Grand River Railway Co. (GRRY)

[bluestreak81]

I just wanted to alert anyone who hasn't heard yet that the Grand River Railway Co. recently acquired 2.56 miles of former NYC/B&O/CSX 2.56 track in March which stub-ends at the Morton Salt Facility in Painesville Twp., an eastern suburb of Cleveland. The line itself primarily travels through the cities of Painesville, Grand River, and Painesville Twp. the line had been out-of-service since around 2002. The owners of the new short line have done a tremendous job rehabilitating the line. As of now, Morton Salt is the only customer located at the end of the line which has resumed rail service. The line used to serve a facility named Carmeuse Lime & Stone until the line originally went out-of-service around 2002, but has yet to resume rail service since the line re-opened in March. Morton Salt has invested a ton of money into building a new salt loading tower built specifically for rail which is evidence of their commitment to the new short line. GRRY has recently leased two SW1200 switcher locomotives which carry the old B&O paint scheme which is fitting to the history of the line. They have also leased a CSX locomotive temporarily to help with operations at Morton Salt until the SW1200s are ready to run.

Here's a nice article from the News-Herald which describes the story more in-depth.
http://www.news-herald.com/general-news ... completion

[AARR]

Using the 100 cars per mile per year formula they only have to handle 256 car loads per year to break even

[Fred]

Any idea on when the 2 freshly painted switchers will arrive on their property ?

[bluestreak81]

Yes. 1202 arrived early this week on Monday. 1205 is still being worked on but will arrive sometime soon. Here's a photo of 1202 that I took yesterday in their north yard in Grand River. She is receiving some final maintenance before she takes the lead. The bell and horn still need to be installed after her transit to the line. You've gotta love the paint scheme. Age of Steam Roundhouse did a remarkable job getting her ready.

[bluestreak81]

Here's a video I shot in July of their temporarily leased CSX 2773 locomotive. The quality isn't the best. Trains often have to stop as they approach the restaurant district in Grand River as automobiles often park on the tracks without much thought. There are plenty of no parking signs.

http://youtu.be/PY45vqhQG0Q

[bluestreak81]

Grand River Railway test running #1202 today.