| Railroad Name: | Western Rail Switching |
| Marks: | WRS |
| Locale: | Spokane County, Washington |
| Start Year: | 2004 |
| End Year: | 2009 |
| Hq City: | Airway Heights, Washington |
Western Rail Switching was a switching and terminal railroad, operating a line west of Spokane, Washington.
It was owned by Western Rail, Inc., a leasing company.
In 2004, Spokane County bought the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway's Geiger Spur,[1] and designated WRS to operate it, beginning in October.[2]
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.[3]
The west end of the spur is now at the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad, near Medical Lake.[4]
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.[5]
Traffic carried on the Geiger Spur consists primarily of inbound steel loads.