Regional Rail announced this morning (Oct. 29, 2019) that it had reached agreement to acquire the Florida Central, Florida Midland, and Florida Northern railroads, which operate a combined 208 miles of track in and around Orlando, Fla. Those railroads serve more than 65 customers, with more than 90% of the traffic inbound for industries including heating, building products, chemicals, food and agriculture, scrap metals, and plastic resins.
Regional Rail currently operates the East Penn, Middletown & New Jersey, and Tyburn railroads, which operate 155 miles, along with Diamondback Signal LLC.
“Pinsly’s Florida operations are highly complementary to Regional Rail and expand our geographic footprint,” Regional Rail CEO Al Sauer said in a press release. “… We intend to retain all of the lines’ employees and look forward to supporting and working with the local management team to continue the lines’ impressive growth.”
Pinsly acquired the Florida Central in 1986 and added the Florida Midland and Florida Northern in 1987 and 1988. It continues to operate the Pioneer Valley Railroad in Massachusetts. The company’s operations were featured in an article in the June 2017 Trains.
Pinsly CEO John Levine said in the press release, “We are delighted to have reached an agreement with Regional Rail and 3i [an investment firm which backs Regional Rail] to acquire our Florida operations. I have known the Regional Rail management team for many years and believe they will be very good stewards of the culture and team we have created.”
The acquisition is subject to approval from the Surface Transportation Board.
Starting with CF-7s here back in the 1980s it’s been a great ride in Central Florida. Here’s hoping Regional Rail can keep it going.
So will this be the end for Pinsly, or are they refocusing on their roots in New England?