Category: Short Line Railroads

WAMX No. 3834 idles at a siding southwest of Pittsburg, TX on Thursday. The locomotive, painted in Pittsburg State University colors, rolled into town this morning to recognize PSU’s homecoming. – Courtesy Watco Companies

Watco Companies debuted today WAMX No. 3834, a GP38-3 that’s painted in Pittsburg State University’s colors to recognize the university during its homecoming week. The locomotive rolled into Pittsburg, KS this morning and was parked near downtown for a short ceremony before university and Watco officials, and the school’s mascot, a gorilla.

Onlookers and students were allowed on the locomotive, which was painted at Watco’s Coffeyville, KS shops.

After the ceremony, No. 3834  was moved to a siding southwest of town where it will remain until Saturday. The locomotive will be brought back into town and parked on Broadway Street for the school’s football game.

“Watco has a great relationship with Pittsburg State University and many of our team members are alums of Pitt State,” said Tracie VanBecelaere, Watco communications director. “We thought this would be the perfect way to let everyone see just how proud we are of our Gorillas.”

This is the fourth Watco locomotive to be painted in school colors and PSU is the first NCAA Division II University to receive the honor. The only other university to receive an official, custom paint job is the University of Alabama. Cherryvale High School received the honor last year to commemorate the opening of the Cherryvale Yard and Boise Valley Railroad has a locomotive similar in color to Boise State University.

“I don’t know of another university that enjoys such strong support from its community,” said PSU President Steve Scott. “We’re fortunate to have home-grown industries such as Watco in our city, and I know that this locomotive will be a source of pride for Gorillas throughout the world.”

Seven men – Broc Bryant, Jeff Denton, Rich Johnson, Wade Lunt, James Andrews, Kenny Rowell and Dion Wilkens – came together at the Coffeyville shop to transform No.  3834 into “The Gorilla” in less than three weeks.

“We were under a pretty tight timeline,” explained Kenny Rowell, shop foreman. “A normal paint job would take us about 125-150 hours, but the design on this one was quite a bit more complex. By the time it was all said and done, we put in more than 300 hours on it. It was hectic, but we wanted to have it ready for Homecoming. I really think it was worth it.”

“The Gorilla” has already generated buzz with rail fans throughout the nation, and many will likely make their way to Pittsburg to see the locomotive in person.

“Rail fans have a great deal of passion for these engines,” said VanBecelaere. “They love the history, they love the new paint jobs and they love to follow where these locomotives travel. I had a gentleman call me last week to ask me about ‘The Gorilla’ because he’d heard about it online. It’s another way Pittsburg State is making national news.”

More on this story.

From staff reports

Watco Companies, LLC is bucking the recent trend by railroads to honor their predecessor roads by painting locomotives in heritage schemes.

WAMX No. 3834 awaits new paint at Watco’s Coffeyville, KS shops. The locomotive is being painted red and gold to honor Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, KS. – Courtesy Watco Companies

In the last few years, Class Is Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have painted locomotives to recognize roads that they absorbed. Norfolk Southern honored its predecessors for its 30th anniversary in 2012 by painting 20 new locomotives in commemorative schemes.

At Watco, which operates 23 short lines, painting its locomotives to honor an educational institution in a town that the company services is becoming a routine public relations move much closer to home.

Watco plans to roll out a GP38 painted in Pittsburg State University’s red and gold scheme in time for the Kansas school’s homecoming football game Oct. 20. WAMX No. 3834 will be the fourth locomotive that Watco has painted to recognize either a university or high school.

The unit is expected to arrive in Pittsburg the day before PSU’s game against Missouri Western.

“I don’t know of any other railroads out there that honor schools like we do,” Watco spokeswoman Tracie VanBecelaere said.

In summer 2011, Watco unveiled a blue and white SD40-2 in the colors of Cherryvale High School. The company also has painted engines to honor Boise State University and the University of Alabama.

Watco’s latest entry in its unofficial textbook scheme is a former Bangor & Aroostoock Geep that’s being painted at Watco’s Coffeyville, KS, shops. The “split” Pittsburg State Gorilla logo will go on the nose, sides and rear.

VanBecelaere said the locomotive doesn’t just honor the school’s success on the football field but also recognizes what the university means to the city and to Watco. Last year, PSU won the Division II national championship, and this year the Gorillas are ranked No. 1.

“We have a close association with PSU,” she said. “Their football players will stick around in the off season and work for Watco, doing summer jobs like mowing and maintaining properties.”

In summer 2011, Watco’s South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad painted an SD40-2 in Cherryvale High School’s colors. SKOL’s headquarters is in Cherryvale, KS. – Courtesy Watco Companies

Special paint, like that used on the Cherryvale locomotive, is being applied to prevent permanent damage from graffiti. VanBecelaere said the paint will allow graffiti to be easily removed with a spray solution.

When finished, No. 3834 will operate on the South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad in and around Pittsburg on manifest trains.

From news releases

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. announced earlier this month that it has completed the acquisition of RailAmerica, Inc. and entered into a new five-year Senior Secured Credit Facility comprised of a $1.875 billion term loan and $425 million revolving credit facility.

Among railroads that RailAmerica operates is the Dallas, Garland & Northeastern, KYLE Railroad, Texas Northeastern Railroad, Missouri & Northern Arkansas and Kiamichi Railroad.

Immediately following the closing of the acquisition, control of RailAmerica was placed into a voting trust with R. Lawrence McCaffrey appointed as trustee. The trust will remain in effect until the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) issues its decision on GWI’s application to control RailAmerica and its railroads, which decision could be as early as the fourth quarter of 2012 or as late as the first quarter of 2013. During the period that RailAmerica is held in trust, GWI will account for its ownership under the equity method of accounting. Expected cost savings from the business combination will not be realized until the STB approves GWI’s control of RailAmerica’s railroads.

GWI financed the $1.37 billion cash purchase price for RailAmerica’s shares, the refinancing of $1.23 billion of GWI and RailAmerica’s total outstanding debt prior to the acquisition, as well as transaction and financing related expenses with approximately $1.85 billion of debt from its new five-year Senior Secured Credit Facility, approximately $460 million of cash from its recent public offerings of common stock and tangible equity units and $350 million through a private issuance of mandatorily convertible preferred stock to The Carlyle Group.