WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Cando Rail & Terminals has acquired the rail terminal operations of AWP Industries, a storage and transload facility in Enterprise, Northwest Territories, the northernmost point on the North American rail network.
Cando says the facility is recently built and describes it as a “critical gateway” for the transport of bulk products to communities, airports, mines, and government agencies.
“AWP’s terminal was another perfect fit for Cando,” Cando CEO Brian Cornick said in a press release. “Brad Mapes, the founder and CEO of AWP, has done a tremendous job over the last few years turning undeveloped land into a fast-growing rail terminal serving several of North America’s largest shippers. We are excited to partner with Brad to continue growing the site and providing critical supplies to the North while supporting several of Cando’s largest customers, as well as CN.”
Mapes will become a Cando employee and shareholder and will work to bring additional volume and customers to the terminal.
With Canadian National Railway having filed to discontinue service to Hay River, NWT, the facility in Enterprise is at the northern terminus of the CN and North American rail network [see “Northernmost point on North American rail network to lose service,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 11, 2024]. Cargo is trucked from Enterprise to other points in the Northwest Territories or to be barged on the Great Slave Lake to other communities; the proposed all-weather Mackenzie Valley Highway would further increase the Enterprise facility’s significance.
The acquisition is Cando’s second in less than a year. The company owns 13 terminals in Canada and the 67-mile Central Manitoba Railway, as well as providing rail operations at almost 50 customer locations.
Last I checked, the rails haven’t been pulled from Enterprise to Hay River just yet. There is still an energy terminal there last I looked that requires tank cars.
Yes, Enterprise is the new terminus for CN, but it isn’t the northern most point in the network.