Small-Road Briefs: CORP/Cathcart; OmniTRAX/SLSI; R.J. Corman

Cathcart was selected by CORP, a Genesee & Wyoming subsidiary, to provide railcar inspection and repair services across the 362-mile railroad’s major yards in Roseburg, Cottage Grove, and Medford, Ore. (G&W Photograph)

Central Oregon & Pacific (CORP) contracts Cathcart Rail (Cathcart) for railcar inspection and repair. Also, OmniTRAX hosts emergency response training in Colorado with the Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI) and local fire departments; and R.J. Corman Railroad Group (R.J. Corman) holds its annual RJC Gives Week.

CORP / Cathcart

Cathcart on June 24 reported being selected by CORP, a Genesee & Wyoming subsidiary (see map, right), to provide railcar inspection and repair services across the 362-mile railroad’s major yards in Roseburg, Cottage Grove, and Medford, Ore. Cathcart started work as CORP’s sponsored repair agent in May, with a team of eight carmen and a location supervisor.

“The Cathcart team ensures the rail equipment operating on the CORP is safe and reliable for the customers, crews, and communities that we operate in, and prevents undue delays of shipments,” said John Bullion, CORP General Manager.

“We are looking forward to this new partnership and value the nearly two-decades long relationship between the Cathcart and G&W teams,” said Casey Cathcart, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Cathcart, whose Belpre Industrial Parkersburg Railroad earned Honorable Mention in Railway Age’s 2021 Short Line and Regional Railroad of the Year Awards program.

In related developments, Cathcart earlier this year reported expanding its railcar repair facility in Kansas City, Mo., and was contracted by TGS Cedar Port Railroad, part of Trans Global Solutions, Inc., to handle its Baytown, Tex., industrial park’s railcar inspection and repair needs.

OmniTRAX / SLSI

OmniTRAX recently completed an emergency response training exercise at its affiliate Great Western Railway of Colorado. Officials from the SLSI, Loveland Fire and Rescue Authority, and Windsor Severance Fire Rescue were in attendance, along with representatives from Great Western Railway and OmniTRAX, a supply-chain and logistics services provider, and the transportation affiliate of The Broe Group.

The two-day training was part of the SLSI’s Hazardous Materials Instructor Training (HMIT) Program, which helps railroads and their emergency response partners improve hazmat response plans through a “train-the-trainer” format. The curriculum is said to supplement the railroad’s existing training, while adding collective industry insights and best practices. Additionally, the classroom training and interactive field simulations are designed to improve first responder crisis assessment, communication and management.

“Emergency preparedness is essential to crisis prevention and management,” said Kayden Howard, who last summer took on OmniTRAX’s newly created role of Senior Vice President of Health, Safety, and Environmental Programs. “Proactive exercises like this offer invaluable hands-on training with railcars and locomotives that help first responders rapidly diagnose and manage staged emergency scenarios. We are grateful to SLSI and our local emergency response partners for working together to keep our communities safe.”

“We commend the Great Western Railway for proactively including local area first responders in the Hazardous Materials Training class, which will lead to an educated, efficient, and coordinated response if an incident should occur,” said John Walsh, Director of Hazardous Materials Programs at SLSI. “The SLSI was able to customize the hands-on and classroom training to the operations of the Great Western Railway, providing the opportunity to role-play scenarios first responders and safety professionals are likely to experience.”

In a related development, SLSI last fall trained first responders in hazmat incident response in Kentucky with hosts R.J. Corman Railroad Group and Paducah & Louisville Railway. Also, a study by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center has found that implementing SLSI recommendations results in measurable growth in short line safety culture.

R.J. Corman

R.J. Corman on June 10-14 held its annual philanthropy week, RJC Gives. The company’s employees contributed more than 150 hours of volunteer service and donated 1,500-plus items to organizations around Nicholasville, Ky., where R.J. Corman is headquartered.

Following are among the organizations that the company partnered with:

• Military Missions (volunteer hours)
• DV8 Kitchen (volunteer hours)
• Ronald McDonald House (volunteer hours)
• Jessamine County Food Pantry (volunteer hours)
• Thomson-Hood Veterans Center (volunteer hours)
• Chrysalis House (volunteer hours)
• The Nest (volunteer hours)
• International Book Project (donated items)
• Jessamine Food Pantry (donated items)
• The Nest (donated items)
• Military Missions (donated items)
• GreenHouse17 (donated items)
• All God’s Children (donated items)