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.
1899
The 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.
1977
Mortimer 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.
1980
The 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 – 1996
During 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 – 2000
As 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 – 2005
G&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
G&W and Wesfarmers. Genesee & Wyoming Australia created
when G&W 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 River
Railroad],
Georgia
Southwestern Railroad
2009: The Willamette
& Pacific becomes the first G&W 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
(ASLRRA) -- 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.
2010: The Buffalo
& Pittsburgh receives the E.H. Harriman Gold Award for
best safety performance of any U.S. railroad between 250,000 and
four million man-hours, as well as two ASLRRA President's Awards
for best safety performance and most injury-free man-hours.
Western Labrador Rail Services
created to transport iron ore from Consolidated Thompson's mine in
Bloom Lake, Quebec, to Wabush, Labrador.
G&W complete's its 35th and largest
acquisition to date, the 1,400-mile Tarcoola to Darwin rail line in
Australia.
2011: Arizona
Eastern Railway
Hilton
& Albany Railroad
2012: The
Buffalo & Pittsburgh receives its third-consecutive E.H.
Harriman Gold Award for best safety performance of any U.S.
railroad between 250,000 and four million man-hours and the ASLRRA
President's Award for best safety performance. The Portland
& Western Railroad receives the E.H. Harriman Silver
Award, and South Buffalo Railway Mechanical Supervisor Mark
Sheffield becomes the only short line employee ever to win the
Harold F. Hammond Award for
outstanding safety achievement.
Columbus & Chattahoochee Railroad
In another transformational acquisition, G&W
acquires RailAmerica, significantly increasing our North American
footprint to 108 railroads and 13,500 track miles in 39 U.S. states
and four Canadian provinces.