The RJ Corman Railroad Group, Shortline Railroading And Rail Services

The RJ Corman Railroad Group 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 operations to dinner trains and aircraft maintenance! Rick Corman started the company in 1973 and he began with little more than a backhoe and some determination 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.

Although RJ Corman has been in the railroad business since 1973 it has only been in the short line business since early 1987 when it acquired the ex-Louisville & Nashville Railroad’s Bardstown Branch in Kentucky. In just twenty years in the shortline business the railroad company has amassed over 700 miles of rail lines, its newest acquisition an ex-Chesapeake & Ohio Railway branch line southwest of Thurmond, West Virginia.

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 roster may consist of first and second-generation diesel power but they all look just like new.

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 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.

Below is a current roster of RJ Corman's shortline railroads courtesy of The Diesel Shop:

#209 - EMD GP9

#1601-1608, #1731, #1737, #1739, #1804-1806, #1824, #1826-1829, #1831, #1832, #1856, #1858 and #1859 - EMD GP16: Ex-CSX

#1940 and #1941 - EMD FP7: Ex-Southern #6141 and #6138

#2754, #2756, #2761, #2781, and #2792 - EMD GP38: Ex-Norfolk Southern, ex-Southern

#3438, #3478, and #3944 - EMD SD40-2: Ex-Union Pacific, ex-Missouri Pacific

#3501 - EMD GP35M: Ex-Wisconsin Southern

#3801 and #3802 - EMD GP38-2: Ex-Norfolk Southern #2942 and #2817

#4119 and #4121 - EMD GP20E: Ex-Southern Pacific

#5353, #5361, #5372 and #5409 - EMD SD40T-2: Ex-Rio Grande

#7681, #7697, #7709, #7908 and #7918 - EMD GP38: Ex-Conrail, ex-Penn Central

#8307, #8336, #8569 and #8718 - EMD SD40T-2: Ex-Union Pacific, ex-Southern Pacific

#9001-9010 - EMD GP9: Ex-Baltimore & Ohio/Chesapeake & Ohio

RJ Corman was recently featured 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.

For more reading on shortline railroads like RJ Corman consider the book American Shortline Railway Guide from author Ed Lewis. The book has gone through several updated editions to keep up with the ever-changing world of the shortline industry. Today, the publication highlights almost 600 shortlines across the country with general background information about each (such as roster information, rail line history, radio frequencies, etc.). If you have any interest in shortlines you will very likely enjoy this book.