Major Deal Between CN Rail and Frac Sand Company

An abandoned rail line in western Wisconsin will soon be moving millions of tons of frac sand to oil and gas fields across the United States.

Canadian National Railway Company is investing $35 million to rebuild about 40 miles of rotting, and just plain missing, track from Barron to Ladysmith. CN is partnering with Texas-based Superior Silica Sands to capture a piece of the frac sand boom that is rocking western Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota. Jim Vena is senior vice president of operations for Canadian National. According to Vena, over the last three years, CN’s frac sand market has grown 70 percent, and it is not expected to slow. He says, “It’s growing exponentially and we expect it to be, for just CN, somewhere in the $200-300 million per year.”

Vena says other companies and industries can benefit from the resurrected rail, “When you’ve got a railroad in place and it’s in good shape like we’re building it, and it can operate, it’s going to have a capacity to operate for other customers on this line.”

Rick Shearer is the CEO of Superior Silica Sands. He says they already have a mine in the town of Arland that produces about 1.2 million tons of sand a year.He says the drying and loading facility currently under construction near Poskin will double that, “This plant we’re building right now is very big by industrial sand standards. So, that means long term jobs. You don’t make an investment like this and walk away in 10 or 15 years.”

Shearer says Superior Silica will employ around 100 people from the area.