Ballard Terminal Railroad
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| Ballard Terminal Railroad | |
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| Reporting marks | BDTL |
| Locale | Seattle, Washington |
| Dates of operation | 1997 – present |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge) |
| Headquarters | Seattle, Washington |
The Ballard Terminal Railroad, a short line railroad in Seattle, Washington, USA's Ballard neighborhood, was formed in 1997 to operate trains on three miles of track on the north side of Salmon Bay. The spur had been abandoned earlier that year by the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway.
BNSF had only three customers when it decided to abandon service in early 1997: the Salmon Bay Sand & Gravel Co., the Olsen Furniture Co., and Western Pioneer Shipping, a fish processing company. Western Pioneer was hit especially hard by the line's closing. To ensure continued service, the companies and other investors formed the Ballard Terminal Railroad, and it began operation early the next year with a 1940s-era locomotive formerly belonging to the Milwaukee Road.
The Ballard Terminal Railroad runs from N.W. 40th Street and 8th Avenue N.W., just south of its Bright Street Yard and on the edge of Fremont, northwest toward Ballard proper. There, it passes the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks and runs along Seaview Avenue N.W. to its Shilshole Yard, where it joins the BNSF mainline just north of N.W. 67th Street.
