The RJ Corman Railroad Group, Shortline Railroading And Railroad Services

The RJ Corman Railroad Group (RJCR) has only been in service for a little over 30 years but in that time has become quite famous and well-respected, ranging from emergency rail services and short line railroad operations to dinner trains and aircraft maintenance! Rick Cormann started his company in 1973 and he began with little more than a backhoe and some determination (he initially started out in the rail services business being called in by railroads to do such things as re-rail trains or locomotives that had jumped the track) but with that has built an impressive railroad company, which among other things, now boosts nine different short line railroads in seven different Eastern states.

Few other railroad operations work like RJ Corman, which has the look and feel much more like a large Class I than a moderately sized shortline railroad. Because the company operates a very large and success derailment and emergency service it has the right-of-way equipment available to maintain its lines at or near Class I standards, something most shortline operations can only dream of. Corman also takes pride in its locomotive and equipment fleet. Nary do you find a locomotive not spic-n-span clean, looking like it just came out of the paint shop! Its locomotive roster may consist of first and second-generation diesel power but they all look just like new.

Here is a bit more information about each of RJ Corman's lines:

Allentown Lines: These small collection of lines total just 14.53 miles in length and operate between Allentown and Fullerton. They were purchased in three states between the summer of 1996 and the fall of 1997. The shortline has a connection to NS at Allentown.

Bardstown Line: This shortline began operations in January, 1987 is about 20 miles in length and operates via a connection with CSX south of Lousville at Clermont, southeast to Bardstown. This is also where the railroad operates its popular My Old Kentucky Dinner Train for the general public.

Central Kentucky Lines: Located north of the Bardstown branch, this operates east of Louisville and began operations between the spring and fall of 2003. The line is more than 115 miles in length and has connections to both Norfolk Southern and CSX.

Cleveland Line: Purchased in December, 1988 this branch operates from a connection with CSX south of Barberton (a southern suburb of Cleveland) at Warwick to Uhrichsville, on a line that is 55 miles in length. The shortline also has a connection to NS at Massillon.

Memphis Line: This branch began operations in August, 1987 and runs from a connection with CSX, just south of Bowling Green to Cumberland City, Tennessee with a spur to Lewisburg. Overall the line is about 100 miles in length.

Tennessee Terminal: This terminal railroad was purchased by RJ Corman in January, 2006 and operates just east of Memphis, sliding into extreme northern Mississippi. It operates about 47 miles of track and has a connection to BNSF Railway.

West Virginia Line: Purchased in July 2005 from a defunct C&O branch near Thurmond this line operates 16 miles of track to Pax serving a nearby coal mine. It currently has two interchanges, one with NS and another with CSX.

Western Ohio Lines: Here RJ Corman operates two unconnected sections of track southwest of Lima. The first line, which is 55 miles in length and connects to CSX at Lima began operations in 1993 while the second branch was purchased in 1996 and operates from a connection at Ansonia to Greenville.

What’s more, we, the general public can get an up close and personal view of RJ Corman ourselves! The railroad also operates the very successful My Old Kentucky Dinner Train excursion train based out of Bardstown, Kentucky. Led by former Southern Railway FP7s the train is adorned in a beautiful variation of the railroad’s red, white and silver livery with a matching consist of dining cars. RJ Corman was featured a few years ago in the June 2007 issue of Trains magazine and with the way Mr. Corman runs his now-very prosperous company the future of the railroading unit looks bright and very encouraging.

Aside from the services already mentioned above RJ Corman also provides rail construction work, transload facilities, railcar leasing, distribution, and through its RailPower subisidary even builds brand new, "green" locomotives. For more information about RJ Corman please click here to visit their official website, which covers not only their shortline operations but also their other available rail services. Also, below is a current diesel roster of RJ Corman's shortlines.

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Diesel Locomotives

Steam Locomotives

#2008 - Class QJ 2-10-2: A Chinese-built steam locomotive that was purchased by RJ Corman in 2007. It is fully operational and is used by the railroad for special occasions.

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