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Genesee & Wyoming: Largest Short Line Conglomerate

Published: August 4, 2024

By: Adam Burns

Genesee & Wyoming, Inc. has grown into the largest family of short line railroads across the United States and now also owns a number of such systems internationally as well.

It currently owns, or has interests in, 122 railroads across the United States, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom.

The company has a long history in the industry dating back to 1899 as the Genesee & Wyoming Railroad - small New York-based system.  Interestingly, it did not begin blossoming into the mammoth operation it is today until the 1980s and deregulation.

Today, it operates over 13,000 miles of owned and leased track, supported by a workforce of 7,300 employees serving 3,000 customers.

In North America, G&W operates four regions comprising 113 short line and regional freight railroads, spanning 42 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces, accounting for more than 13,000 track miles.

In the UK/Europe region, G&W is notable for owning the United Kingdom's largest rail maritime intermodal operator and the second-largest freight rail provider, along with regional rail services throughout continental Europe.

Additionally, G&W subsidiaries and joint ventures provide essential rail services at over 30 major ports, facilitate rail-ferry service between the U.S. Southeast and Mexico, and offer transloading, industrial railcar switching, and repair services. This extensive network and diverse service offerings position G&W as a key player in the global rail industry.

The early years of the Genesee & Wyoming; S4 #35 (built new for the railroad in 1959) and RS1 #25 (built new for the railroad in 1952) handle salt hoppers at Retsof, New York during June of 1974. Warren Calloway photo.

The Historic G&W

The history of G&W;'s current operations began humbly as a small short line by the same name, the Genesee & Wyoming Railroad.

This little system was based in Western New York, south of Rochester and began as the Genesee & Wyoming Valley Railway.

The G&WV; was incorporated in 1891 and eventually opened from Retsof to a location known as P&L; Junction near Caledonia in 1894, a distance of about 14 miles.

While only a small town, Caledonia was a mecca of railroads until the mid-20th century with several through routes, providing the G&WV; with three different major interchange connections including:

• Lehigh Valley
• Erie Railroad
• Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh (after 1932 the BR&P; became a wholly owned subsidiary of trunk line Baltimore & Ohio)

In addition, the mighty New York Central also passed through town.

First Coast Railroad (a G&W property since 2005) GP10 #1810 (ex-Illinois Central GP9 #9352 built in 1958) and GP16 #1602 (built as Seaboard Air Line GP7 #1710 in 1950) switch customers at Fernandina Beach, Florida on March 30, 2014. Warren Calloway photo.

With freight traffic never materializing as hoped the G&WV fell into bankruptcy in November of 1898 and was reorganized as the Genesee & Wyoming Railroad (reporting mark GNWR), incorporated on March 24, 1899.

The new G&W was owned by Edward Laton Fuller and began serving a massive salt mine near Retsof, owned by the International Salt Corporation.

The mine was, for many years, the largest producer of rock salt in the world and the G&W's largest customer. As it turns out salt remained the railroad's primary source of traffic throughout the 1970s and even today it continues to handle large quantities of the mineral.

Little changed for the railroad over the years until Mortimer B. Fuller III, great grandson of Edward, acquired control of the short line in 1977.

Modern Era

Following this changing of the guard the operation took a much different direction and exploded into the multi-billion dollar, multi-national conglomerate it is today.

Once Fuller III gained control he soon formed Genesee & Wyoming Industries, of which the railroad division became a subsidiary.

Then, the new company entered the rail car leasing and management business, initially focusing specifically on covered hoppers used in handling salt.

In 1980 the railroad industry was greatly deregulated, offering the large Class I's much more flexibility in shedding unprofitable or unwanted routes.

This allowed G&W to acquire the former B&O's (BR&P) Rochester Branch in 1986, spun-off by Chessie System/CSX that year. Today, this particular segment is operated by subsidiary Rochester & Southern Railroad, which also owns the original Genesee & Wyoming.

Over the next decade G&W; continued acquiring small systems (some of which were not secondary branches of larger systems but historic short lines) including:

• Dansville & Mount Morris Railroad (1985)
• Rochester & Southern (1986)
• Louisiana & Delta (1987)
• Buffalo & Pittsburgh (1988)
• Allegheny & Eastern
• Bradford Industrial Rail (1992)
• Willamette & Pacific (1993)
• Portland & Western (1995)
• Illinois & Midland/Pittsburg 
• Shawmut/Rail Link, Inc. (1996)

After 1997 the company's acquisitions went international taking over the Australia Southern Railroad along with the Huron Central Railway and Quebec Gatineau Railway in Canada.  Between 2001 and 2012 G&W's list of new subsidiaries were dizzying as nearly every year one or more joined its family.

