Introducing Iron Horse RR Investments, LLC

Iron Horse RR Investments, LLC (IHRR), a recently created Florida LLC comprised of seven members, each with years of executive-level experience with financial institutions, management, marketing, accounting and railroad supply, and a combined 200-plus years of experience in the railroad industry, will close on its first acquisition, Superior Sales & Service (SS&S) on April 1, 2022

“IHRR was established with a three-pillar investment strategy of acquiring, enhancing and managing the growth of maintenance-of-way as well as railcar and locomotive component shops nationwide, in addition to acquiring freight railcars for our fleet,” say principals John Cira, John Hilton, Jim Kellog, Bill Kiefer, Mike Powers, Rich Regan and Rick Turner. “We’ve begun identifying a diverse group of companies in each of the pillars, starting with our acquisition of SS&S.”

SS&S is a 20-year-old, boutique m/w operation headquartered in Omaha, Neb., with offices in Shreveport, La. Rich Dreesman established the company and has run it since inception. “We are excited about the opportunity presented to utilize the skill sets of Iron Horse members and combine them with the unique operations created by Rich Dreesman to expand the capabilities and operations of SS&S nationwide,” said IHRR President Rick Turner, a former executive with The Greenbrier Companies. “Iron Horse has identified multiple acquisition opportunities, and each of our members is excited about our growth opportunities.”

Rick Turner serves as President of IHRR. He had a 27-year career in the rail services industry until retirement in December 2021. Since 1995, he served in executive roles with ABC Rail Services and Meridian Rail Services, and for the past 15 years was president of various Greenbrier Companies rail services subsidiaries. ABC Rail, which supplied railcar components, was purchased by private equity in 2001. Turner served as CEO of Meridian, a freight car wheel and axle supplier, under two different private equity groups until the company was purchased in 2014 by Greenbrier, from which he retired in 2021.

Since 1980, Jim Kellog has held executive positions in the steel fabrication, vacuum furnac, and thermal processing industries. In 2006, he joined Rick Turner at Meridian Rail, where he served as Vice President of Strategic Development. In 2014, following Greenbrier’s acquisition of Meridian, Kellog and Turner became executives at Greenbrier Rail Services, where Kellog was Vice President of Operational Development. He retired from the freight railcar industry in 2020.

John Hilton retired as President of Standard Steel in June 2021. He started at Standard Steel out of college in 1979 and worked his way up through the organization in various roles including: shift foreman, sales representative, marketing manager, Vice President and then Senior Vice President of Sales, Engineering, Technical and Production Planning, and Executive Vice President. In 2016, he was promoted to President of Standard Steel. Standard Steel, a $250 million manufacturing company, in business since 1795, is the only fully integrated supplier of forged railroad wheels and axles to the North America freight, passenger and locomotive markets. 

Rich Regan has more than 40 years’ experience in the railroad industry. Since 1993, he has held executive positions with Conrail, CSX and Genesee & Wyoming. At CSX, Regan managed an annual capex budget of $1 billion and more than 6,000 freight car and locomotive employees. At G&W, the world’s largest Class II and III railroad holding company, he was responsible for more than 25,000 freight cars and 1,200 locomotives on 120-plus railroads globally. Regan retired from G&W at the end of 2020 as Senior Vice President Mechanical.

Mike Powers is an attorney and serves as General Counsel and Secretary for IHRR. He was a litigator at a major law firm in Baltimore prior to starting a banking career in 1997. For the past 22 years, Powers served in various executive positions for bank-owned equipment/specialty finance subsidiaries. He served as General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer for SunTrust Bank (now Trust Bank), Capital One Bank, BankUnited and, most recently, City National Bank of Florida. 

Tom Cira is a CPA and serves as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer for IHRR. He has spent 36 years in the banking industry, and for the past 22 years, served in various executive positions for bank-owned equipment/specialty finance subsidiaries. He spent 12 years at Sun Trust Equipment Finance and Leasing, and for the past 10 years has been Managing Director at Bridge Capital Leasing/United Capital Business Lending and President at Bci Capital, respectively.

Rail supply community stalwart Bill Kiefer retired as President and CEO of A. Stucki Company, a major provider of engineered components, systems and services for the railroad industry and other markets, in March 2021. Kiefer founded Independent Draft Gear in Farrell, Pa., in 1997, selling reconditioned draft gears to Class I railroads and other railcar users. In 2002, Stucki acquired IDG, and in 2003 Kiefer became President and CEO. He orchestrated 11 acquisitions that expanded Stucki’s capabilities