Central Manitoba Railway

CEMR passes Sanford, Manitoba's grain elevator.
CEMR passes Sanford, Manitoba’s grain elevator.

The Central Manitoba Railway Inc. (CEMR) is a shortline serving areas north and south of Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was started in 1999 by Cando Contracting Ltd., a rail services firm headquartered in Brandon, Manitoba. CEMR operates on the former CN Pine Falls and CN Carman subdivisions.

The Pine Falls subdivision runs from near CEMR’s shops in northeast Winnipeg to Selkirk, Manitoba. It used to run to Pine Falls but it has been removed north of Selkirk.

The Carman subdivision runs about 50 miles from Carman Junction on CN’s Rivers subdivision to Graysville, Manitoba. Customers on the Carman subdivision include Sawyer Lumber, Agrico Canada, and AFA Wood Products.

CEMR rosters several locomotives to service these two lines. Current Winnipeg power includes a pair of ex CN GMD1 locomotives.

CEMR built a 12,000 square foot maintenance facility in northeast Winnipeg for locomotive and rail car repairs. It has three indoor tracks for repairs, including such services as wheel changeout, air brake testing, AAR repairs, and stencilling and painting. They have trackage for private railcar storage for over 700 cars.

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