Iowa Pacific Holdings acquires Texas State Railroad

Iowa Pacific Holdings L.L.C. recently announced it completed a transaction through which it acquired American Heritage Railway of Texas L.L.C. from American Heritage Railways Inc. Under a contractual agreement with the Texas State Railroad Authority, American Heritage Railway of Texas operates the Texas State Railroad between Palestine and Rusk.

As part of the transaction, American Heritage Railway of Texas will be renamed the Rusk, Palestine and Pacific Railroad L.L.C., although it will continue doing business as Texas State Railroad, Iowa Pacific officials said in a prepared statement.

"We are very excited about this opportunity to build on the substantial achievements that American Heritage has made, in cooperation with the Texas State Railroad Authority, in improving the Texas State Railroad's infrastructure and in developing the tourist ridership,” said Iowa Pacific President Ed Ellis. “We are already taking steps to continue this progress by further developing passenger services, reconnecting the railroad with the national rail network at Palestine and implementing freight service."

Iowa Pacific operates six U.S. short lines and, through an affiliated company, operates three railways and related businesses in the United Kingdom. American Heritage Railways operates three railroads in the United States and one in Mexico.