Galveston Wharves

Company History: The GWF was opened in 1900 by the city of Galveston, Texas to serve as a neutral terminal railroad for the city’s port on the Gulf of Mexico. It lasted until 1987 when the city leased the railroad to Rail Switching Services who partnered with Rail Management to operate the line under the name Galveston Railroad. At the time of the changeover, GWF operated their 43 miles of track with a fleet of five SW1001’s.

Successor/Parent History: The GVSR opened in 1987 When Rail Switching Services partnering with Rail Management, leased the lines of the Galveston Wharves Railway from the city of Galveston, Texas. In 2005, the Genesee & Wyoming shortline group bought the 14 shortlines of Rail Management including the GVSR. Today, GVSR has 38 miles of track jammed into an area of just 50 acres. Traffic includes chemicals, food, animal feed and machinery. Early on, GVSR leased their reporting marks to the Greenbrier Companies for use on their Golden West Service fleet of freight cars. This was because there was a difference in the way the movement of an empty car was billed based on if the car belonged to a “private owner” whose reporting marks ended in X, or to a railroad whose reporting marks ended in any other letter (except Z or U which were reserved for highway trailers and containers respectively.)

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.