet Line: Grandview Jct-Raymur–Burrard Inlet Ferry Dock, 1.4 miles, double tracked, freight only
 * Line 1411 Vanterm Branch: Raymur–Ballantyne Yard–Vanterm (CP), 0.8 miles, double tracked, freight only
 * Line 14111 Ballantyne Pier Branch: Ballantyne Yard–BC Sugar–Ballantyne Pier, 1.1 miles, freight only
 * Line 1412 Grain Pier Branch: Ballantyne Yard–Alliance Grain Pier, 0.7 miles, freight only
 * Line 142 Tilbury Line: Nordel Jct–Tilbury, 4.5 miles, electrified, freight only
 * Line 143 Kickerville Line: Custer, WA–British-American Yard–Neptune Beach, WA, 10 miles, electrified, freight only
 * Line 1431 BA Refinery Spur: British-American Yard–British-American Refinery 1, 2.3 miles, freight only
 * Line 15 New Westminster Southern Line: Brownsville–Liverpool (BCH, BCR)–Cloverdale (BCH)–Blaine Jct, 27 miles, freight only
 * Line 16 Victoria Terminal Line: Cloverdale (BCH)–Mud Bay–Boundary Bay–Port Guichon, 16 miles; Boundary Bay–Port Guichon ( miles) double tracked, freight only
 * Line 161 Tsawwassen Branch: Boundary Bay–Heron Bay–Tsawwassen Ferry, 7.7 miles; Heron Bay–Tsawwassen Ferry passenger only
 * Line 1611 Deltaport Branch: Heron Bay–Deltaport Triage, 3.6 miles, freight only
 * Line 16111 Deltaport Branch Coal Spur: Deltaport Triage–Deltaport Coal Terminal, 3.8 miles, freight only
 * Line 16112 Deltaport Branch Container Spur: Deltaport Triage–Deltaport Container Terminal, 2.7 miles, freight only
 * Line 162 Auto Terminal Spur: Port Guichon–Guichon Auto Terminal, 2.5 miles, freight only
 * Line 17 VV&E Line: Cloverdale (BCH)–Abbotsford (BCH, NWP)–Chilliwack, 45 miles, electrified; Cloverdale–Abbotsford ( miles) double tracked
 * Line 171 Sumas Crossing Line: Abbotsford (BCH, NWP)–Sumas, WA (BN&G, NWP), 3.5 miles

4. Similkameen Region (HQ Princeton)

 * Line 43 Manning Park Line: Hope (BCR, CP via BCR)–Princeton (BCR), 91 miles
 * Line 44 Similkameen Line: Princeton–Oroville, WA–Oroville Jct (BN&G)–Rock Creek (BCR)–West Midway (BCR)–Curlew, WA, 146 miles (Princeton–Rock Creek 125 miles, West Midway–Curlew 21 miles; Rock Creek–West Midway owned by BCR, W&BC has running rights)
 * Line 441 Sooyoos Lake Line: Oroville, WA (BN&G)–Sooyoos (BCR), 7.3 miles

9. Kettle Falls Region (HQ Kettle Falls)

 * Line 90 Washington & Great Northern Line: Republic, WA–Curlew, WA–Coopers Wye (BCR)–Kettle Falls, WA, 81 miles
 * Line 901 Grand Forks Branch: Coopers Wye (BCR)–Grand Forks (BCR), 3.3 miles
 * Line 902 Phoenix Line: Coopers Wye (BCR)–Columbia Jct–Copper Jct–Phoenix, 24.2 miles
 * Line 9021 Passenger Depot Spur: Columbia Jct–Grand Forks (BCR), 0.6 miles
 * Line 9022 Granby Smelter Spur: Copper Jct–Granby Smelter (BCR), 3.3 miles, freight only
 * Line 91 Spokane Falls & Northern Line: Nelson (BCR, CP)–Salmo (NWP)–Northport, WA–Kettle Falls, WA–Spokane, WA (BN&G, NWP, SI, UP), 191 miles
 * Line 911 Red Mountain Line: Northport, WA–South Rossland–Rossland (BCR), 17.3 miles, freight only
 * Line 99 Bedlington & Nelson Line: Kootenay Bay–Sirdar Jct (CP)–Creston (CP)–North Bonner, ID (SI)–Bonners Ferry, ID (BN&G, SI)

(Sirdar Jct–Creston owned by CP, W&BC has running rights)