Pioneer Lines (formerly Pioneer Railcorp) was a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

for a number of American

short-line railroad A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. The term is used primarily in the United States and Canada. In the former, railroads are ...

s. Other subsidiaries offered

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

and

freight car Goods wagons or freight wagons (North America: freight cars), also known as goods carriages, goods trucks, freight carriages or freight trucks, are unpowered railway vehicles that are used for the transportation of cargo. A variety of wagon types ...

leasing A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

to its own railroads and to third parties, and also freight car cleaning. Pioneer Lines also had interests in real estate and

newsletter A newsletter is a printed or electronic report containing news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers. Newsletters generally contain one main topic of ...

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

. It was previously owned by BRX Transportation Holdings starting in 2019. The company, originally named Pioneer Railroad Company, was founded on January 30, 1986 by Guy L. Brenkman. The company raised the capital for its first acquisition through a self-underwritten

public stock offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

. It continued this method of raising capital for subsequent acquisitions. Almost all of the short lines owned by Pioneer are lines spun off by

Class I railroad Railroad classes are the system by which Rail freight transport, freight railroads are designated in the United States. Railroads are assigned to Class I, II or III according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportatio ...

s. On August 8, 2022

Patriot Rail Company Patriot Rail Company LLC (Patriot Rail) is a holding company for a number of short-line railroad, shortline railroads across the United States. In June 2012, Patriot Rail was acquired by SteelRiver Infrastructure Partners (SteelRiver). On August ...

announced its intention to acquire Pioneer Lines. The company was acquired by Patriot Rail on September 14, 2022.

Railroad subsidiaries

Pioneer Lines formerly operated 15 railroads in 12 states: *

Decatur Junction Railway The Decatur Junction Railway is a Class III railroad which operates in the state of Illinois. It is one of several short-line railroads owned by Pioneer Railcorp. On September 23, 1993, the Decatur Junction Railway Co. (DT) signed a lease agre ...

(DT) * Elkhart and Western Railroad (EWR) * Fort Smith Railroad (FSR) * Garden City Western Railway (GCW) *

Georgia Southern Railway Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of peo ...

(GS) *

Gettysburg and Northern Railroad The Gettysburg and Northern Railroad is a short-line railroad located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The railroad operates a long line running between Gettysburg in Adams County and Mount Holly Springs in Cumberland County. Operations T ...

(GET) *

Indiana Southwestern Railway Indiana Southwestern Railway is a subsidiary of Pioneer Railcorp, operator of several short-line railroad companies. The ISW is a Class III railroad, and operated on 17 miles of track from Evansville, Indiana, northward to Cynthiana, Indiana. Th ...

(ISW) *

Kendallville Terminal Railway The Kendallville Terminal Railway (reporting marks KTR) is a Class III common carrier owned by Pioneer Railcorp, in Northern Indiana. The line runs for 1.1 miles in Kendallville, Indiana and also connects with Norfolk Southern Railway The ...

(KTR) *

Keokuk Junction Railway The Keokuk Junction Railway Co. , is a Class III railroad in the U.S. states of Illinois and Iowa. It was formerly a subsidiary of Pioneer Railcorp, but now operates as a subsidiary of Patriot Rail Company. History The present company was inco ...

(KJRY) * Michigan Southern Railroad (MSO) * Mississippi Central Railroad (MSCI) *

Napoleon, Defiance & Western Railroad The Napoleon, Defiance & Western Railroad (NDW) (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Michigan Southern Railroad) is a Class III railroad in the United States owned by the Patriot Rail Company that operates between Woodburn, Indiana and Napoleon, ...

(formerly the Maumee and Western) *

Pioneer Industrial Railway Pioneer commonly refers to a person who is among the first at something that is new to a community. A pioneer as a settler is among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community. A historic example are American pioneers, pers ...

(PRY) *

Ripley and New Albany Railroad The Ripley & New Albany Railroad is a shortline railroad that runs from New Albany to Falkner, Mississippi, and previously extended from Houston, Mississippi, to Middleton, Tennessee, along former Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad trackage. R ...

(RNAB) * Vandalia Railroad (VRRC)

Former railroads

* Alabama and Florida Railway (AF) - Line totally abandoned in 2011. * Alabama Railroad (ALAB) - Line sold to Alabama Railroad LLC in 2020 *

Shawnee Terminal Railway The Shawnee ( ) are a Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian languages, Algonquian language. Their Pre-Columbian era, ...

(STR) (Out of service) *

West Michigan Railroad The West Michigan Railroad is a shortline railroad in southwest Michigan. It began operations in 1995, replacing the bankrupt Kalamazoo, Lake Shore and Chicago Railroad on an ex-Pere Marquette Railway line between Hartford, MI, Hartford and Paw ...

(WMI) - Line partially abandoned in 2012, then sold to the Hamilton Hartford Group on November 3, 2015.

References

External links

* American companies established in 1986 Companies based in Greenwood Village, Colorado Companies based in Peoria County, Illinois Companies traded over-the-counter in the United States Railway companies established in 1986 United States railroad holding companies 2022 mergers and acquisitions {{Colorado-stub