AN Railway

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The AN Railway is a US freight rail company owned by Genesee and Wyoming (G&W). It operates a rail line in the Florida Panhandle between Port St. Joe and Chattahoochee with a short branch to Apalachicola . The route length is 154 kilometers, of which only the approximately 64 km from Telogia to Chattahoochee are used.

history

In 1907 the railway line was built by the Apalachicola Northern Railroad from Chattahoochee to Apalachicola. Thus, in Chattahoochee there was a connection to the main line from Jacksonville to Pensacola (then operated east of Chattahoochee by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad and west of it by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad ). In 1910 the Apalachicola Northern Railroad opened an extension from Apalachicola to Port St. Joe .

On September 1, 2002, the AN Railway took over the route, including all necessary equipment, for rent from the St. Joe Company , the owner of the Apalachicola Northern Railroad. At the same time, the AN Railway acquired six locomotives and 148 freight cars from the previous line operator. In the request for a change of operator to the Surface Transportation Board , the railway company announced that it would continue to run two freight train journeys per week in each direction and, if necessary, additional journeys. When operations began, the AN Railway employed six people. The company was founded specifically for the takeover of Apalachicola Northern Railroad by Rail Management Corporation (RMC), its subsidiary Rail Partners and RMC CEO K. Earl Durden.

With the acquisition of all railway companies of the Rail Management Corporation by Genesee and Wyoming (G&W), the AN Railway changed into the ownership of G&W on June 1, 2005. The ten-year lease between the St. Joe Company and AN Railway or G&W was renewed at the end of 2008. It contains three further extension options for ten years each and was extended again in 2018.

The AN Railway only uses the northern 64 km of the 156 km long route, while the southern section lost almost all freight traffic with the closure of the Arizona Chemical plant in Port St. Joe in July 2009 and is now closed with infrastructure damage. In 2017 , the Apalachee Regional Planning Council , supported by local counties , presented plans for the Gulf to Gadsden Freight Logistics Zone in Counties Gadsen , Liberty , Franklin and Gulf , which will restore the port in Port St. Joe, which has been unused since the early 1990s reactivated and the infrastructure of the Apalachicola Northern Railroad is to be renovated and expanded.

Infrastructure

The rented by AN Railway from St. Joe Company railway via 154 km (96 miles ) of Port St. Joe according Chattahoochee, which at the running in east-west direction stretch of Baldwin (at Jacksonville ) via Tallahassee to Pensacola is . The main line has been operated by the Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad since June 1, 2019 and was previously a connection of CSX Transportation .

Starting from Port St. Joe, there are intermediate stations on the route: Apalachicola (on a short branch line connected by a track triangle ), Borrow Pit and Beverly (both around 46 km from Port St. Joe), Sumatra , Wilma, Vilas , Telogia, Hosford , Greensboro and Hardaway . The total track length, ie the 154 km single-track line, the branch to Apalachicola and all station and other side tracks together, comprises 185 km (115 miles).

The AN Railway only uses the approximately 64 km long section from Telogia to Chattahoochee. The line is out of service south of Telogia. Extensive repairs to the bridge over the Apalachicola River near Apalachicola as well as the repair of various smaller bridges in Liberty County are required to restore the navigability .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Surface Transportation Board : AN Railway, LLC-Lease and Operation Exemption-Apalachicola Northern Railroad Company. In: Federal Register . October 22, 2002, accessed February 9, 2020 .
  2. ^ Employer Status Determination AN Railway, LLC. U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, October 22, 2002, accessed February 9, 2020 .
  3. ^ Surface Transportation Board : K. Earl Durden, Rail Management Corporation, and Rail Partners, LP-Continuance in Control Exemption-AN Railway, LLC In: Federal Register . September 18, 2002, accessed February 9, 2020 .
  4. ^ Gregg Turner: A Short History of Florida Railroads. Arcadia Publishing , Mount Pleasant 2014, ISBN 978-1-439642-54-2
  5. ↑ Genesee & Wyoming's AN Railway to serve reopened Florida port. Progressive Railroading , December 18, 2008, accessed February 9, 2020 .
  6. ^ Arizona Chemical Announces Closure Of Port St. Joe, FL, Plant. Ink World Magazine, July 24, 2009, accessed February 9, 2020 .
  7. ^ A b Apalachee Regional Planning Council: Strategic Plan for Gulf to Gadsen Freight Logistics Zone. (PDF) May 12, 2017, p. 18 , accessed on February 9, 2020 (English): “The AN is currently only active from Chattahoochee south to Telogia in Liberty County. The rail is out of service approx. 40 miles south of Telogia and significant repair to the Apalachicola River bridge is needed before it is possible for rail to resume service to Port St. Joe. Funds for most of the repairs have been budgeted by FDOT, G&W and The St. Joe Company. Per Joe Arbona of Genesee & Wyoming, the AN's operating company, repairs are required for multiple bridges in Liberty County in addition to the overhaul of the Apalachicola River Bridge. "
  8. ^ Surface Transportation Board : Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad, LLC-Acquisition and Operation Exemption With Interchange Commitment-CSX Transportation, Inc. In: Federal Register . December 21, 2018, accessed February 9, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Freight and Multimodal Operations Office (FMO): Florida Rail System Plan - 2018 Update. (PDF) 2018, accessed on February 9, 2020 (English).
  10. ^ Eastern Railroad Discussion> AN Railway - Port St. Joe, Florida. In: trainorders.com Discussion Forums. March 2015, p. 31 , accessed on February 9, 2020 (English).