County Line Rail acquires Sabine River & Northern Railroad

Rail logistics provider County Line Rail (CLR) announced the acquisition of the Sabine River & Northern Railroad (SRN), a 40-mile shortline railroad in east Texas.

Founded in 1965, the SRN provides freight service over 40 miles of track from Bessmay to Echo, Texas, with a branch line from Buna to Evandale. It connects with Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe. It handles mostly chemicals, pulp and paper products.

No terms were disclosed by privately held CLR, which has offices in Los Angeles and Houston.

“We are excited at the opportunity to expand our rail footprint in East Texas and provide support for the region’s continued economic growth,” said Ben Brosseau, chief executive of CLR, in a release. CLR plans to revitalize the SRN, upgrading it to meet Class II, or mid-size, standards according to operating revenue. These improvements will help alleviate rail congestion around Beaumont and expand service offerings to include railcar storage, transloading, railcar cleaning and Class I access.

The deal is the second in the short line sector in as many weeks following the acquisition of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad by OmniTRAX.

The day-to-day operations of SRN will be overseen by Brent Hall, chief executive of County Line Rail Operations. Hall, a Houston native with nearly 30 years of railroad management and operations experience, is also a locomotive engineer and conductor certified by the Federal Railroad Administration.

As part of the acquisition, CLR has secured additional strategic assets:

• The Mulford yard in Orange, Texas: This storage yard and loop track are conveniently located near the former U.S. Gypsum manufacturing facility.
• One hundred acres of developable land: Adjacent to SRN, this property will be made available for sale or lease to businesses seeking direct rail service.
• Connection to CLR’s Buna storage yard: This facility currently offers railcar storage, transloading and outdoor industrial storage.

County Line Rail, a privately owned rail operator, specializes in switching, storing, transloading, cleaning and maintenance of railcars. The company also provides comprehensive real estate solutions to rail, industrial and outdoor storage customers throughout the Gulf Coast region and beyond. CLR’s other assets currently offering services are located in Mont Belvieu, Silsbee and Buna, all in Texas.

Subscribe to FreightWaves’ Rail e-newsletter and get the latest insights on rail freight right in your inbox.

Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

Related coverage:

OmniTRAX joint venture acquires California short line railroad

North American trade disputes an opportunity for CPKC, CEO says

CPKC, Patriot Rail partner on new Texas transload site

Yearly gains for US rail freight despite intermodal weakness

The post County Line Rail acquires Sabine River & Northern Railroad appeared first on FreightWaves.