Pioneer Railcorp
Encyclopedia
Pioneer Railcorp is a holding company for a number of American
short-line railroads. Other subsidiaries offer locomotive
and freight car leasing
to its own railroads and to third parties, and also freight car cleaning. Pioneer also has interests in real estate
and newsletter
publishing
.
The company, originally named Pioneer Railroad Company, was founded in January 1986 by Guy L. Brenkman. The company raised the capital for its first acquisition through a self-underwritten public stock offering. It continued this method of raising capital for subsequent acquisitions.
Almost all of the short lines owned by Pioneer are lines spun off by Class I railroad
s.
to Grand Junction, Tennessee
, for a length of 51 miles.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
short-line railroads. Other subsidiaries offer locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
and freight car leasing
Lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...
to its own railroads and to third parties, and also freight car cleaning. Pioneer also has interests in real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
and newsletter
Newsletter
A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers. Newspapers and leaflets are types of newsletters. Additionally, newsletters delivered electronically via email have gained rapid acceptance for the same reasons email in...
publishing
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
.
The company, originally named Pioneer Railroad Company, was founded in January 1986 by Guy L. Brenkman. The company raised the capital for its first acquisition through a self-underwritten public stock offering. It continued this method of raising capital for subsequent acquisitions.
Almost all of the short lines owned by Pioneer are lines spun off by Class I railroad
Class I railroad
A Class I railroad in the United States and Mexico, or a Class I rail carrier in Canada, is a large freight railroad company, as classified based on operating revenue.Smaller railroads are classified as Class II and Class III...
s.
Railroad subsidiaries
- Alabama RailroadAlabama RailroadThe Alabama Railroad is a class III railroad as reported by the AAR. The ALAB is headquartered in Monroeville, Alabama and is owned and operated by Pioneer Railcorp of Peoria, Illinois. The railroad operates approximlty of railroad from Flomaton, Alabama to Peterman, Alabama...
(ALAB) - Alabama and Florida RailwayAlabama and Florida RailwayThe Alabama and Florida Railway is a class III railroad as reported by the AAR. The AF is headquartered in Andalusia, Alabama and is owned and operated by Pioneer Railcorp of Peoria, Illinois...
(AF) - Decatur Junction RailwayDecatur Junction Railway- Decatur Junction Railway : The Decatur Junction Railway Co. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pioneer Railcorp.On September 23, 1993, the Decatur Junction Railway Co...
(DT) - Elkhart and Western RailroadElkhart and Western RailroadThe Elkhart and Western Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad operating in and around the city of Elkhart in Elkhart County, Indiana, and is a subsidiary of Pioneer Railcorp....
(EWR) - Fort Smith RailroadFort Smith RailroadThe Fort Smith Railroad is a short-line railroad headquartered in Fort Smith, Arkansas.FSR operates an 18 mile line in Arkansas from Fort Smith to Fort Chaffee.FSR traffic generally consists of grain, food products, paper products, scrap and finished...
(FSR) - Garden City Western RailwayGarden City Western RailwayThe Garden City Western Railway is a railroad operating in the U.S. state of Kansas. GCW was organized in 1916, first owned by The Garden City Sugar and Land Company and then owned by the Garden City Coop, Inc. The GCW is located in southwest Kansas and totals of operating railroad and...
(GCW) - Gettysburg and Northern Railroad (GET)
- Indiana Southwestern RailwayIndiana Southwestern RailwayIndiana Southwestern Railway is a subsidiary of Pioneer Railcorp, operator of several short-line railroad companies. The ISW is a Class III railroad, and operates on 23 miles of track from Evansville, Indiana, northward to Cynthiana, Indiana....
(ISW) - Kendallville Terminal Railway (KTR)
- Keokuk Junction RailwayKeokuk Junction RailwayThe Keokuk Junction Railway Company , is a Class III railroad terminal railroad in the US states of Illinois and Iowa.KJRY started service as a terminal railroad operating over tracks built in 1857 as part of the Keokuk & Des Moines Valley Railroad...
(KJRY) - Michigan Southern Railroad (MSO)
- Shawnee Terminal Railway (STR)
- Vandalia RailroadVandalia Railroad (1983)The Vandalia Railroad is a shortline railroad subsidiary of Pioneer Railcorp, providing local service from a CSX Transportation connection in Vandalia, Illinois. The line part of the original main line of the Illinois Central Railroad, completed in the 1850s between Cairo and Galena...
(VRRC) - West Michigan RailroadWest Michigan RailroadThe West Michigan Railroad is a shortline railroad subsidiary of Pioneer Railcorp. It began operations in 1995, replacing the bankrupt Kalamazoo, Lake Shore and Chicago Railroad on an ex-Pere Marquette Railway line between Hartford and Paw Paw, Michigan...
(WMI)
Mississippi Central Railroad
The Mississippi Central Railroad name was resurrected in the northern part of the state by Pioneer Railcorp when it purchased the former Natchez Trace Railroad from Kyle Railways. The line runs from OxfordOxford, Mississippi
Oxford is a city in, and the county seat of, Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1835, it was named after the British university city of Oxford in hopes of having the state university located there, which it did successfully attract....
to Grand Junction, Tennessee
Grand Junction, Tennessee
Grand Junction is a city in Fayette and Hardeman counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population was 301 at the 2000 census, and is currently 321. Grand Junction runs along Tennessee State Route 57, and is bordered to the west by Tennessee State Route 18 . Approximately ten miles to the...
, for a length of 51 miles.