By M.T. Burkhart

LAKEVILLE, N.Y. – Livonia, Avon & Lakeville has filed paperwork to purchase control of neighboring short line Ontario Midland Railroad Corp.

The sale price was not disclosed. The deal to purchase 55 percent of Ontario Midland’s stock is expected to close on Aug. 13, according to paperwork filed with the STB.

Ontario Midland has 47 miles of track in Monroe and Wayne counties with a connection to CSX in Newark N.Y. Based in Sodus, N.Y., it was founded in 1979. Like the LA&L, it rosters Alco and MLW locomotives.

LA&L was founded in 1965 and runs between its namesake towns in the Finger Lakes region. It later acquired Bath & Hammondsport and expanded in 2001 with the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad across southwestern New York and northwestern Pennsylvania.