Genesee
and Wyoming Railroad - (en)
The Genesee and Wyoming Railroad (AAR reporting marks GNWR) is a Class III
short-line railroad which is operated by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI).
GWI either owns or maintains interests in 47 railroads throughout five
countries (the United States, Canada, Mexico, Bolivia, and Australia), and
operates more than 9,300 miles of owned and leased track, with an
additional 3,000-plus miles under track-access arrangements.
Rail Link, Inc. (AAR reporting marks RLIX), a subsidiary of Genesee &
Wyoming Inc., provides industrial switching and related customer logistics
services. Rail Link, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, serves
industrial customers at 30 locations in 11 states and operates 26 short
line railroads (including the Commonwealth Railway, Louisiana and Delta
Railroad, and Yorkrail). Rail Link railroads serve 10 major U.S. ports.
History
#444 swithces the BASF plant on the Commonwealth Railway in the West
Norfolk area of Portsmouth, Virginia.Genesee & Wyoming Inc. was
founded more than a century ago as a single, 14.5-mile railroad
transporting salt from a family-owned mine in western New York. The track
was purchased by Edward Laton Fuller in 1899 and served to transport salt
from Greigsville through Retsof to Caledonia.
Over time, the G&W connected with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western
Railroad, Lehigh Valley Railroad, Erie Railroad, New York Central Railroad
and Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad.
Within ten years of Fuller's purchase, the G&W included a fledgling
passenger division. It carried some 10,000 tons of local products annually,
including hay, grain, apples, beans, cabbages and lumber to connecting
lines, along with approximately 221,300 tons of salt.
In 1910, the railroad brought in 1,500 tons of mining equipment along with
7,000 tons of coal and 1,470 tons of manufactured goods, including
furniture, clothing, food and musical instruments for delivery to the
Retsof Mining Company Store.
In 1917, in the shadow of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson took
control of some 800 short line railroads and 35,000 miles of track in the
U.S. During the highly regulated years that followed, the G&W found
itself hauling thousands of tons of salt for the war effort. It was used
for salted meats during World War I and, during World War II, not only for
food but also for use in rubber tires, iron ore, bleaching materials and
anti-knock additives for gasoline.
By 1977, the G&W had helped the International Salt Co. grow into a
major corporation, with the Retsof Mine becoming the largest salt mine in
the world. However, the railroad remained highly dependent on a single
commodity and one primary shipper. In addition, the bankrupt Northeast
rail system was facing a questionable future. Many began to wonder if a
rail system, which had been taken over by the USRA, could be returned to
the private sector.
Mortimer B. Fuller III, the great-grandson of Edward L. Fuller, acquired
control of the railroad, and a few years later Congress passed the
Staggers Act of 1980. The Act deregulated railroads and allowed them to
dispose of routes they could not operate profitably, helping them restore
their financial health. Acquiring these rail lines fit into Fuller's plan
reduce Genesee & Wyoming's dependence on a single customer.
Between 1982 and 1996, Genesee & Wyoming acquired 14 railroads with
operations in New York, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Oregon and Illinois. In
1996, the company added an industrial switching company that operated in
more than a dozen states.
Many governments began stemming their losses in the operation of public
utilities and railroads through privatization. For expertise, they turned
to the United States which, along with Canada, had the only broad-based,
private freight rail systems in the world. Through acquisitions and joint
ventures, Genesee & Wyoming added railroads in Canada, Australia,
Mexico and Bolivia.
In July 2003, the Carolina Coastal Railway, operated by G&W subsidiary
Rail Link, Inc., was sold to Main Line Rail Management, Inc.
On May 26, 2005, G&W announced that it has agreed to purchase the
railroad operations of Rail Management Corporation (RMC). G&W paid
$243 million in cash and assume $1.7 million in company debt to gain
control of 14 short line railroads from RMC across the southeastern United
States, as of June 1, 2005.
As of the close of 2005, Genesee & Wyoming had 2,330 employees in
North America.
That year, Hurricane Stan wiped out several miles of Genesee & Wyoming
track in Mexico. In 2006, the Mexican government agreed to pay 75 percent
of the rebuilding costs, or $15 million, to reconstruct the track.
On February 13, 2006, G&W announced that it has sold its 50% share in
operations (the other 50% was owned by Wesfarmers Ltd.) of the Australian
Railroad Group (ARG) in Western Australia to Queensland Rail (QR) and
Babcock and Brown (B&B). The deal, valued at $974 million (A$1.55
billion), splits the holdings between operations and infrastructure
elements with QR purchasing the above-rail operations and B&B
purchasing the below-rail infrastructure. In a concurrent deal, G&W is
purchasing Westfarmer's share of ARG in South Australia for $15 million
(A$22 million), which will be renamed Genesee & Wyoming Australia Pty
Ltd and operated as a subsidiary company of G&W.[1]
Also in 2006, Genesee & Wyoming elected to write off most of the value
of its Bolivian operation, on fears that the Bolivian government would
soon nationalize privately held railroads there.
Holdings
The parent company, Genesee and Wyoming, Inc., directly owns controlling
interests in the following railroads:
Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad
Empresa Ferroviaria Oriental in Bolivia (Empresa Ferroviaria Oriental,
S.A. Empresa Ferroviaria Oriental, S.A.)
Ferrocarriles Chiapas-Mayab
Illinois and Midland Railroad
Portland and Western Railroad
Rochester and Southern Railroad
St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad, St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad
(SL&A)
South Buffalo Railway
Tazewell and Peoria Railroad
Utah Railway
Genesee and Wyoming Railroad
Through their subsidiary Genesee and Wyoming Canada, Inc., based in
Montreal, Quebec:
Huron Central Railway, Huron Central Railway
Quebec Gatineau Railway (Chemins de Fer Québec-Gatineau)
St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad (Québec), St. Lawrence & Atlantic
Railroad (SL&A)
Through their subsidiary GWI Australia Pty. Ltd., based in Welshpool,
Western Australia:
Australian Railroad Group (50% ownership)
WestNet Rail (50% ownership)
Through their subsidiary Rail Link, Inc., based in Jacksonville, Florida:
Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi Railroad
Commonwealth Railway
Corpus Christi Terminal Railroad
Fordyce and Princeton Railroad
Golden Isles Terminal Railroad
Little Rock and Western Railroad
Louisiana and Delta Railroad
Savannah Port Terminal Railroad
Talleyrand Terminal Railroad
York Railway
