By M.T.Burkhart
R.J. Corman has acquired three short lines in Pennsylvania and New York – Lehigh Railway, Owego & Harford Railway, and Luzerne & Susquehanna Railway.
“This group of companies has a great reputation for being safe, customer-centric and innovative, which is evidenced in how they have brought new customers online and grown carload volume,” Ed Quinn, President and CEO of R. J. Corman Railroad Group, said in a release.
The three railroads haul a variety of freight including sand, drill cuttings, scrap, feed products, fertilizer, pipe, plastic, propane, chemicals and wood products, according to R.J. Corman. Together the lines handle more than 14,000 carloads a year.
Lehigh Railway in particular, which started operations in 2009, is located in Pennsylvania’s lucrative shale natural gas fracking region. It runs on 56 miles between Mehoopany, Pa. and Athens, N.Y. and leases its mainline from Norfolk Southern. It interchanges with NS in Sayre, N.Y. and Reading & Northern in Mehoopany, Pa.
Luzerne & Susquehanna operates about 60 miles of track in the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre area, leased from a local economic development authority, while Owego & Harford has 27 miles of track between its namesake towns on New York’s Southern Tier, according to the railroad. Once operated by the Delaware & Hudson (and a branch that saw tourist service for a time), Owego & Harford also leases the tracks from an industrial development entity.
Under the Lehigh Railway flag, the railroads’ motive power wears a simple black and white paint scheme lettered for the individual railroads. It includes GP40s, SD40-2s, U23Bs, a GP9 and several switchers, including a pair of SW1s.
“I have been in the railroad business for 48 years and have spent the majority of those years building this group of companies,” Lehigh President Steve May said in the announcement. “Eventually, a sale of what we have built here was going to be the most beneficial for my family, our investors and the employees of my companies.”
In the same deal, R.J. Corman also acquired TranZ, a transload service provider at Wyalusing, Pa. on the Lehigh Railway.
R. J. Corman Railroad Group, LLC employs over 1,500 people in 23 states. Its subsidiary, R. J. Corman Railroad Company, operates 14 short line railroads in 10 states, including Pennsylvania.
