If you’re celebrating National Beer Day today with a Sierra Nevada beer, or if you gather with friends this weekend at the local pup over a cold one, thank the Team on the BLU!
The Blue Ridge Southern Railroad, Watco’s first property in North Carolina starting in 2014, hauls the malt that’s used to craft Sierra Nevada Beer, from Asheville to Fletcher, N.C., after it’s imported to the U.S. from Western Canada. BLU Team members pictured above — Engineer Carlton Moody, Conductor Hunter Richardson, and Conductor Shay Hyatt — serve on the W44 crew that provides service to Sierra Nevada.
At Fletcher, the malt is transloaded by Sierra Nevada to truck to their brewery a few miles away.
BLU Commercial Manager Brigid Rich makes sure the cars remain moving and the Customer gets what they need throughout the process. Last fall, during the busy season, the brewery ran out of malt.
“They were the first Customer we served that night to make sure they didn’t run out,” Rich said. “We want to make sure our Customers never go into shut-down mode; if we can do anything to prevent that, we will.”
Rich was proud to see Watco’s efforts pay off recently when she picked up an issue of “Food & Wine Magazine.” In it, brewers and food critics rated craft brews made from 1960 to the present. In the No. 1 spot: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
About the BLU
Named for the Blue Ridge Mountains that overlook the scenic railroad, the BLU operates 92 miles of track consisting of three branch lines that feed into Norfolk Southern’s terminal in Asheville, N.C. The BLU ships other commodities, too: wood chips, paper products, plastics, concrete, coal, aggregate, and products used to make Epsom salt.
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