Columbia Basin Railroad receives national award from BNSF

FORT WORTH, Texas At its October 20, 2008 annual Short-Line Railroad Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) presented Columbia Basin Railroad with the Short-Line Achievement Award. The Short-Line Achievement Award is given annually by BNSF to an outstanding short line railroad in the United States that has been innovative and resourceful in creating and building new business for BNSF railroads and new service products for BNSFs shared customers. Over 200 people attended the BNSF short-line conference, which featured discussions on BNSF's network development, service and marketing plans for 2009 and how short lines fit into those plans. We are very honored to be recognized by BNSF for the Short-Line Achievement Award, said Brig Temple, President of Columbia Basin Railroad, which operates short-line railroads in several counties in Washington State including: * Grant County, Adams County and Franklin County - Columbia Basin Railroad (CBRR); * Yakima County and Benton County - Central Washington Railroad (CWR); * Clark County - Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad (PVJR). BNSF connects with nearly 200 short lines, regional carriers and switch carriers that operate almost 19,000 miles of track. To be selected for this award out of all of the short-line railroads that BNSF works with across the United States is a testament to Columbia Basin Railroad, our excellent employees who provide high quality service for our rail customers, and the great partnerships we have with local businesses, port districts, counties, and communities in Washington State, said Temple. About Columbia Basin Railroad Columbia Basin Railroad (CBRR) is a locally owned and operated short-line railroad headquartered in Yakima, Washington. Founded in 1986 by the Temple Family, CBRR has a long and successful history of operating rail lines in the Pacific Northwest. CBRR is the largest short-line railroad in Washington State and it operates the following rail lines: * Columbia Basin Railroad: Moses Lake-Warden-Othello-Connell; * Portland-Vancouver Junction Railroad: Vancouver-Brush Prairie-Battle Ground-Yacolt; * Central Washington Railroad: Yakima-Moxee-Toppenish-White Swan-Granger-Sunnyside-Prosser. CBRR has an excellent track record of promoting economic and business development in Washington State and provides full service and support to its customers. CBRR and its owners Brig and Eric Temple are proud of their heritage of being a family owned and operated Washington State company and have a strong history of giving back to local communities where they do business. In 2006, the Temple Family donated several acres of valuable commercial property in Central Washington for the development of the campus of the Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences (PNWU). PNWU officially opened in the summer of 2008 and is the first new medical school in Washington State in nearly 60 years.