Do you have a local shortline ? if so what is it?

No photos but, the local short line is the Georgia Northeastern. They are owned by short line holding company Patriot Rail.

In lieu of photos, a link to their website.

https://patriotrail.com/rail/g...stern-railroad-gnrr/

What do I like about them? Well, for one thing they are within three minutes of the house whereas the nearest Class 1 - CSX - is about 20-25 minutes. Too, the GNRR runs older standard cab engines that have some of the sweetest sounding horns you’ll ever hear.

Curt

Allegheny Valley RR in Oakmont, Pa.

part of Carload Express.

@juniata guy posted:

No photos but, the local short line is the Georgia Northeastern. They are owned by short line holding company Patriot Rail.

in lieu of photos, a link to their website.

https://patriotrail.com/rail/g...stern-railroad-gnrr/

What do I like about them? Well, for one thing they are within three minutes of the house whereas the nearest Class 1 - CSX - is about 20-25 minutes. Too, the GNRR runs older standard cab engines that have some of the sweetest sounding horns you’ll ever hear.

Curt

ooh i like the paintscheme

R J Corman runs through Conway to Myrtle Beach,SC. They connect with CSX in Mullins, SC.

Sorry but I have no photos to share.

The Nittany and Bald Eagle here in central PA.

New York and Atlantic Railway. They pull freight on the LIRR ROW from the Brooklyn Piers to the east end of the Island.

https://www.anacostia.com/railroads/nya

We had the Lancaster & Chester here but they recently were acquired by the G&O. These were taken by me when I first moved here:

The first locomotive that I saw here of the new G&O entity:

And the same corporate logo on this Wiregrass Central near Florala, AL that I shot a few years back:

Purplepapa I just sent you an email. Check it out.

I grew up in the Dallas area and can think of three off-hand. The ones still in existence are the Dallas, Garland, and Northeastern and the Fort Worth and Western.  The DGNO operates a lot of ex-UP (originally Katy) track while the FW&W operates on former Frisco and Santa Fe track.

Further back there was the Great Southwest Railroad, a switching railroad formed in 1957 and later merged into the MoPac. The Great Southwest used to use leased MoPac diesel switchers, which made good economic sense, but for a while it was actually owned by a holding company which also owned the Penn Central.

https://www.amrailroad.com/

Mitch

I don’t live in NYC anymore but in a recent trip down to Long Island I believe I spotted some NY and Atlantic action.

here it is at Jamaica NY

Nice modern short line to model as well!

Nebraska central: Columbus to Norfolk Ne. Columbus to Albion Ne. Central City northwest. The big SD 40-2s hang out in Central City. These are in Norfolk ready to serve Nucor steel, Norfolk Iron & metal, and Louis Dryfus ethanol.

Although the Delmarva Central is not near where I live, perhaps 2 hours away, I do like this short line.  They have trackage ( former Pennsy )  in Delaware, Maryland , and Virginia in what is known as the Delmarva Peninsula. Here are a couple pics of their locomotives.  

Of course the shortline closest to me is the Canton Railroad, Baltimore's oldest continuous running railroad which serves the Canton section of Baltimore City.

Delmarva Central end cab . Canton Railroad Office

Here in Central Penn, we have the G&W controlled York Railway Company, the East Penn Rwy, Everett, and a few others. Being a Lancasterian, I’d have to say my only directly local short lines are the Columbia and Reading (small Alco S3), Landisville Railway (SW painted in chessie), and the Strasburg.

Not in my immediate vicinity, but I do have the Winchester & Western and the Maryland Midland close by.

A Carolina Coastal pic for you (Plymouth, NC)

Winchester and Western (Gore, VA)

Buckingham Branch (Doswell, VA)

Buckingham Branch (Dilwyn, VA)

Buckingham Branch (Charlottesville, VA)

The Morristown & Erie is the shortline by me in northwestern NJ. Always a hodgepodge of power ... ALCOs and EMDs ... road units and switchers ... fixing them up themselves.

Here they are delivering lumber not far from my home. (Photo by Rudy Garbley, of Garbley Publishing ... he publishes cool railroad books. Posted with permission)

In today's terms, how may miles must you have before you are no longer a "short line".

Dominic; annual revenue is the determinant not mileage. Class II railroads, which would generally be considered “regionals” fall into a revenue range of $20 million to $250 million annually. Class III railroads, which would generally be considered “short lines” have annual revenue of less than $20 million.

Curt

Here Northeast pa have 2 short lines Both part of larger operations/owners.  Watco runs from Ithaca Ny  to Sayre PA with salt.  R J Corman runs from Sayre south hauling fracking sand for natural gas industry. Norfolk Southern offers interchange service on Southern tier line.  We also get to see the new Acela trainsets as they move from Hornell NY to Amtrak. Set number 3 went through last week first direct delivery of completed set.   

Burlington Junction, They are out of Iowa but operate in a few states. Here in Montgomery Illinois they service about 20 businesses with a few miles of track that tie into BNSF. I took these photos a month ago.

