OmniTRAX to Acquire Cleveland Commercial

The Cleveland Commercial Railroad is being acquired by OmniTRAX in a deal expected to close this week.

The sale price was not disclosed. As part of the transaction, the CCR will be renamed the Cleveland & Cuyahoga Railway while the CCR’s subsidiary Cleveland Harbor Belt Railroad will become the Cleveland Port Railway.

The CCR operates on 35 miles of former Wheeling & Lake Erie and Norfolk Southern (Erie Railroad) track on the southeast side of Cleveland while CHB handles switching at the Port of Cleveland facilities on Lake Erie.

Primary commodities handled by the two short lines are steel, scrap metals, grain and chemicals. The CCR interchanges with NS and the W&LE while CHB interchanges with NS and CSX.

OmniTRAX already operates the Newburgh & South Shore Railroad in Cleveland. It also operates the Northern Ohio & Western Railway near Toledo.

“We look forward to working with the Port of Cleveland and are confident our partnership will lead to significant growth in both marine and rail activity,” said OmniTrax CEO Kevin Shuba in a statement.

“We expect the partnership with the Port of Cleveland will be another example of the success OmniTRAX and its partners have achieved when rail and maritime work together.”

David Gutheil, chief commercial officer at the Port of Cleveland said his agency will work with OmniTRAX to build on-dock rail business.

Port of Cleveland Ranks High in Service Survey

The Port of Cleveland recently ranked the highest among Great Lakes ports for customer satisfaction and performance excellence in Logistics Management magazine’s annual Quest for Quality Awards program.

The magazine evaluates ports in the categories of ease of doing business, value, ocean carrier network, intermodal network, and equipment and operations.

Port authorities said in a news release that the awards are regarded in the transportation and logistics industry as the most credible measure of customer satisfaction and performance excellence.

The port cited a recent move of a 114-metric-ton transformer as an example of the type of business that it has been able to perform.

Great Lakes Towing Co. completed the ntermodal short-sea barge move using the Port of Cleveland’s rail loop and its switching carrier, the Cleveland Harbor Belt Railroad. Norfolk Southern delivered a car carrying the transformer, which then moved via a rail loop to a port dock.

The cargo then was transferred to a barge and towed to a DTE Energy Electric Co. facility. The loop, which opened in September 2012, connects the port to NS and CSX.

When it became operational, port officials hoped it would attract a larger customer base that could take advantage of rail and water logistics, and extend the port’s reach to the Midwest.

“This rail and water logistics movement is an example of the port’s ability to provide seamless logistics transfers in Cleveland, making shipping more cost effective,” port officials said.

“We added more than a mile of rail track to enhance the interface with Norfolk Southern and CSX, and we launched our own liner service to Europe through a charter agreement with Amsterdam-based carrier Spliethoff Group,” said Port of Cleveland Chief Executive Officer Will Friedman.

Get the New Railroad in Town While You Can

Cleveland Harbor Belt Railroad No. 2369 and Cleveland Commercial Railroad No. 2377 at Bedford earlier this summer.

The Cleveland Harbor Belt is a new railroad operation that will provide switching services at the Port of Cleveland behind Cleveland Browns Stadium.

This GP39-2 started life as a Missouri-Kansas-Texas unit and was lettered for the Cleveland Commercial Railroad just prior to getting its new CHB lettering.

For now the unit is being used on the regular afternoon CCRL train out of Falls Junction (Glenwillow) near Solon. This unit is due into the Port any time now, and I’m guessing photos of it will be tough to get after that.

Photographs by Roger Durfee

 

Roster view of the 2369 at Bedford.

CCRL 2369 and 2377 at Bedford earlier this summer before the 2369 was lettered for the Cleveland Harbor Railroad.

Leading the afternoon scrap empties at Bedford through a tunnel of trees.

Taking the connecting track to the scrap dealer at East 93rd Street.