Reporting mark WRS | Dates of operation 2004– | |
Locale Spokane County, Washington Track gauge 4 ft 8 ⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Headquarters Airway Heights, Washington | ||
Western Rail Switching (reporting mark WRS) was a switching and terminal railroad operating a line west of Spokane, Washington. It was owned by Western Rail, Inc., a used locomotive seller located on the line.
In 2004, Spokane County bought the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway's Geiger Spur, and designated WRS to operate it, beginning in October.
Following the takeover of the nearby Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad by the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad (EWG), the Washington Department of Transportation financed a newly constructed connection to the new short line operator. This realignment was opened on January 2, 2009, bypassing Fairchild Air Force Base, through which the spur had run. The west end of the spur is now at the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad near Medical Lake.
Not long after beginning operations, EWG filed with the Surface Transportation Board to replace WRS as operator and now runs the Geiger Spur an exclusive operator.
Traffic carried on the Geiger Spur consists primarily of inbound steel loads.