Customers

COVID’s crippling impact on the economy forced many railcar owners to seek storage space at levels rarely seen – to the tune of 390,000 cars stored across North America’s rail-freight network by the end of March 2020. Determined to make the best of an unprecedented situation and support its customers, G&W’s Kyle Railroad (KYLE) devised a plan that leveraged its 550-mile footprint across Kansas and eastern Colorado to satisfy the demand and help keep the rail industry’s network fluid.

On May 30, 2014, the newly created Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern Railroad (RCPE) completed its purchase of the west end of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern (DM&E West) rail line. That evening, the 670-mile line, which runs from western Minnesota across South Dakota and into northern Nebraska and western Wyoming, shut down. On June 1, following 24 hours of safety training and orientation, the 177 newly hired employees commenced freight service on the RCPE.

When Sweetener Supply Corp., a Brookfield, Illinois-based manufacturer and marketer of food-grade ingredients, identified a need for a new production facility, it chose a site along G&W’s Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway (TPW) in White County, Indiana.