Arizona currently has and has had some fairly interesting short lines.  Currently the Arizona and California and the Arizona Eastern are part of the Genesee & Wyoming which has taken some of interest away as the old paint schemes have started to disappear.  The ones that I have had an opportunity to railfan include:

The Arizona Eastern.  I have photos going back into the early 90's when they were running mainly GP9s, but my digital photography is from 2011 when they were running a passenger train on a short excursion.  The station at Globe has had a wonderful restoration and this gem of a mining town is always interesting to me.  The excursion ran west into the town of Miami just a few miles and then about 10 miles to the east to a reservation Casino.  When the Genesee & Wyoming took over this operation ceased.  My entire TCA Division took over the train for our 40th anniversary in these photos.

The Black Mesa & Lake Powell is another now defunct short line although the Navajo nation has purchased the line with some ideas about using it for economic development.  I caught one of the original E60Cs in the spring of 2017 that were the basis for Amtrak's later passenger version in storage in Williams, AZ where there are plans for a railway museum one day.  I guess the line isn't really local as it is a 6 hour drive, but once you get out of the major cities of Phoenix or Tucson nothing seems that far away out here.

The Copper Basin still remains independent and hauls copper ore on it's 54 miles of track and interfaces with the UP in the next county over.  I caught these photos back in 2005.  Their roster is currently a collection of GP39s and GP40s as well as their dash 2 equivalents.  I caught the train while driving so please excuse the poor lighting and framing of these images.

Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad in Lansdale, PA, they operate on 55 miles of track locally.

@CNJ Jim posted:

The Morristown & Erie is the shortline by me in northwestern NJ. Always a hodgepodge of power ... ALCOs and EMDs ... road units and switchers ... fixing them up themselves.

Here they are delivering lumber not far from my home. (Photo by Rudy Garbley, of Garbley Publishing ... he publishes cool railroad books. Posted with permission)

Mine as well, their trackage runs in the town I live in. They have an active team track where they offload chemicals in town that is kind of interesting. What fascinates me is given the nature of the area, where there really isn't much manufacturing or the kind of industries you would expect a railroad would need to survive, they somehow do. Among other things, they picked up a rail line that operates from NJ to Staten Island, so they aren't just surviving. They tend to run older equipment, ALCOs from the 1960's and some EMD units of pretty much same vintage, how they keep them going I don't know. I got mad at my town, there is an old mill site that has been an eyesore for a lot of years, and the railroad wanted to built an engine servicing facility along with a new team track on part of that site, and they were turned down (could have been get spot to railfan!).

The Delaware-Lackawanna, centered around Scranton, PA.

Ohhh, I forgot, an even closer one is the Stourbridge Line in Honesdale, and runs down to Hawley, and on to interchange in Lacawaxen. It runs passenger excursions in the warm months. It’s an ex-Erie-Lackawanna branch line.

Closest to me is the Southwest Pennsylvania RR, sister road to the Allegheny Valley and Delmarva Central mentioned earlier.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locolist.aspx?id=SWP

RJ Corman leases from Luzerne and Susquehanna in the Wilkes-Barre PA area, servicing an industrial park just south of Ashley. The trackage is owned by Luzerne County Rail Authority, and runs between Pittston Pa and the industrial park, mainly hauling tankers with used oil and other similar chemicals. This line runs past my back yard daily. I'd have to search for pics.

Stockton,  California.

CTC, Central California Traction.
ST&E, Stockton Terminal and Eastern. (Affectionally known as the “Slow Tired and Easy”)

Aiken Railroad.. It was featured in Trains, April 2019....

@wb47 posted:

Nebraska central: Columbus to Norfolk Ne. Columbus to Albion Ne. Central City northwest. The big SD 40-2s hang out in Central City. These are in Norfolk ready to serve Nucor steel, Norfolk Iron & metal, and Louis Dryfus ethanol.

I started my career working for a frac sand company that was on the NCRC and used them to get onto the UP. I worked with the NCRC extensively. Small world.

@juniata guy posted:

No photos but, the local short line is the Georgia Northeastern. They are owned by short line holding company Patriot Rail.

In lieu of photos, a link to their website.

https://patriotrail.com/rail/g...stern-railroad-gnrr/

What do I like about them? Well, for one thing they are within three minutes of the house whereas the nearest Class 1 - CSX - is about 20-25 minutes. Too, the GNRR runs older standard cab engines that have some of the sweetest sounding horns you’ll ever hear.

Curt

Unfortunately I don't have any photos, but my local shortline is the Stillwater Central railroad.

I have a few near me.... firstly, the Livonia Avon & Lakeville.  All ALCO powered and running on the former Erie main from Lakeville NY to Rochester NY.  Second, the Rochester & Southern, which is part of Genesee and Wyoming.  Third, the Depew Lancaster and Western, which is Part of GVT Rail Systems and is all ALCO powered.  Four, the Falls Road Railroad.... Also part of GVT Rail Systems.  Five, the Buffalo and Pittsburgh, which is part of Genesee and Wyoming.  Six, and last but not least.... the Arcade and Attica Railroad..... Powered by vintage GE centercabs, and a 2-8-0 steam locomotive.  They carry freight during the week and passenger excursions on weekends.