hello i got a few questions about short lines shortlines are more popular in eua or canada? whats the major difference between shortlines of those two countries? does canadian national operates short lines? what other rail company does? thanky you very much marcos
It is my understanding that a "Shortline" is a small private railroad that interchanges with the larger railroads like Canadia National. Most shortlines were once branchlines off of major railroads but were sold off to the small companies because there was not much traffic and the small company could opperate more efficiently and still make enough money to keep it running.
There have always been short lines, in both Canada, and the USA. The difference is mostly that in the past, they were built by a small/smaller company. Whereas many we see now, are cast off lines from the Class 1 companies. Short lines can usually be operated much more frugally, due to used equipment, lower payroll/non-union employees. Some doing quite well. Others gimping along. Some owned by an individual. Some owned by investment groups. Familiar names such as RailAmerica, Genesee & Wyoming, Omnitrax, Watco, etc. Welcome to TrainBoard! Boxcab E50
Aside from there being more shortlines in the US, because there are more railroads in total, I don't know if there is much of a difference. Shortlines aren't normally owned by big railroads - that would just be a branchline. Welcome to TrainBoard! Where are you from? It's always nice to get a non-North-American perspective.
Short line railroads As someone who spent two decades in the short line industry, suggest you go to the industry's website at www.alsrra.org All railroads in the USA were originally short lines, most merged into the 100 major systems between 1840 and 1900. I spent 18 years with the Apalachicola Northern as its Director, marketing and sales. It was built by West Virginia investors and bankrupted before it was completed in 1910. It was owned from 1938 by the St. Joe Paper Co., its principal customer. I also worked for St. Joe as Traffic Manager. Except for railroad lines not taken over by Conrail, "spin offs" did not exist prior to 1980, and even today the majority of short lines have always been independent of the major railroads. Until the creating of short line "conglomerates" in the 1990's such as GWI, RailAmerica, Gulf & Ohio, etc., most short lines were owned by major shippers or communiutes they served. In Canada, most short lines were owned by the communities they served. (Hope this posts and doesn't disappear!):cat:
Hey, Welcome aboard!!! Most of the shortlines that come to my mind were built by certain industries or towns trying to get a connection to the outside world on the more major rail lines. Most weren't that long compartively and the companies or towns would buy their own locos and other equipment to run on their own tracks and then interchange with the larger carriers to get their goods to markets further away. Anyhow, hope all these answers help.
hey, thank you so much for the answers i'm from brazil, a journalist part-time job that is working on a text about north-american shortlines for a rail magazine www.revistaferroviaria.com.br you can check it out cause is also available in english i think shortlines can be a solution for branchlines of my country too i got new questions though. a shortline can be eventually just a branchline? the owner of a shortline can be just an individual as boxcab tells? what major shortline company do freight? besides rail america and tourism? thank you all
Dotrem, to answer some of your questions. Yes, individuals can and do own short lines. The Tarbutton brothers, Hugh and Ben, own the Sandersville Railroad. It was owned by the Chamber of Commerce, was broke in the Depression and the Chamber gave it to their father. A good friend of mine, Earl Durden, used to own 14 short line railroads. He originally partnered with Green Bay Packaging but bought it out. Last year he sold his railroads for a quarter of a billion dollars to Genessee & Wyoming Industries, which is a NYSE listed company owning railroads in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Bolivia, and Australia. Its website is http://www.gwrr.com - lots of information there. And, yes, some shortlines have been purchased by the Class I's and become just branch lines. In this area, the South Georgia, Live Oak, Perry & Gulf, and the Pidcock Lines - Georgia Northern, Albany & Northern, and Georgia, Ashburn, Sylvester & Camilla were all bought by the Southern Railway, now part of Norfolk Southern, in the 1960's.
