Jacksonville, Fla.-based Pinsly Railroad Company on Aug. 28 reported entering into a definitive agreement to acquire Hondo Railway LLC, located just west of San Antonio, Tex. Subject to regulatory approval, the purchase would bring Pinsly’s small-road company portfolio to seven (download Surface Transportation Board filing below).
Don Lee and Mark Holland in 2006 founded Hondo Railway, a Class III that interchanges with both BNSF and Union Pacific and offers access to 80,000 feet of industrial track for use in transloading and railcar storage. Customers ship such commodities as flour, corn syrup, ethanol and plastic pellets.
Pinsly Railroad Company (formerly known as Gulf & Atlantic Railways, LLC) already operates the 430-mile Florida, Gulf & Atlantic Railroad and 228-mile Grenada Railroad, which earned Honorable Mention in Railway Age’s 2021 Short Line and Regional Railroad Awards program; and in the past two years has acquired the 15-mile Camp Chase Railroad, 28-mile Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad, 10-mile Vermilion Valley Railroad, and 18-mile Pioneer Valley Railroad.
“Hondo Railway is a high-quality asset developed by high-quality business leaders,” Pinsly Railroad Company CEO Ryan Ratledge said. “Don and Mark, along with their families, have done an amazing job growing this railroad. We are thankful to be able to continue to work alongside Miles and Chase Lee, Don’s son and grandson. We are eager to deploy Miles’s experience on our other six properties where he will work to develop business opportunities, much like he has at Hondo over the years. This railroad and its team are a great addition to the Pinsly family of roads and will further diversify our commodity mix as well as geographic location.”
“We are proud of Hondo Railway, and grateful to our many wonderful employees and loyal customers over the years,” said Hondo Railway founders Don Lee and Mark Holland. “It has been a joy to build this company together, and it gives us great pleasure to become a part of the Pinsly rail group.”
