Ontario Southland Railway
The Ontario Southland Railway Inc. is an independently held short line operator. The company was founded in 1992 to purchase 17 miles of track from Canadian Pacific, which travels from Tillsonburg to Ingersoll, Ontario. In 2009, a second line was added, as 32 miles of CP track from Woodstock to St. Thomas, Ontario were integrated into the system. In 2015, Ontario Southland began leasing the ex-Canadian National Cayuga Subdivision between St. Thomas and Delhi, Ontario, which had been abandoned by its former shortline operator the St. Thomas and Eastern Railway in 2013.[1] The OSR also operated the Guelph Junction Railway until August 28th, 2020, when they ran their last train on the line before handing over operations to the Goderich and Exeter Railway.[2]
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 OSRX #505, an MLW RS-23, at Guelph in 2009. | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | London, Ontario |
| Reporting mark | OSRX |
| Locale | Southern Ontario, Canada |
| Dates of operation | 1992–Present |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Other | |
| Website | http://osrinc.ca/ |
| Ontario Southland Railway Port Burwell Subdivision | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Ontario Southland Railway St. Thomas Subdivision | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Operations
Tillsonburg Operations
OSR's Tillsonburg Division operates on the remaining 17.6 miles (28 km) of the ex-Canadian Pacific Port Burwell Subdivision between Ingersoll and Tillsonburg, Ontario. Customers served include Future Transfer, Cedar Crest Wood Products, Kissner Group, Johnson Controls, International Beams, and Wellmaster. Traffic destined for Growmark Inc. in Delhi, Ontario, as well as Cargill and Norfolk Co-Op in Courtland, Ontario is also handled.
St. Thomas Operations
On December 14, 2009, the OSR began leasing the St. Thomas Subdivision from Canadian Pacific consisting of 33.6 miles (54 km) of track from Woodstock to St. Thomas, Ontario. Customers served include Ontario Refrigerated Services, Auto Warehousing Company, Agrium, Belmont Farm Supply, Sylvite, Messenger Freight Services, and Factor Gas Liquids. Interchange with CN at St. Thomas and with CP at Woodstock.
CAMI Automotive Operations
OSR does all switching at the CAMI Automotive plant in Ingersoll, Ontario. Approximately 100 multis are switched in and out of the facility each day.
Cayuga Subdivision
In November 2015, the OSR and Canadian National Railways announced that the OSR would be overtaking operation of CN's abandoned Cayuga subdivision from St. Thomas to Tillsonburg and further on to Delhi, Ontario, once necessary track maintenance was completed, in order to service a windmill turbine factory which had opened east of Tillsonburg.[1] Other customers served include two grain elevators in Courtland, Ontario, an ethanol plant in Aylmer, Ontario and a fertilizer plant in Delhi.
Locomotive Roster
| Number | Builder | Model | Serial | Build Date | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | EMD | NW2 | 5703 | 1947-12 | Nee TH&B 51 |
| 52 | EMD | SW9 | A151 | 1951-02 | Nee C&O 5242 |
| 175 | EMD | GP9 | 22576 | 1956-11 | Nee C&O 6193 |
| 180 | MLW | RS-18u | 82450 | 1958-04 | Ex-CP 1860, née CP RS18 8769 |
| 181 | MLW | RS-18u | 82458 | 1958-05 | Ex-CP 1861, née CP RS18 8777 |
| 182 | MLW | RS-18u | 82258 | 1958-04 | Ex-QGRY 1801, ex-CP 1801, née CP RS18 8764 |
| 183 | MLW | RS-18 | M3497-02 | 1968-05 | Nee INCX 208-3 |
| 184 | MLW | RS-18 | M3497-03 | 1968-08 | Nee INCX 208-4 |
| 378 | EMD | GP7 | 14008 | 1951-03 | Nee SOO 378 |
| 383 | EMD | GP7 | 16481 | 1952-07 | Nee SOO 378 |
| 500 | ALCO | S-6 | 81819 | 1956-11 | Ex-VWL 29, née SP 1073 |
| 501 | MLW | S-13 | 82548 | 1959-01 | Ex-GWWD 501, ex-BCOL 501, ex-BCOL 1001, née PGE 1001 |
| 502 | MLW | S-13 | 82549 | 1959-01 | Ex-VWL 827, ex-BCOL 502, ex-BCOL 1002, née PGE 1002 |
| 503 | MLW | RS-23 | 82581 | 1959-09 | Nee CP 8029 |
| 504 | MLW | RS-23 | 83286 | 1960-08 | Nee CP 8044 |
| 505 | MLW | RS-23 | 82573 | 1959-09 | Nee CP 8021 |
| 506 | MLW | RS-23 | 82476 | 1959-08 | Nee CP 8013 |
| 507 | MLW | RS-23 | 83290 | 1960-08 | Ex-Spruce Falls 109, ex-DEVCO 201, née SL 201 |
| 641 | MLW | M-420W | M6068-02 | 1973-09 | Nee BCOL 641 |
| 644 | MLW | M-420W | M6068-05 | 1973-09 | Nee BCOL 644, Sold to Sartigan Railway in Quebec. |
| 646 | MLW | M-420W | M6068-07 | 1973-10 | Nee BCOL 646 |
| 647 | MLW | M-420W | M6068-08 | 1973-10 | Nee BCOL 647, Sold to Sartigan Railway in Quebec. |
| 1116 | MLW | RS-18u | 81621 | 1957-06 | Ex-CP 1116, ex-CP 1802, née CP RS18 8746 |
| 1210 | EMD | SW1200RSu | A1492 | 1958-08 | Ex-CP 1210, née CP SW1200RS 8112 |
| 1244 | EMD | SW1200RSu | A1897 | 1960-07 | Ex-CP 1244, née CP SW1200RS 8151 |
| 1245 | EMD | SW1200RSu | A1909 | 1960-09 | Ex-CP 1245, née CP SW1200RS 8163 |
| 1249 | EMD | SW1200RSu | A1914 | 1960-09 | Ex-CP 1249, née CP SW1200RS 8168 |
| 1400 | EMD | FP9ARM | A1399 | 1958-07 | Ex-RLK 1400, ex-VIA 6303, ex-VIA FP9A 6539, née CN 6539 |
| 1401 | EMD | FP9ARM | A1195 | 1957-03 | Ex-RLK 1401, ex-VIA 6312, ex-VIA FP9A 6523, née CN 6523 |
| 1620 | EMD | GP9u | A1115 | 1957-02 | Ex-CP 1620, née CP GP9 8659 |
| 6508 | EMD | FP9ARM | A638 | 1954-12 | Ex-WSJR 6508, ex-TTSL 6305, ex-VIA 6305, ex-VIA FP9A 6508, née CN 6508 |
| 8235 | EMD | GP9u | A1474 | 1958-03 | Ex-JLCX 8235, ex-CP 8235, née CP GP9 8822 |
References
- McCallum, Ian (5 November 2015). "After two-year closure, wind turbine blades will turn around fortunes of St. Thomas to Tillsonburg rail line". St Thomas Times-Journal. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
- https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2020/08/28-digest-guelph-junction-set-for-change-of-operators