ASLRRA bestows more awards, installs officers at annual meeting

By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) handed out more awards and installed new officers yesterday at its annual meeting in Orlando.

The association presented the 2019 Veterans Recruitment Award to Buckingham Branch Railroad Co. The award recognizes an ASLRRA member railroad that demonstrates a commitment to hiring veterans. The Buckingham Branch embodies that hiring philosophy as evidenced by the percentage of its employees who are military vets, said ASLRRA President Chuck Baker during the award presentation.

“Veterans bring a strong work ethic and valuable experience to the railroad industry. Our association’s members recognize that value and make significant efforts to recruit veterans,” he said.

ASLRRA leaders also presented 2019 Business Development Awards to the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad, Texas & New Mexico Railway and Lake State Railway Co.

Formerly called the Marketing Awards, the Business Development Awards recognize regionals’ and short lines’ efforts to build traffic through innovative service solutions, business relationships and marketing approaches. To be eligible for the award, a railroad must demonstrate one or more of the following: utilization of its unique operating characteristics to deliver value; partnership with development authorities, Class Is or other companies; and the achievement of economic success for both the railroad and the community it serves.

The association honored the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad (DL) for employing an enterprising approach that helped prompt a 510 percent boost in annual carloads from 1993 to 2018. The short line’s frac sand and rock salt traffic has ballooned 300 percent and 208 percent, respectively. Owned by Genesee Valley Transportation, DL achieved the carload growth in part by working with Norfolk Southern Railway and the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority.

The ASLRRA bestowed the award to the Texas & New Mexico Railway (TXN) for developing a new business opportunity by using Wink Terminal in the Permian Basin oil fields of Texas to move stranded crude and distribute diesel in the area. Owned by Watco Cos. LLC, TXN ultimately shifted its frac sand business away from being railed in from the Midwest and toward trucked regionally and built more crude-moving traffic with Union Pacific Railroad. The short line and Class I worked together to obtain the right tank cars and establish enough capacity.

Lake State Railway won the award for launching a new movement of logs from Michigan to West Virginia to support a customer, an effort that helped retain jobs in West Virginia after a hurricane caused a market disruption. By working with CSX, CN and others, the short line was able to move 40,000 logs in first-quarter 2019.

Meanwhile, ASLRRA board members elected Gulf and Ohio Railways Inc. Vice Chairman Doc Claussen as the association’s chairman during a board meeting held after the award presentations. They also elected Watco Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Stefan Loeb as vice chairman.

For the past three years, Claussen has served as ASLRRA’s vice chairman and the Short Line Safety Institute’s chairman. He also serves as a board member for the Historic Tennessee Theatre Foundation, University of Tennessee College of Nursing Advisory Board, and Boys and Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley.

Loeb has previously served on ASLRRA’s board representing the Central Region, and is a member of the BNSF Short Line Caucus and Rail Industry Working Group.

In 2015, Progressive Railroading named Loeb a "Rising Star" in the railroad industry.