South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad

The Middle Georgia Megasite—adjacent to Georgia Highway 96 in Peach County—will be served by Norfolk Southern, which can access the Port of Savannah and Port of Brunswick in less than five hours. (Map Courtesy of Development Authority of Peach County, Ga.)

Industrial Development Briefs: NS, Watco

The state of Georgia and the Development Authority of Peach County purchased a 1,113-acre industrial development site to be served by Norfolk Southern (NS). Also, Bartlett, a Savage Company, kicked off construction of its $375 million, Watco-served soybean crushing plant in southeast Kansas.

Railway Age’s 2022 Short Line of the Year is the Vermont Railway (VTR; left). Our Regional of the Year is the South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad (SKOL).

VTR, SKOL Accept Railway Age Awards

The Vermont Railway (VTR) and South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad (SKOL) accepted Railway Age’s 2022 Short Line & Regional Railroads of the Year Awards at the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) Annual Conference & Exhibition in St. Louis, Mo., on May 2.

Watco’s South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad will serve a new $325 million Barlett soybean crushing facility in Montgomery County, Kans.
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Industrial Development Briefs

Intermodal service provider Tiger Cool Express will develop a logistics center at the former Union Pacific Cold Connect warehouse in Wallula, Wash. In addition, CSX has designated a third Tennessee property as a CSX Select Site; Bartlett, a Savage Company, will build a $325 million soybean crushing facility in Kansas, to be served by Watco; and the U.S. Economic Development Administration is awarding CARES Act Recovery Assistance grants for the construction of a new industrial rail spur in Arkansas and improvements to the Lubbock Rail Port in Texas.

Cimarron Valley Railway is among the eight recipients of new grant funding from KDOT. It will use $1.15 million for rail replacement and bridge work.

KDOT Awards $5MM in Short Line Grants

The Kansas Department of Transportation is distributing $5 million in grants for 13 projects that will improve and/or construct a total of 15 miles of track under its new Short Line Rail Improvement Fund program. Four projects are for short lines; nine are for shippers.