CN ships first unit train from expanded Total Grain Marketing facility

On Sept. 16, CN shipped the first unit train from Total Grain Marketing's (TGM) recently expanded grain elevator in Lis, Illinois.

The project added a new 115-car loop track, an increase from the facility's previous 25-car capacity, and expanded receiving, storage and shipping capacity, CN officials said in a press release. 

TGM constructed 3.1 million bushels of grain-storage capacity along with three truck dump pits that allow the facility to receive upward of 85,000 bushels of grain per hour. The expanded shipping capacity allows unit trains to be loaded in as little as eight hours.

"The operational efficiencies that this project will generate for TGM, its customers and CN will make a real difference to the end-to-end grain supply chain in CN’s Southern Region," said Nicole James, CN vice president of transportation, Southern Region.

TGM operates 25 elevators across Illinois and Indiana. It was established in 2006 as a joint venture between Southern Central FS, Growmark Inc. and Wabash Valley Service Co.