Georges Creek Railway
Overview
HeadquartersLuke, Maryland
Reporting markGCK
LocaleWestern Maryland
Dates of operationJuly 10, 2006 (July 10, 2006)–Present
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Length14 miles (23 km)

The Georges Creek Railway (reporting mark GCK) is a shortline railroad in Western Maryland that performed contract switching and owns a 14-mile line between Westernport and Carlos. The railroad was headquartered at 119 Pratt Street in Luke in the former Luke Post Office.[1] Gerald Altizer and Pat Stakem are the primary partners in the company.[2]

Operating since December 2007[3] on CSX Transportation and plant trackage,[2] the firm did contract switching services for the Verso (formerly NewPage) Paper Mill in Luke.[4]

An article in the Baltimore Business Journal dated April 30, 2019, announced the closing of the paper mill in Luke by June 30, which affected the employment of the GCK's Alco T-6.[5]

Acquisition of the Georges Creek Subdivision

The acquisition of track for the Georges Creek Railway began 2005, the year CSX had begun the process of abandoning their Georges Creek Subdivision due to two washouts along the right-of-way and few customers. In December 2005, the deed for the northern 8.54 miles of track from Morrison, Maryland to Carlos, Maryland was transferred to WMS, LLC which would go bankrupt a year later due to investor difficulties. The following year, the Eighteen Thirty Group, LLC and Georges Creek Railway, LLC, filed to acquire and operate the line as Class III common carriers, having purchased the line out of bankruptcy court.[6]

On May 15, 2015, Eighteen Thirty Group with the Georges Creek Railway, LLC filed a notice of intent to acquire 5.4 miles of rail line from CSX: 4.8 miles of the Georges Creek Subdivision between Barton and Westernport, and 0.6 miles of the Thomas Subdivision.[7] The GCK entered an agreement with Eighteen Thirty Group to operate on these lines.[8] This acquisition brought the entirety of the former Georges Creek Subdivision under the control of GCK.

As of March 2016, several right of way improvement projects had been undertaken, but the washouts were not repaired, keeping the line north of the village of Moscow inoperable.

Abandonment and rail conversion

Dockets numbered 1293X and 1294X and filed with the Surface Transportation Board on February 3, 2020, stated, "Eighteen Thirty Group, LLC (“Eighteen Thirty”) and Georges Creek Railway (“GCR”) file this Verified Notice of Exemption pursuant to the class exemption at 49 C.F.R. § 1152.50 for Eighteen Thirty to abandon and GCR to discontinue service over an approximately 7.54-mile rail line between milepost BAI 26.00 in Moscow, MD and milepost BAI 18.46 in Shaft, MD, all in Allegany County, MD (the “Line”). No local rail traffic has moved over the Line during the past two years. Any overhead traffic on the Line can be and has been rerouted."[9]

An article in the Cumberland Times-News dated November 27, 2020 stated, "Allegany County officials approved an agreement last week with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to move forward on plans to construct a hiking and bicycling trail in the Georges Creek area. The project would involve construction of a trail extending 7.5 miles from the Great Allegheny Passage in Frostburg along Georges Creek railroad lines to Barton." The article also stated, "[T]he rail lines through Georges Creek are owned by the Eighteen Thirty Group, which obtained them from CSX Transportation.... [T]he Eighteen Thirty Group has expressed interest in transferring rights to Allegany County with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources stepping forward to remove the tracks and install the trail."[10] This action would replace the track the Georges Creek Railway has filed to abandon with a trail. This portion of the GCK has not seen a train in decades and is heavily covered in tree and brush growth.

Nine Dragons Paper Holdings Limited, which purchased the recycled-content bleached kraft pulp mill in Fairmont, West Virginia, was reportedly interested in buying the Luke plant in 2021.[11] An article dated January 19, 2021 on the website of WCBC Radio stated in part "that a firm is close to finalizing an agreement to purchase the Luke Mill and its wood yard. The firm, known as Whiskey River, would establish a lumber related business at the mill, which was shuttered by Verso Corporation in May of 2019."[12] By the end of 2021, however, the Luke Mill site remained dormant and there was no report of its purchase by any company. An article dated May 13, 2022 in the Mineral News and Tribune stated that mill's equipment and assets would be sold at a three-day auction starting on June 1, 2022. Capital Recovery Group, described as "a private equity firm that creates liquidity for its clients through expertise, innovative solutions and access to worldwide markets," according to the company’s website, had become the new owners of the former mill property.[13] The auction of the equipment and assets leaves little likelihood the site will ever reopen as a paper mill again, and rail service to the former mill remains unnecessary.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Contact Info". Georges Creek Railway. Archived from the original on February 8, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Sawyers, Michael A. (August 4, 2006). "Trains in Georges Creek". Cumberland Times-News. Cumberland, MD.
  3. ↑ "Georges Creek Railway". Archived from the original on February 20, 2014. Retrieved June 14, 2009.
  4. ↑ Terrance, Terry (August 31, 2014). "Georges Creek 101". RR Picture Archives.
  5. ↑ Sharrow, Ryan (April 30, 2019). "Western Maryland paper mill to close, impacting 675 workers". Baltimore Business Journal.
  6. ↑ Director Of Proceedings. "DUNCAN SMITH AND GERALD ALTIZER-CONTINUANCE IN CONTROL-EIGHTEEN THIRTY GROUP, LLC AND GEORGE CREEK RAILWAY, LLC Notice Of Exemption". Surface Transportation Board. Archived from the original on February 8, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  7. ↑ U.S. Surface Transportation Board, Washington, D.C. (2015-05-15). "Eighteen Thirty Group, LLC–Acquisition Exemption–Lines of CSX Transportation, Inc." Federal Register, 80 FR 28046.
  8. ↑ Georges Creek Railway, LLC. (May 1, 2015). "Verified Notice of Exemption of Georges Creek Railway, LLC" (PDF). Surface Transportation Board. Notice filed with the Surface Transportation Board. Docket No. FD 35928.
  9. ↑ "Filings". United States Surface Transportation Board.
  10. ↑ "County moving forward on trail project". November 27, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Nine Dragons purchases West Virginia mill".
  12. ↑ "Purchase of Luke Mill Appears Imminent | WCBC".
  13. ↑ "Company to sell off Luke mill's assets". May 13, 2022.
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