A conglomerate of short lines owned by FTAI Infrastructure Inc. is being reorganized under a new brand: The Wheeling.

Previously, FTAI’s railroads — including the Union Railroad — were operated under the Transtar banner. But in 2025, FTAI acquired its largest operation yet: the Wheeling & Lake Erie. W&LE operates more than 800 miles of track in Ohio and Pennsylvania and was founded in 1990 after acquiring former Norfolk Southern routes, some of which belonged to the original W&LE, which operated from 1877 until it was leased to the Nickel Plate Road in 1949. The acquisition also included the Akron Barberton Cluster Railway, also known as ABC Railway, in Akron, Ohio.

In an effort to streamline its railroad holdings, all of the Transtar railroads, as well as W&LE and ABC, are being managed under “The Wheeling” brand out of Brewster, Ohio. While the railroads’ management is being reorganized, sources close to the railroad say little will change trackside; all of the railroads will maintain their own identity and paint schemes.

—Justin Franz