The York Railway is a

shortline 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 ...

operating of track in and near

York, Pennsylvania York is a city in York County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located in South Central Pennsylvania, the city's population was 44,800 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in ...

. YRC was acquired by

Genesee & Wyoming Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) is an American short line railroad holding company, that owns or maintains an interest in 122 railroads in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom; and formerly in Australia. ...

in 2002, has a capacity of 286,000, and has three interchanges:

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

( Porters, Pennsylvania and

Hanover, Pennsylvania Hanover is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 16,429 at the 2020 census. Located southwest of York and north-northwest of Baltimore, Maryland, the town is situated in a productive agricultural region. It i ...

);

East Penn Railroad The East Penn Railroad is a short-line railroad that operates a number of mostly-unconnected lines in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Except for two industrial park switching railroad, switching operations, all are former Pennsylvania Railroad or Re ...

(

); Norfolk Southern (

History and notable features

The company was created in 1999 through a consolidation of Yorkrail, Inc. and the

Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad The Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad , colloquially known as the "Ma and Pa", was an American short-line railroad between York, Pennsylvania, York and Hanover, Pennsylvania, formerly operating passenger and freight trains on its original line be ...

(M&P), both owned by the Emons Railroad Group, and it immediately sold the property thus acquired to

limited liability Limited liability is a legal status in which a person's financial Legal liability, liability is limited to a fixed sum, most commonly the value of a person's investment in a corporation, company, or joint venture. If a company that provides limi ...

lessor Lessor is a participant of the lease who takes possession of the property and provides it as a leasing subject to the lessee for temporary possession. For example, in leasehold estate, the landlord is the lessor and the tenant is the lessee. The le ...

subsidiaries with the same names (Yorkrail, LLC and Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad Company, LLC).

Railroad Retirement Board The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency in the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the United States government created in 1 ...

Employer Status Determination: York Railway Company et al.
September 19, 2000 Genesee & Wyoming Inc. gained control of the company, and the other Emons properties, in 2002. The York Railway operates two parallel main lines, extending southwest from York to

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

interchange Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

s. Most of the M&P's original line from York to

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

has been abandoned, but a short piece in York is still operated. The M&P's current main line is an ex-

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

line that it acquired from the

Penn Central Transportation Company The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania Railroad, ...

in 1976, beginning at a connection with the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

in York and running to a CSX connection at

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

. The Yorkrail line, running from a junction with the M&P in York to a CSX connection at Porters Sideling, PA, was opened in 1893 by the Baltimore and Harrisburg Railway (Eastern Extension), a predecessor of the

Western Maryland Railway The Western Maryland Railway was a small American Class I railroad (1852–1983) that operated in 3 Southern United States, Southern US States, Maryland (Western Maryland, Western Region), West Virginia (Potomac Highlands of West Virginia, Easte ...

, and sold by

to Yorkrail in 1989.Edward A. Lewis, American Shortline Railway Guide, 5th Edition,

Kalmbach Publishing Kalmbach Media (formerly Kalmbach Publishing Co.) was an American publisher of books and magazines, many of them railroad-related, located in Waukesha, Wisconsin. History The company's first publication was ''The Model Railroader'', which be ...

, 1996, pp. 188-189, 345 The York Railway owns three ex- Santa Fe

CF7 The Santa Fe CF7 is an EMD F-unit railroad locomotive that has had its in order to adapt the unit for switcher, switching duty. All of the conversions were performed by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway's Cleburne, Texas, workshops between ...

diesels: #1500 (the last such locomotive built), 1502 and 1504 that were usually operated as a pair, and alternated to equalize operating hours. The railroad also operates ex-CSX EMD GP16 diesels #1600, 1602, 1604 and 1606 as well as a pair of LTEX GP15-1s numbered 1414 and 1444. The 1502 and 1504 were parked for several years in a deadline between Hokes Mill Road (Route 182) and South Sumner Street in York, Pennsylvania, along with GP9 1754. In early February 2018, the railway removed a traction motor from No. 1504 and put it in No. 1606. On January 30, 2021, scrapping began on No.s 1502, 1504 and 1754, the three inoperative locomotives.

References

External links

York Railway
{{DEFAULTSORT:York Railway Pennsylvania railroads York, Pennsylvania Genesee & Wyoming Railway companies established in 1999 American companies established in 1999