The Camden-Flora Rail Corridor Commission (C-FRCC) met on Thursday, April 25 at the Flora Town Office to announce the signing of a long-term lease agreement between Winamac Southern Railway (WSRY) & Kokomo Railroad (KR) and Genesee & Wyoming, Inc. (G&W). G&W subsidiaries TPW & CERA will respectively lease and operate WSRY & KR. TPW & CERA are managed within G&W’s Midwest Region of railroads. G&W owns or leases 120 freight railroads worldwide, with six North American regions serving 41 states and 4 Canadian provinces with over 13,000 track-miles. The new leases with WSRW & KR create a contiguous 400-mile footprint for G&W spanning from eastern Indiana to western Illinois with connections to six Class I railroads.
G&W subsidiaries TPW and CERA have been operating WSRY and KR under a short-term agreement for the past few months. Scott Ortman, President WSRY, expressed his confidence the long-term lease agreement with G&W will greatly enhance future rail service for shippers located along WSRY in Carroll County & elsewhere. As was stated by Martin Pohlod, G&W Senior Vice President, “We are planning immediate upgrades to the WSRY and KR lines to support the business and further enhance our customers’ routing options, interchange locations and geographic reach through G&W’s footprint of contiguous railroads”. Ortman believes G&W is very well capitalized, well-run, has extensive operations around the world as the largest short line owner/operator, and their physical connections to the NS, CSX & other Class I railroads will give industrial customers located on WSRW short-line outstanding rail service and rates.
Ortman said it had always been critically important to his family, the owners of WSRY and of Kokomo Grain, to have reliable, efficient and affordable rail access. He further stated G&W brings a wealth of operational know-how, market access, capital, safety and most importantly, a common focus for the shippers and receivers on the line to prosper long-term. That in turn will generate stability and growth for the shippers and receivers, as well as the railroad.
Peter Wagoner, C-FRCC President, stated he was very pleased WSRY & KR have signed long-term lease agreements with G&W and the advantages G&W will be able to offer shippers not only benefit current customers, but will greatly enhance opportunities to attract new/future rail-served industrial development along WSRY corridor. “The Commission looks forward to working with WSRY and G&W Industrial Development to help cause new industries to consider locating facilities along the WSRY corridor. We now think the best opportunities for future, rail-served development in Carroll County will be along the WSRY corridor served by G&W … we are very excited about the possibilities!“ stated Wagoner.
The Camden-Flora Rail Corridor Commission is a public-private partnership dedicated to developing industrial sites along the short-line railroad in Carroll County.