This edition of The Mainline commemorates the 30 year anniversary of our short line railroads. Through Rick Corman’s vision, the company has grown from two short lines in Kentucky to eleven short line railroads spanning 904.09 miles of track across the nation.

Mr. Corman’s entrepreneurial spirit and can-do attitude paved the road for the company’s success and to this day push us to think outside the box and refuse to say anything is impossible. This is only one of the many reasons I am grateful for the time I got to spend learning from Rick.

Bluegrass One is an eco·friendly genset locomotive that was built entirely in the state of Kentucky. It was designed by R. J. Corman Rail power Locomotives and built to carry heavy freight loads using a gen set engine system that would decrease fuel consumption and harmful emissions. After being awarded a CMAQ Grant in September of 2009, R. J. Corman began working on gathering the documents required to build the locomotive. In 2013, after finalizing all contracts and legal paperwork, they began refabricating the locomotive that would become Bluegrass One.

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm. At the time, Katrina was the most costly, as well as the fifth deadliest, hurricane in the history of the United States. The massive storm surge caused severe destruction along the Gulf Coast and decimated parts of southern Mississippi.

On August 29, 2005 at 6:10 a.m. Hurricane Katrina, a devastating Category 3 storm, slammed into the central Gulf Coast near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana. The 145 mile-per- hour winds and heavy rains created a storm surge that soon breached the levee system protecting New Orleans. In the end, Katrina left 90 percent of the once vibrant city of New Orleans submerged in water. In the days and hours before Katrina hit, most people along the coast prepared to save what they could of their lives.

Submerged In the Midwest: R. J. Corman Storm Team Responds To A 500-Year Flood

R. J. Corman Storm Team repaired rain washouts in the Midwest in April 2008, but the devastating rains were yet to come. By mid-June of the same year, record breaking rain hit and levees along the Mississippi River started failing with Iowa and Missouri hit the hardest by flood waters. U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa was quoted saying “nearly a third of Iowa is already under water and water levels are continuing to rise”.

50+ Miles of Surfacing

• 40,000+ New Crosstie Intallation
• 76 Rehabbed Road Crossings
• 42+ Lineal Miles CWR Relay
• 29 New Turnouts

50 Miles from Callahan to Starke, FL

CSX created the S-Line project to increase capacity and shift traffic from their A-Line to the S-Line. This was due to selling a portion of their A-Line to the State of Florida for the SunRail project.