advertisement

---

Iowa Pacific Holdings L.L.C. announced that its West Texas and Lubbock Railway (WTL) subsidiary has acquired several parcels near Seagraves, Texas, that will enable the short line to develop a second stand-alone transload facility in the area.

A first group of parcels acquired by WTL now is under development by Boss Energy, with the construction of a loop track nearing completion.

"The rapid growth of drilling activity in the Permian Basin is centered around our Texas-New Mexico and West Texas and Lubbock railways," said Iowa Pacific President Ed Ellis in a prepared statement. "Our goal is to keep pace with the needs of our existing customers and to be prepared to accommodate new customers in the basin. Over the past few months, three new crude-oil shippers have begun operation on the Texas-New Mexico, largely on property provided by Iowa Pacific."

Iowa Pacific's carloads have tripled over the past 18 months to an annualized volume of 28,000 units. As WTL and the Texas-New Mexico continue to bring on new customers, "we expect these volumes to double in 2013," said Iowa Pacific Executive Vice President of Marketing Steve Gregory.

Iowa Pacific owns nine U.S. railroads that provide freight, tourist and passenger services in eight states. The company also manages British American Railway Services, which provides freight-rail services in the United Kingdom.