There are many examples of individuals owning shortlines. Take Jeff Forbis and the McCloud Railway...Dick Samuels and the Oregon Pacific...Mike Hart and the Sierra...Mike Root and the Albany & Eastern...Dave Root and the Willamette Valley...and these are just a few. In most of these cases the individual will own some sort of a holding company that owns the railroad...take for example the McCloud Railway, which is technically owned by 4-Rail, Inc., which is owned by Jeff Forbis. Perhaps the biggest single individual in the U.S. shortline railroad scene was Willis Kyle, who built a shortline empire in his life. By the time of his death he owned perhaps a dozen shortlines around the U.S. and held operating contracts on several more. Thirdrail is correct about shortlines becoming branchlines...although that scenario has been very, very rare in the U.S. in the past several generations. About the only reason that a major railroad would take over a shortline to make it a branchline would be if some sort of competativeness issues were at stake. Two or so years ago Burlington Northern Santa Fe took over the Montana Western Railroad, making it a branchline in the process, for the sole reason of keeping it out of the hands of Montana Rail Link...for if they got it MRL would have gained an interchange with a railroad other than BNSF. Making a shortline railroad out of a branchline a big railroad no longer wanted was a difficult task...there were a few, but generally the branchline had to be completely abandoned before the shortline could buy it. This changed with the Staggers Act of 1980, which deregulated the railroad industry. Shortlines offered a way to preserve rail service on branchlines that a major railroad could not economically continue to operate...they did this chiefly through non-union workforces, very low overhead costs, and flexible work rules. Shortlines often could operate a former branchline so much more cheaply than the big railroad could and provide a level of service that tended to bring a lot of customers on those lines back to shipping by rail. However...many of these new shortlines did not last long, with many going out of business. Even at the reduced cost structures that most shortlines enjoyed railroading is still an incredibly expensive business, and some lines did not provide enough business to keep even a shortline solvent. The trend of creating shortlines in the U.S. has drastically slowed in recent years. There are very few branchlines left that would lend themselves to be good shortlines, and new union agreements and other economies realized by the big railroads have essentially wiped out a lot of the economic advantages that shortlines once provided. Canada does have its share of shortlines...however, the trend took a lot longer to establish in that country as compared to the U.S. Canada had many more regulatory obstacles to starting new shortlines than the U.S. did, and those had to be removed before the trend could really get going. One of the problems that many shortlines face is that the big railroad that sells the line to them generally inserts a clause into the sale or lease contract that prevents the new shortline from interchanging freight with any other carrier than the selling road. This makes the shortline entirely dependent on that railroad for connections with the outside world...and it leaves the shortline with few to no alternatives should the big railroad provide a substandard level of service. Another growing threat is the steadily increasing size of freight cars...most shortline trackage is incapable of supporting the largest and most modern freight cars available today, which can very quickly spell trouble for that shortline. Current estimates are that a full 1/3 of all shortline and branchline trackage in the U.S. may disappear because the money to rebuild the tracks to handle larger freight cars simply is not there. ASLRA and some other organizations are working on the problem, but most of the solutions seem to involve taxpayer dollars. Rail America is by far the biggest shortline owner in U.S. and Canada. Pioneer Railcorp has several...Watco has quite a few, along with Genesee & Wyoming. Those are the biggest around. There are several other companies that own a small number of shortlines, say the 2-4 range. Passenger trains on shortlines are generally restricted to tourist and excursion trains. The level of liability insurance and exposure to litigation that such recreational railroad brings a company scares many shortline away from passenger service. However, there are quite a few that make at least part of their living off of moving people...the Napa Valley Railroad, Grand Canyon Railroad, and California Western are three that immediately spring to mind as being almost completely dependent on tourists, along with the Santa Cruz, Big Trees & Pacific. Many railroads offer some sort of passenger service, but there are a lot that don't. Jeff Moore Elko, NV
This line actually reverted back to BNSF. The MW was having some financial difficulties. According to what some MRL folks have told me, they actually do have the ability to interchange with UP. But at their near western end. It's a bit of an entangled movement to do. And has only been done a time or two. Boxcab E50
There are government owned shortlines, too. My local shortline, more than 100mi. long, is actually owned by a city transit authority who opens operating contracts with other railroad companies.
hey, thanks for the answers you guys are making things very clear to me other thing: the trackage of shortlines is the narrow gauge type? thats why shortlines cant modern freight cars? or narrow gauge its another thing far from the short lines reality? see ya!
There have been no short lines carrying freight that are narrow gauge in the USA in the past half century, other than the White Pass & Yukon, which connects with no other railroads and quit carrying freight a couple of decades ago. Who told you short lines cannot handle modern freight cars? They can. Some have a limitation on the new maximum weight increase from 263,000 lbs. to 286,000 lbs., but some Class I track is also limited. Both are due to old bridges. :cat:
No common carrier freight narrow gauge is operating in the USA. Some short lines infrastructure is not in the very best condition. May have lighter (older) rail, etc. Boxcab E50
