The state’s oldest short-line railroad, Concord-based New England Southern, has been sold to United Rail, a Las Vegas-based railroad consolidator.
The railroad’s owner, Peter Dearness, was meeting Tuesday with the rail transit officials within the state Department of Transportation, who must OK the sale along with federal regulators.
New England Southern, which leases the century-old rail line that runs from Concord and heads north, was formed after regional giant Boston and Maine Railroad went bankrupt in the 1970s and began abandoning rail lines.
New Hampshire state government bought several to keep them open, including 73 miles stretching north from Concord, and leased them to private firms. New England Southern was formed in 1982 when Dearness, an experienced railroad man, won the contract. He hoped to also operate in western Massachusetts but never had operations south of Manchester. NES acronym turned into the nickname “Nessie,” complete with a Loch Ness-like monster as a mascot.
At its peak, New England Southern employed 22 full-time staff and ran more than 2,400 yearly carloads hauling supplies ranging from cattle feed to utility poles, scrap metal to chemicals. But in recent decades the line has lost almost all its customers as industries such as paper mills have shut or shifted to truck freight. Its only regular customer now is a specialty paper mill in Tilton.
The company has no office; Dearness and his son Karl are the only full-time employee, and its only engine is parked on an open siding near Exit 18 off Interstate 93 in Canterbury.
“Our plan is to consolidate the smaller and sometimes overlooked short lines and consolidate them under the United Rail banner,” Michael Barron, CEO of United Rail, said in a statement. “We plan to aggressively grow our presence in other markets. With the inclusion of the NES under the United Rail umbrella, we now have a presence in the Northeast, an area where we feel there are great growth opportunities.”
(David Brooks can be reached at 369-3313 or dbrooks@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @GraniteGeek.)
