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6/2/2014
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) on Friday announced that its new Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern Railroad Inc. (RCP&E) subsidiary completed the acquisition of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern (DM&E) west end line from Canadian Pacific. The purchase price totaled about $210 million, plus $7.5 million for certain inventory, equipment and vehicles.GWI launched operations on the 670-mile line yesterday. The new railroad has 177 employees, most of whom were hired from the former DM&E operation, and GWI expects to hire additional workers."We have the right people, locomotives, equipment and track infrastructure in place to provide the customer-focused service for which short line railroads are known," said RCP&E President Brad Ovitt in a press release. "The RCP&E will be locally managed and operated, which enables decisions to be made closest to the customer and empowers our people to resolve issues with the goal of operating safely and exceeding customer expectations."Headquartered in Rapid City, S.D., RCP&E expects to eventually operate a fleet of 50 locomotives and 3,000 rail cars. The railroad interchanges with CP, BNSF Railway Co., Union Pacific Railroad and the Nebraska Northwestern. Customers on the line currently ship about 52,000 carloads annually of grain, bentonite clay, ethanol, fertilizer and other products.