G&W Family

United Kingdom/Britain/Europe

• Freightliner
• Rotterdam Rail Feeding

North America

Canada

• Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway
• Goderich-Exeter Railway
• Huron Central Railway
• Knob Lake & Timmins Railway
• Ottawa Valley Railway
• Quebec Gatineau Railway
• Red Deer Railroad
• Southern Ontario Railway
• St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad (Quebec)
• Western Labrador Rail Services

United States

• AN Railway
• Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway
• Aliquippa & Ohio River Railroad
• Arizona & California Railroad
• Arizona Eastern Railway
• Arkansas Louisiana & Mississippi Railroad
• Arkansas Midland Railroad
• Atlantic and Western Railway
• Bauxite & Northern Railway
• Bay Line Railroad
• Berkshire & Eastern Railroad
• Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad
• CG Railway, LLC
• California Northern Railroad
• Carolina Piedmont Railroad
• Cascade and Columbia River Railroad
• Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad
• Central Railroad of Indiana
• Central Railroad of Indianapolis
• Chattahoochee Industrial Railroad
• Chattooga & Chickamauga Railway
• Chesapeake & Albemarle Railroad
• Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern Railroad
• Columbus & Chattahoochee Railroad
• Columbus & Ohio River Rail Road
• Columbus and Greenville Railway
• Commonwealth Railway
• Conecuh Valley Railway
• Connecticut Southern Railroad
• Dallas, Garland & Northeastern Railroad
• East Tennessee Railway
• Eastern Alabama Railway
• First Coast Railroad
• Galveston Railroad
• Georgia Central Railway
• Georgia Southwestern Railroad
• Golden Isles Terminal Railroad
• Grand Rapids Eastern Railroad
• Heart of Georgia Railroad
• Hilton & Albany Railroad
• Huron and Eastern Railway
• Illinois & Midland Railroad
• Indiana & Ohio Railway
• Indiana Southern Railroad
• KWT Railway
• Kiamichi Railroad
• Kyle Railroad
• Little Rock & Western Railway
• Louisiana & Delta Railroad
• Luxapalila Valley Railroad
• Mahoning Valley Railway
• Marquette Rail
• Maryland Midland Railway
• Massena Terminal Railroad
• Meridian & Bigbee Railroad
• Michigan Shore Railroad
• Mid-Michigan Railroad
• Missouri & Northern Arkansas Railroad
• New England Central Railroad
• North Carolina & Virginia Railroad
• Ohio Central Railroad
• Ohio Southern Railroad
• Olympia & Belmore Railroad
• Otter Tail Valley Railroad
• Pittsburgh & Ohio Central Railroad
• Point Comfort & Northern Railway
• Portland & Western Railroad
• Prescott and Northwestern Railroad
• Providence and Worcester Railroad
• Puget Sound & Pacific Railroad
• Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern Railroad
• Riceboro Southern Railway
• Rochester & Southern Railroad
• San Diego & Imperial Valley Railroad
• San Joaquin Valley Railroad
• Savannah Port Terminal Railroad
• South Carolina Central Railroad
• St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad
• Tazewell & Peoria Railroad
• Texas Northeastern Railroad
• Three Notch Railway
• Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway
• Tomahawk Railway
• Utah Railway
• Valdosta Railway
• Ventura County Railroad
• Warren & Saline River Railroad
• Warren & Trumbull Railroad
• Wellsboro & Corning Railroad
• Wilmington Terminal Railroad
• Wiregrass Central Railroad
• York Railway
• Youngstown & Austintown Railroad
• Youngstown Belt Railroad

Seen here is Willamette & Pacific GP9 #1802 (built as Rio Grande #5944 in 1956) at Albany, Georgia on August 27, 1994. The W&P was acquired in 1993 and this Geep has since been scrapped. Warren Calloway photo.

On July 23, 2012, Genesee & Wyoming purchased RailAmerica Inc., then controlled by Fortress Investment Group LLC, for $1.39 billion. RA, founded in 1986 was once the largest such short line operation in the country.

Its subsidiaries ranged from the Arizona & California to the New England Central, totaling more than 40 railroads with over 8,000 miles of track in service.

The RA, itself, was a conglomerate of sorts growing partially through the acquisition of smaller short line holding companies which sprang up after the 1980 deregulation (such as RailTex and ParkSierra).

In 2024 G&W celebrated its 125th anniversary and shows no signs of slowing down.  The G&W's American operations have become so large it somewhat functions like a large Class I albeit without through routes to major cities (however, it nearly has achieved through service from Buffalo to Cincinnati).