The West Isle Line is a private railroad and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nutrien (formerly Western Farm Service). The line is operated by a contractor and the line does not have any employees. The line began service on January 7, 1998 after being acquired from the

Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

. The line runs for 5.25 miles from Alpaugh, California to a connection with the BNSF Railway at Stoil (milepost 936 on BNSF's Bakersfield Subdivision). Western Farm Service is the only customer on the line. Western Farm Service bought the line from the BNSF in order to avoid having the BNSF's "Alpaugh Branch" abandoned. The line was formerly part of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and was constructed by the ATSF in 1914. The railroad, as of 2001, averages 400 carloads per year, primarily chemicals used for fertilizer.

Motive power

The West Isle Line has one EMD GP9 (serial number 21332) that was manufactured in February 1956 for

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

. It is marked in a green paint scheme with yellow marking as "West Isle Line" engine number "3399". It was formerly known as SP 3399, 3472, and 563

References

Railroad Retirement Board determines West Isle Line is a private railroadPicture of West Isle Line Engine #3399BNSF Profile of WFS
{{DEFAULTSORT:West Isle Line Inc. California railroads Companies based in Tulare County, California Spin-offs of the BNSF Railway

Motive power

See also

References