Galveston Railway EMD SW1001 302 in 1990.
(© 2024 John Cornett, All Rights Reserved)
GALVESTON RAILROAD
The Galveston Railroad (reporting mark GVSR) is a Class III terminal switching railroad headquartered in Galveston, Texas. It primarily serves the transportation of cargo to and from the Port of Galveston.
GVSR operates 32 miles (51 km) of yard track at Galveston, over a 50-acre (200,000 m2) facility.
The railroad was formed in 1900 as the Galveston Wharves Railway. It is owned by the City of Galveston, and GVSR took over operations in 1987.
On May 26, 2005, Genesee & Wyoming (G&W) announced that it has agreed to purchase the railroad operations of Rail Management Corporation (RMC), the parent company of Galveston Railroad. G&W paid $243 million in cash and assume $1.7 million in company debt to gain control of 14 short line railroads from RMC across the southeastern United States, as of June 1, 2005.
Galveston Railway
The Galveston Railway, Incorporated, was organized in 1987 to lease the railroad operations at the Port of Galveston. The original company was chartered on February 4, 1854, as the Galveston Wharf and Cotton Press Company. By charter amendment, the name was changed to the Galveston Wharf Company on February 11, 1860. Ten years later, on August 4, 1870, the legislature authorized the company to construct a railroad in the City of Galveston connecting its wharf facilities with the Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad Company and any other railroad subsequently serving Galveston. Construction of the railroad began in 1870, and it was placed in operation in January 1872.
The railroad expanded as the port grew. There were twenty miles of track in 1897, twenty-four miles in 1898, and thirty miles in 1899. By 1917 the company operated three miles of main track and nearly forty-one miles of yard tracks and sidings. In that year railroad revenues were $186,730, and the Galveston Wharf Company owned eight locomotives and five freight cars. The Galveston Corporation owned nearly 88 percent of the Galveston Wharf Company. However, the City of Galveston owned an undivided one-third interest in the company, which it received in 1909 in settlement of a long standing lawsuit, and was entitled to name three of the nine directors.
On November 29, 1940, the City of Galveston bought out the private owners, and the port became a municipally owned facility. The railroad was then operated by the Board of Trustees of the Galveston Wharves. By the mid-1980s economic conditions facing the Port of Galveston required major changes in order to keep the facility competitive. As a result, the railroad was leased to a new non-union operator. The Galveston Railway, Incorporated, was chartered on September 25, 1987. Members of the first board of directors were K. Earl Durden of Diana; Michael E. Durden and Linda Gray, both of Longview; and Edwin Clark and Bobby Parker, both of Dothan, Alabama. The company was affiliated with Rail Switching Services of Dothan. The railroad provides a general terminal and switching service to various industries and the Port of Galveston.
Source:
Nancy Young, “Galveston Railway,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed November 08, 2024, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/galveston-railway.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
This postcard photo, ca. 1900 depicts the tremendous amount of cotton that was shipped at the Galveston Wharves.
(SMU Central University Libraries, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons)
Overview
Headquarters: Galveston, Texas
Reporting mark: GVSR
Locale: Galveston, Texas
Dates of operation: 1900–present
Predecessor: Galveston Wharves Railway
Technical
Track gauge: 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Length: 32 miles (51 km)
GVSR 1008 at Galveston
Genesee & Wyoming Galveston Railroad 1008, GVSR 1006 passing the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum on Galveston Island, Texas. The Galveston Railroad (GVSR) is a 38-mile short line freight railroad serving the Galveston Port Authority and interchanging with BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad. The GVSR was acquired by Genesee & Wyoming in 2005.
