BOWDEN, ALBERTA, CANADA — Paterson Grain shipped 14,821 tonnes of grain using Canadian Pacific’s (CP) first Alberta 8,500-foot High Efficiency Product (HEP) train from Bowden to Vancouver.

The train, consisting of 147 new high-capacity hopper cars, was loaded at Paterson’s Foothills Terminal in Bowden, Alberta, to Alliance Grain Terminal (AGT) in Vancouver.

“We have been partners with CP in the grain business for more than a century, and our relationship has always focused on creating efficiencies within the supply chain,” said Andrew Paterson, president and chief executive officer of Paterson GlobalFoods. “This recent announcement is the culmination of our efforts over the past decade to maximize the volume of product that can move from origin to destination on a single train. Paterson has invested heavily in building highly efficient loop track facilities in the prairies, as well as at port, where a significant investment to Alliance Grain Terminal Ltd. was recently completed. CP has invested in higher-capacity railcars, locomotives and track infrastructure. Paterson and CP’s investment, once fully realized, will help to alleviate bottlenecks within the existing supply chain and enable incremental volume to be moved from origin to destination, benefitting our customers, the Canadian economy and the environment.”

According to Paterson Grain, this train was the single largest grain train ever loaded in the province of Alberta by CP. Once released from Paterson’s Foothills Terminal, the train took less than four days to reach AGT, where the cars were unloaded and turned back to the country.

“CP’s 8,500-foot High Efficiency Product train is the grain train model of the future, and is driving needed capacity for the entire grain supply chain,” said Joan Hardy, vice-president of grain and fertilizers at CP. “A HEP train features CP’s power-on model, which leaves the locomotives attached to the train for the duration of loading. The CP team congratulates Paterson Grain on loading its first CP HEP train with all new hopper cars, and looks forward to many more trains loaded at Paterson facilities.”

Established in 1908 as N.M. Paterson & Company Ltd., Paterson GlobalFoods (PGF) is a private, family owned, agri-food business with a long-standing history deeply rooted in Canadian agriculture. The company operates 36 terminals, elevators and ag centers across the Canadian Prairies.