Wiregrass Central Railroad
standard gauge ) | |
Length | 19.5 miles (31.4 km) |
---|
Wiregrass Central Railroad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Wiregrass Central Railroad (
Industrial customers include Pilgrim's Pride, Wayne Farms, and the Sessions Company. Primary commodities include peanuts, peanut oil, corn, soy, and grass seed, generating approximately 8,200 annual carloads in 2008.[1]
In April 2011, the Wiregrass Central was named as one of the three railroads being acquired by RailAmerica from Gulf and Ohio for $12.7 million following employee votes to unionize.[2] In 2012, RailAmerica was acquired by Genesee & Wyoming, which is the current operator of the railroad.[3]
History
The
The Seaboard System formally filed to cut the line back 16.1 miles (25.9 km) to
From 1987 until 2011, ownership was maintained by parent company Gulf & Ohio. Although sister operations in the Gulf & Ohio group came and went frequently throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the Wiregrass Central remain unchanged. However, in 2011, along with fellow Gulf & Ohio subsidiaries Conecuh Valley Railroad and Three Notch Railroad, RailAmerica took ownership and responsibility of the Wiregrass Central. The following year, the large, rapidly expanding Genesse & Wyoming group acquired RailAmerica, placing the Wiregrass Central under new corporate ownership. As of early 2015, G&W continues to operate the shortline.
Operations
Passenger train service was provided until August 16, 1954, when the Atlantic Coast Line cancelled mixed train operations over the branch. Instead, a local freight originated from Dothan as train 539 westbound, and returned eastbound as train 538 after making the trip to Elba. Train order offices were located at Daleville, Enterprise, and Elba during this period.
Under the
Shortly following creation of the
CSX Transportation briefly operated the line from its creation in July, 1986 until December 1987, when it was sold to the current shortline operator, Wiregrass Central railroad. Under CSX, the Enterprise Subdivision was placed under the Mobile Division, and scheduled trains based on timetable and train order authority were replaced by direct traffic control systems. CSX maintained the tradition of predecessor railroads by launching a daily local train from Dothan to work the branch then return the same day. With the relinquishment of the line from CSX control, interchange service was instead made at Waterford, with the local road freight picking up or setting out cars for the shortline to retrieve. This practice continued unchanged through 2016.
Current rail customers served by the Wiregrass Central remain relatively unchanged from the initial startup of the operation in 1987. However, during the first five years of existence, the railroad served an aggregates consumer closer to Daleville, carried pulpwood from a woodyard near Clintonville (west of Enterprise), as well as additional peanut mills in Enterprise proper. With the decline in popularity of smaller volume railcar shipments during the 1990s, in addition to trucks being favored as a more flexible alternative to pulpwood shipment via railcar, these on line customers soon ceased rail shipments. This left only the current pair of feed mills and single peanut processor as the remaining source of daily traffic by 1996.
The Wiregrass Central supports unit corn trains destined for the Wayne Farms mill at Enterprise. As of early 2016, unit corn trains arrive weekly during the off season, with corn being purchased locally during harvest periods, negating the need for unit train deliveries during that time. Under the terms of the standard Grain Express unit train contract, six-axle CSX run through power traverses the branch to Enterprise in order to deliver the train to the feed mill and is promptly unloaded for the return trip. Corn and soybean products are blended at the mills to produce animal feed, and this combined rail traffic provides the bulk of the volume the Wiregrass Central moves on an annual basis. In addition to feed mill operations, peanut products originate from the Sessions mill on the west side of town, which is served daily by the railroad. Other traffic sources include temporary railcar storage and occasional transloading operations near the physical end of the property.[10]
Motive Power
Historically the shortline was operated by an assortment of EMD GP9, GP38 or GP40 locomotives. Other models, such as GP7s and a GP8 were also present during the course of Gulf & Ohio ownership. Originally, the Wiregrass Central maintained a bright red paint scheme with large white identifying numbers on the long hoods of their units. As the parent G&O group rapidly expanded its locomotive fleet in the early to mid 1990s, it became uneconomical to repaint all new additions red, thus a flat black scheme was instead created while maintaining the large white long hood numbers. As the year 2000 neared, GP38 model locomotives became favored for day-to-day operations of the railroad, with the remaining older locomotives placed in storage or scrapped at Enterprise.[11]
Following acquisition of the line by Genesse & Wyoming in 2012, a pair of Larry's Truck Electric (LTEX)
Rolling Stock
Under previous ownership, the Wiregrass Central utilized corporate Gulf & Ohio covered hopper cars carrying sister railroad reporting marks of AGLF or MSDR, and later LXOH, the reporting marks of another G&O operation in Kentucky. The Genesee & Wyoming acquisition of the short line included the fleet of covered hoppers, which converted the cars to carry the namesake reporting marks of WGCR. These cars are primarily utilized by the Sessions Peanut Company, with additional cars held in reserve near the end of the Wiregrass Central's property in Enterprise.
Model | Road number |
---|---|
EMD GP7 | 110 |
121 | |
201 | |
EMD GP38 | 2023 |
2876 | |
2882 | |
2883 | |
EMD GP40 | 3023 |
6528 | |
9702 | |
9707 | |
EMD GP9 | 3832 |
6084 | |
6226 |
Links
- Wiregrass Central Railroad official webpage - Genesee and Wyoming website
- HawkinsRails.net - Wiregrass Central Railroad
References
- ^ "Wiregrass Central Railroad". 7 May 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
- ^ "RailAmerica to Acquire Gulf and Ohio's Three Alabama Short Lines". Progressive Railroading. 11 April 2011.
- ^ "Genesee & Wyoming - Our History". Retrieved 22 December 2014.
- ^ Owen, Thomas M. (1921). History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography. Vol. 1. S.J. Clarke Publishing Company. p. 71.
- ^ a b "Alabama Rail Plan 2008" (PDF). December 2008. pp. Table 4-1. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- ^ Seaboard System Railroad: Jacksonville Division Timetable #4. 1 January 1985. p. 9.
- ISBN 0-89024-290-9.
- ISBN 0-89024-109-0.
- ^ Inc., SCL (1970). "Waycross Division: Alabama Rail Operations". SCL News (May/June). SCL Press: 13–15.
{{cite journal}}
:|last1=
has generic name (help) - ^ Wrinn, Jim (2008). "Gulf & Ohio Spreads its Wings". Trains. 68 (6). Kalmbach Publishing Company: 38–41.
- ^ Oates, Joseph L. (2005). "Ghosts of the Past Part 2: Alabama and Georgia Shortlines". Lines South. 22 (4). White River Productions: 6–7.