OmniTRAX summary
OmniTRAX is a holding company based out of Denver that operates more than two-dozen shortline railroads and real estate in the United States and Canada. It’s owned by the holding-firm Broe Group that directs a multibillion-dollar portfolio of real estate for the company. A total of 25 short lines are under OmniTRAX’s ownership across 14 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces.
History
OmniTRAX’s first subsidiary, Great Western Railway, was founded in 1901 to serve the Great Western Sugar Company in Colorado. The sugar traffic dwindled thanks in part to the discovery of high-fructose corn syrup and the 1974 expiration of the U.S. Sugar Act of 1934, which named sugar beets and sugar cane as basic commodities. By 1985, Great Western Sugar Co. and the railroad had succumbed to bankruptcy.
Denver developer and entrepreneur Pat Broe started purchasing remnants of the sugar company for his founded Broe Group. His intention was to buy property and create a parking lot to support development of an adjacent owned parcel. As owners of the property at the time, Great Western Sugar agreed to sell if the railroad became part of the sale. In 1986, Broe formed OmniTRAX to acquire and operate the Great Western Railway. The growth of the company since then resulted in the acquisition of multiple railroads throughout three periods of phases.
Operations
In addition to the more than two-dozen railroads, OmniTRAX’s owns and operates multiple industrial parks and transload facilities throughout the U.S. Its success over the years comes from its parent company’s practice in accumulating, assembling and repositioning development sites and commercial properties which surrounds the railroads for better access to freight traffic. Industrial parks serve as the prototype for industrial development along the lines while becoming an epicenter in 21st century manufacturing and producing. The formula of buying the land and using the railroads to feed it since the Great Western Railway’s revitalization has been actively used and replicated throughout OmniTRAX’s rail and real estate system. It offers customers access to the sites, getting the necessary trackage rights, and being a proactive partner in relationships with the Class I and other shortline railroads through the interchanges. Working with the customers while establishing and firming relationships results in an understanding with the overall base.
OmniTRAX focuses on an organic growth when acquiring new railroads and managing current ones. Managing multiple railroads, each with different strengths in freight traffic, allows the company to play “pitch and catch.” First with itself, second with other short lines to drive growth and benefit the Class I railroads.
A roster of all EMD diesel locomotives spreads across the OmniTRAX system. They range from GP7s and GP9s, to a variety of GP30s within the series. Over the years, the company has transitioned into full ownership while avoid leasing and using a fleet that can do everything from mainline freight haulage to industrial switching. This has cut the quantity of motive power from around 200 units to almost 100.
