Progressive Rail, Inc. Explained

Railroad Name:Progressive Rail, Inc.
Marks:PGR
Logo Filename:Prorail.png
Locale:Minnesota
Wisconsin
Missouri
Start Year:1996
End Year:present
Hq City:Lakeville, Minnesota
Website:Progressive Rail, Inc.
Progressive Rail Specialized Logistics
Map Size:300px

Progressive Rail Inc. is a shortline railroad and owner of several other shortlines. PGR is directly operating several separate branches in Minnesota including the Airlake Terminal Railway. Progressive Rail also acquired the Wisconsin Northern Division in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and operates as a separately-named division. They also own the Chicago Junction Railroad, Clackamas Valley Railway, the Iowa Traction Railway and Iowa Southern Railway in Iowa, the Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad in Illinois, the St. Paul & Pacific Northwest Railroad, and the Wisconsin Northern Railroad.

Progressive Rail is also known as the Cannon Valley Railroad .[1]

The PGR branches are listed as follows:

History

Headquartered in Lakeville, Minnesota (a southern suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul), Progressive Rail, Inc. was established in 1996 to initially serve the Airlake Industrial Park. In 2001, they leased the former Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway "High Line" in Bloomington and Richfield and started restoring trackage.[3] The company's philosophy has been to provide service that a large railway chooses not to provide. They have also focused on economic development, including finding new customers, and working on regaining former rail customers along their lines. This strategy has paid off in an increase in traffic, from 600 carloads in their first year of operation to more than 5000 carloads in 2003.[4]

Major commodities include resins, chemicals, fuels, lumber, gypsum board, cement, fly-ash, metals, paper, machinery, food and kindred products, scrap material, and consumer products.

Progressive Rail, Inc. also operates wholly owned subsidiary Progressive Rail Specialized Logistics, which provides rail logistics services for machinery and over-dimensional freight shippers.[5]

Locomotive roster

Locomotive modelRoad number
EMD SW150034
36
37
38
67
74
2347
EMD SD3940
EMD SD40-241
43
EMD SD38-242
EMD GP15-11500
1501
EMD GP40-26211
[6]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: UP: Cannon Valley Rail Co. CVRC #186.
  2. Web site: Jesse James Line. progressiverail.com. 31 July 2023.
  3. News: Sam . Black . Progressive Rail buys Southwest Line . Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal . August 26, 2001 . July 8, 2012.
  4. News: Jake . Weyer . Short-rail line tracks growth . Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal . March 23, 2003 . July 8, 2012.
  5. Web site: Progressive Rail Specialized Logistics official site . 2006-06-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060714235052/http://www.prorailspecialized.com/ . 2006-07-14 . dead .
  6. Web site: Progressive Rail.