New York City investment firm Ridgewood Infrastructure has acquired a controlling interest in California shortline Sierra Railroad Co., the company announced this spring.

Sierra’s operating subsidiaries include Sierra Northern Railway, which owns and operates the freight rail business and provides switching, storage, and transloading services across approximately 130 miles of track, Ridgewood said in a news release. 

Sierra Northern interchanges with Union Pacific and BNSF Railway, providing customers with enhanced network redundancy, routing flexibility, and connectivity to national rail markets.

“This partnership with Ridgewood marks an important next step for Sierra,” Sierra Northern President and CEO Kennan H. Beard III said in the release.

The transaction also includes Sierra’s subsidiary Railpower, Inc., which owns and operates the only Federal Railroad Administration–approved hydrogen-powered locomotive in the United States, reflecting Sierra’s leadership in rail innovation and zero-emissions locomotive technology.

“Sierra is a high-quality shortline rail platform with strong fundamentals, a diversified customer base, and a strategic footprint in some of California’s most important industrial and agricultural corridors,” Ryan Stewart, partner at Ridgewood, said in the announcement. “Our team brings deep experience owning and operating shortline and other railroad businesses across the United States, and we see meaningful opportunities to build on Sierra’s strong foundation by driving additional freight volumes for both existing customers and new customers, expanding transload capabilities, and supporting innovation across the platform.”

—Michael T. Burkhart