Gulf & Atlantic Railways

Last updated
Pinsly Railroad Company
FormerlyGulf & Atlantic Railways (2023-2024)
RailUSA (2018-2023)
Industry Rail transport
FoundedOctober 2018
Headquarters,
United States
Area served
Florida, Mississippi, Indiana, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio
Parent Macquarie Infrastructure Partners
Subsidiaries Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad
Grenada Railroad
Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad
Camp Chase Railroad
Vermilion Valley Railroad
Pioneer Valley Railroad
Website

Pinsly Railroad Company, formerly known as Gulf & Atlantic Railways, is an American short line railroad holding company, that owns and operates 6 railroads in the United States. Pinsly has a rail network of a 762-miles.

Contents

History

Pinsly was founded as RailUSA in October 2018 by private equity firm Equity Group Investments. It first purchased the Grenada Railroad from Iowa Pacific with plans to restore and re-open the 87-mile southern portion of the line that had been closed since 2011. Another investment later followed in 2019 with the purchase of Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad from CSX. [1] [2] In April 2022, RailUSA was purchased by Macquarie Infrastructure Partners. [3]

On March 1, 2023, RailUSA announced the company would relocate to Jacksonville, Florida, and debut a new name to Gulf & Atlantic Railways to show its focus on new growth. [4]

In May 2023, G&AR acquired 3 small railroads from Midwestern & Bluegrass Rail, the Camp Chase Railroad, Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad and Vermilion Valley Railroad, and increased its portfolio from two to five short lines. [5]

In August 2023, Macquarie Infrastructure Partners reached an agreement with the Pinsly Railroad Company to acquire a 6th short-line, Pioneer Valley Railroad, through its subsidiary Gulf & Atlantic Railways. [6] This acquisition also included a warehousing company, Railroad Distribution Services.

Towards the end of 2023, G&AR announced they would acquire Northern Indiana Railroad Company (NIRC), which maintained the land assets of Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad (CKIN). In February 2024, G&AR announced they would seek to merge NIRC into the CKIN. [7]

On May 1, 2024, the company rebranded to Pinsly Railroad Company after the Pioneer Valley Railroad acquision. The original Pinsly Railroad Company dates back to 1938 and is one of the oldest short-line holding companies in U.S. history.

Railroads

NameMarkClassHoldingTrackageState(s)Notes
Grenada Railroad GRYRIIIAcquired - 2018a235.8 mi (379.5 km)MS
Florida Gulf and Atlantic Railroad FGARIIIAcquired - 2019a438.1 mi (705.1 km)FL
Camp Chase Railway CAMYIIIAcquired - May 2023a17.1 mi (27.5 km)OH
Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad CKINIIIAcquired - May 2023a34.9 mi (56.2 km)IN
Vermilion Valley Railroad VVRRIIIAcquired - May 2023a9.3 mi (15.0 km)IN/IL
Pioneer Valley Railroad PVRRIIIAcquired - Aug. 2023a27 mi (43 km)MA

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Central Railroad (current)</span> Short line railroad in Central Florida

The Florida Central Railroad Company is one of several short line railroads run by Regional Rail, LLC. It runs from downtown Orlando northwest to Apopka and Tavares with a branch from Toronto to Ocoee and Winter Garden and branches from Tavares to Umatilla and Sorrento. The Florida Central connects with the Central Florida Rail Corridor in downtown Orlando, Florida and has trackage rights on the CFRC from there south to Taft Yard where they interchange with CSX Transportation. The railroad is based out of the Plymouth freight station.

The Florida Northern Railroad Company, Inc. is one of several short line railroads run by Regional Rail, LLC. It has connections to CSX at Ocala, Florida, running north to Lowell, Florida, and south to Candler, Florida. It was formerly run by CSX as their Ocala Subdivision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinsly Railroad Company</span>

Pinsly Railroad Company, based in Westfield, Massachusetts, is a short line railroad holding company. It is one of the oldest such companies in the United States, and has owned railroads continuously since its founding in 1938. As of 2022 Pinsly's sole railroad subsidiary is the Pioneer Valley Railroad in Massachusetts. In August 2023, Macquarie Infrastructure Partners reached an agreement with Pinsly to acquire the railroad through its subsidiary Gulf & Atlantic Railways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad</span> Historic railroad system

The Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad was the final name of a system of railroads throughout Florida, becoming part of the Seaboard Air Line Railway in 1900. The system, including some of the first railroads in Florida, stretched from Jacksonville west through Tallahassee and south to Tampa. Much of the FC&P network is still in service under the ownership of CSX Transportation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum</span>

