For much of its first century, Genesee
& Wyoming was a 14-mile railroad serving a single customer in
upstate New York. The company has since grown to be a leading owner
and operator of short line and regional freight railroads serving
more than 800 customers over nearly 10,000 miles of track in five
countries.
1899The original 14-mile railroad is
purchased out of bankruptcy by Edward L. Fuller and his financial
partners to transport salt from their mine in Western New York
State. The mine in Retsof, N.Y., would become the largest producing
rock salt mine in the world, and the company became the
International Salt Corporation. The railroad, renamed the Genesee
and Wyoming Railroad Company (GWRR), continues as a separate,
independent business.
1977Mortimer B. Fuller III, great grandson
of Edward L. Fuller, purchases a controlling interest in GWRR –
still a 14-mile railroad serving principally one customer.
A holding company, Genesee &
Wyoming Industries, is formed and the GWRR merged into it to
facilitate diversification of the business. The company enters the
rail car leasing and management business primarily focused on
covered hoppers to serve the salt industry.
1980The Staggers Act deregulates railroads,
which are then allowed to dispose of routes that they could not
operate profitably, helping to restore their financial health.
Locally, Fuller works with NYDOT, the B&O and D&H in the
restructuring of Conrail and the rail system serving International
Salt, then the largest rail shipper in New York State. He learns
the contribution that small railroads can make to improving rail
system efficiency at a time when the industry is struggling and
constrained by lack of capital for investment.
1985 – 1996During post-Staggers Act
restructuring, G&W’s acquisitions are 100% domestic, including
the 1996 purchase of Rail Link, a leading provider of industrial
switching and port rail services. Now focused on short line and
regional freight railroads, the company changes its name to Genesee
& Wyoming Inc. and goes public in June of 1996.
Acquisitions during this period
include:
1985: Dansville &
Mount Morris Railroad
1986: Rochester &
Southern Railroad
1987: Louisiana &
Delta Railroad
1988: Buffalo &
Pittsburgh Railroad
1992: Allegheny &
Eastern Railroad,
Bradford Industrial Rail
1993: Willamette &
Pacific Railroad
1995: Portland &
Western Railroad
1996: Illinois &
Midland Railroad,
Pittsburg
& Shawmut Railroad,
Rail Link, Inc.
1997 – 2000As bidding competition increases
for U.S. railroads, G&W’s acquisition focus is 100%
international as other countries privatize and restructure their
rail industries:
1997: Huron Central
Railway,
Quebec
Gatineau Railway,
Australia Southern Railroad
2000: Australian
Railroad Group (ARG) formed with 50% joint-venture
partner Wesfarmers Ltd
2001 – 2005G&W’s acquisition focus returns
to domestic opportunities in a period of decreased bidding
competition:
2001: South Buffalo Railway
2002: Emons Industries
Inc. [St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad,
St. Lawrence
& Atlantic Railroad (Quebec), York Railway],
Utah
Railway
2003: Georgia Pacific
Railroads [Chattahoochee Industrial Railroad,
Arkansas
Louisiana and Mississippi Railroad, Fordyce and
Princeton Railroad]
2004: Tazewell &
Peoria Railroad,
Golden Isles
Terminal Wharf
2005: Rail Management
Corporation [First Coast Railroad,
AN Railway,
Atlantic & Western Railway,
The Bay Line
Railroad, East Tennessee Railway,
Georgia
Central Railway, KWT Railway,
Little Rock & Western Railway,
Meridian & Bigbee Railroad,
Riceboro Southern Railway, Tomahawk
Railway,
Valdosta Railway, Western Kentucky
Railway]
2006 –
present
In the current “Rail Renaissance”,
G&W is pursuing organic growth opportunities as well as both
domestic and international acquisitions:
2006: Sale of ARG by
GWI and Wesfarmers. Genesee & Wyoming Australia created when
GWI purchases Wesfarmers' 50% ownership of certain South Australian
operations of ARG.
Chattahoochee Bay Railroad
2007: Maryland Midland Railway
2008: Rotterdam Rail
Feeding,
CAGY
Industries [Columbus & Greenville Railway,
Chattooga
& Chickamauga Railway,
Luxapalila
Valley Railroad],
Ohio Central
Railroad System [Ohio Central Railroad,
Columbus
& Ohio River Railroad, Mahoning Valley Railway,
Ohio &
Pennsylvania Railroad, Warren & Trumbull Railroad,
Youngstown
& Austintown Railroad, Youngstown Belt Railroad,
Pittsburgh
& Ohio Central Railroad, Aliquippa & Ohio Railroad],
Georgia
Southwestern Railroad
2009: The Willamette
& Pacific becomes the first GWI railroad to receive the E.H.
Harriman Gold Award for the best safety performance of any U.S.
railroad working between 250,000 and four million man hours. The
Willamette & Pacific also received two President's Awards from
the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (only the
second time a railroad has ever won two President's Awards) for
best safety performance and most injury-free man hours in
2008.