Southern Ontario Railway

Southern Ontario Railway
Southern Ontario Railway #2211 in RailAmerica paint at London, ON in May 2011.
Overview
HeadquartersHamilton, Ontario
Reporting markRLHH[1]
LocaleSouthern Ontario
Dates of operation1998–Present
PredecessorCanadian National Railway
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length69 miles (111 km)
Other
WebsiteOfficial website
Southern Ontario Railway
Hagersville Subdivision
Legend
 CN Brantford
35.1
 Simpson
33.5
 ECP Spur
31.5
 Blastech Spur
31.0
 Rembos Spur
27.3
 Onondaga
Wesont Lumber Spur
18.7
 Caledonia
Nestle Purina Spur
13.0
 CGC spur
9.0
 Hagersville
old CN CASO Sub
4.7
 Garnet
4.4
 old CN Cayuga Sub
0.0
 Nanticoke
Lake Erie Works Spur
3.17-mile (5.10 km) Hydro Spur
SOR Logo Pre-Genesee & Wyoming Purchase
Logo Pre-G&W

The Southern Ontario Railway (reporting mark RLHH)[1] is a shortline railroad in the province of Ontario, owned and operated by Genesee & Wyoming Canada Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. It operated 69 miles (111 km) of track from Brantford to Nanticoke, Ontario,[2] from 1998 to 2018. The railroad began operations in 1998, and was acquired by RailAmerica two years later.[3] It had interchanges with the Canadian National Railway at Hamilton via trackage rights, Brantford and Paris, and interchanges with the Canadian Pacific Railway at Hamilton.[2]

On July 23, 2012, Genesee & Wyoming Inc. announced that it intended to purchase RailAmerica in a deal valued at $1.39 billion.[4][5] Approval of the purchase was granted by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board on December 19, 2012.[6]

On September 18, 2018, operation of most of the Hagersville sub returned to CN.[7] The Hamilton operations returned to CN December 13, 2018. SOR retains terminal operations at Nanticoke, and the line from Nanticoke to Garnet, mile 5.7, where it interchanges with CN.

The railroad's traffic comes mainly from steel, agricultural products, petroleum products, and chemicals. The SOR carries more than 44,000 carloads a year.[2]

  1. ^ a b "AAR Railroad Reporting Marks". RailServe. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Southern Ontario Railway". Genesee & Wyoming Canada Inc. August 4, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  3. ^ "RailAmerica's Empire". Trains Magazine. Kalmbach Publishing. June 2010.
  4. ^ "Genesee & Wyoming to pay $1.39B for RailAmerica". STL Today.com. Associated Press. July 23, 2012. Retrieved July 23, 2012.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "UPDATE 4-Genesee & Wyoming to buy RailAmerica for $1.4 billion". Reuters. July 23, 2012. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  6. ^ Surface Transportation Board, Decision, Case No. 42772 Archived April 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, December 19, 2012
  7. ^ Railway Age, November 20, 2018