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Yesterday, Watco Transportation Services L.L.C. and the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co. (WSOR) announced they approved an agreement that calls for Watco to acquire controlling ownership of the 600-mile regional.

Under the agreement, WSOR will retain its corporate structure, including the railroad’s name and all operations. WSOR’s headquarters will remain in Milwaukee and William Garnder will continue to serve as the railroad’s president. WSOR operates in south-central Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois, and interchanges with BNSF Railway Co., CN, Canadian Pacific and Union Pacific Railroad. Via access to the Belt Railway Co. of Chicago, the regional also connects with CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway.

The acquisition will enable WSOR to expand its footprint in the Midwest and seek out new markets and cost-effective routings while maintaining the same level of service, said Watco and WSOR officials in a joint statement.

The two organizations will be complementary while working as one, and “will foster dynamic partnerships with various public- and private-sector partners engaged in moving freight safely and efficiently,” said Watco Chief Executive Officer Rick Webb.

Adds Gardner: “Together, Watco and the WSOR will play a vital role in meeting the growing needs of our customers and communities that rely upon us as their primary means of transportation.”

Watco recently filed a change of control notice with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) and anticipates the change taking effect by year’s end. The projected date of the transaction is Jan. 1, Watco officials said.

Watco currently owns 23 short lines in the United States. The company also operates 23 industrial contract switching facilities, 14 rail-car repair shops, four locomotive shops and 19 mobile mechanical shops, and provides transloading, warehousing, intermodal and other services.

Watco also announced yesterday that it formed Swan Ranch Railroad (SRR), a new short line that will serve the newly developed Swan Ranch Industrial Park in Cheyenne, Wyo. SRR will be the first Watco-owned short line in Wyoming and the first to be located in an industrial park, Watco officials said.

The park is near BNSF and UP mainlines, as well as Interstates 25 and 80, making it a prime location for manufacturing and distribution facilities, they said.

The first phase of the planned 7,200-acre park is the 1,300-acre Cheyenne Logistics Hub, which will include a transloading facility. Jebro Inc., an asphalt industry manufacturer and distributor, is the first company to open a facility in the park and plans to begin receiving rail cars next month, Watco officials said.

Watco filed a petition with the STB seeking approval for SRR to operate 17,192 feet of track in the logistics hub as a switching railroad.