(The following story by Steven Oberbeck appeared on The Salt Lake Tribune website on January 3.)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — A 2-year-old Florida-based company that owns short-line railroads in Alabama and Montana has added Ogden’s Utah Central Railway to its holdings.
Patriot Rail Corp. of Boca Raton said it formally completed its acquisition of Utah Central this week. The terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed.
“Utah Central is exactly the kind of railroad we’re interested in acquiring,” said Stan Wlotko, senior vice president of operations at Patriot Rail. “It has a strong customer base and operates in an area where business and industry are growing.”
Short-line railroads, such as Utah Central, pick up freight cars from bigger railroads such as Union Pacific and Burlington Northern and deliver them to their customers whose businesses are located along rail spurs.
“Short-line railroads really fill an important niche in the industry,” said Dave Whorton, a spokesman for the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association. “A lot of times the larger carriers just don’t have the manpower or the resources to commit to their smaller branch lines.”
Utah Central was established in 1992 by William and Beth Blansett. It operates 34 miles of track formerly owned by Union Pacific. Last year, its five locomotives and 17 employees handled approximately 8,500 rail cars. Utah Central also has a long-term agreement to provide rail switching services at the Ogden Business Depot industrial park.
“We believe that with an infusion of new capital Utah Central will see some significant growth in the future,” Wlotko said, adding that Patriot Rail wants to bring in new locomotives to help handle the company’s business.
Patriot Rail was organized in 2006 by Gary O. Marino, who in 1986 co-founded RailAmerica and built that company into the world’s largest short-line and regional railroad holding company with more than 2,800 employees, $500 million in revenue and more than 15,000 miles of track.
Wlotko said Marino left RailAmerica several years ago and after his noncompetition agreement with RailAmerica expired gathered some of his former executives to found Patriot Rail. The acquisition of Utah Central means Patriot Rail now owns three short-line railroads operating over 246 miles of track.