The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum is a railroad museum located at 507 Mulberry Street in North Judson, Indiana. At one time, a significant portion of the working population in North Judson was employed by one of the railroad companies in town. The town once hosted four major rail lines including the Chesapeake & Ohio, Erie, New York Central and Pennsylvania. North Judson had as many as 125 trains each day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vermilion Valley Railroad</span>

The Vermilion Valley Railroad is a 5.9-mile (9.5 km) short-line railroad that operates across the Indiana-Illinois state line, connecting the Flex-N-Gate Corporation facility west of Covington, Indiana with CSX Transportation in Danville, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad</span>

The Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad operating 33 miles (53 km) of rail line in northwestern Indiana. From the headquarters town of La Crosse, lines run northwest to the Porter County town of Malden, southeast to the Starke County towns of English Lake and North Judson, and northeast through La Porte County past Thomaston and Hanna to Wellsboro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gulf and Ohio Railways</span>

Gulf & Ohio Railways is a holding company for four different short-line railroads in the Southern United States, as well as a tourist-oriented passenger train, and locomotive leasing and repair service through Knoxville Locomotive Works. Gulf & Ohio maintains its corporate headquarters in Knoxville, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indiana Eastern Railroad</span>

The Indiana Eastern Railroad is a short-line railroad in the states of Indiana and Ohio, operating a former Chesapeake & Ohio Railway line between Richmond, Indiana and Fernald, Ohio. It began operations in 2005 as a subsidiary of the Respondek Railroad, and interchanges freight with CSX at Cottage Grove. Its business headquarters is in Edwardsville, Illinois with its operations headquarters in Liberty, Indiana It is owned by Regional Rail.

The following is a brief history of the North American rail system, mainly through major changes to Class I railroads, the largest class by operating revenue.

The following is a brief history of the North American rail system, mainly through major changes to Class I railroads, the largest class by operating revenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pioneer Valley Railroad</span> Railroad in Massachusetts

The Pioneer Valley Railroad, founded in 1982, is a Class III short line freight railroad operating the former Conrail trackage in the western part of Massachusetts in towns of Westfield, Holyoke, and Southampton. The railroad has been owned by the Pinsly Railroad Company since its founding, with headquarters in Westfield, Massachusetts.

The Florida Central and Western Railroad was a rail line built in the late 1800s that ran from Jacksonville west across North Central Florida and the part Florida Panhandle through Lake City and Tallahassee before coming to an end at Chattahoochee. The line was later part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad network from 1903 to 1967, and was primarily their Tallahassee Subdivision. The full line is still in service today and is now part of the Florida Gulf and Atlantic Railroad.

Regional Rail, LLC is a company operating short-line railroads in Delaware, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania. It operates 13 railroads: Burns Harbor Railroad, Carolina Coastal Railway, East Penn Railroad, Effingham Railroad, Florida Central Railroad, Florida Midland Railroad, Florida Northern Railroad, Great Sandhills Railway, Illinois Western Railroad, Middletown and New Jersey Railroad, Port Manatee Railroad, South Point and Ohio Railroad, and Tyburn Railroad as well as the Conshohocken Recycling & Rail Transfer. It is based in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grenada Railroad</span> American railroad

The Grenada Railroad is a 228-mile long (290 km) shortline railroad that runs from Southaven, Mississippi to Canton, Mississippi, along the former Illinois Central Railroad trackage operated by Gulf & Atlantic Railways LLC.

The Florida Gulf and Atlantic Railroad is a shortline railroad owned and operated by RailUSA in the Florida Panhandle. The line consists of 430 miles of track: a main line from Baldwin, Florida, through Tallahassee to Pensacola, as well as a branch from Tallahassee north to Attapulgus, Georgia.

The Seaboard Air Line Railroad's Orlando Subdivision was a rail line connecting the Seaboard Air Line's network to Orlando, Florida. Beginning at the Seaboard Air Line's main line in Wildwood, it ran southeast through Leesburg, Florida, Tavares, and Apopka to Orlando. From Orlando, the line continued northeast to Winter Park and Oviedo before coming to an end at Lake Charm.

References

  1. Our Company Gulf & Atlantic Railways
  2. Florida Gulf Atlantic Railroad, Acquisition and Operation Exemption with interchange Federal Register December 21, 2018
  3. Australian infrastructure fund to acquire RailUSA Trains November 29, 2021
  4. https://www.railwayage.com/freight/short-lines-regionals/for-railusa-new-name-new-phase-of-growth/
  5. https://www.railwayage.com/freight/short-lines-regionals/gar-to-acquire-three-more-small-roads/?RAchannel=home
  6. "Macquarie Infrastructure Partners to acquire Massachusetts short line". Trains News Wire. August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  7. https://www.railwayage.com/freight/short-lines-regionals/ckin-nird-seek-to-merge/?RAchannel=home