The Goderich–Exeter Railway is a short line

freight Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

that operates around of track in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Created in 1992, it was the first short line railway in Canada to be purchased from a

class I railway In the United States, railroad carriers are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$5 ...

, in this case Canadian National Railway (CN). It took over operation of further CN trackage in 1998. As of 2004, the railway had 44 employees. Its headquarters are in Stratford, Ontario, and owned by

short-line railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that oper ...

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

Genesee & Wyoming Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) is an American short line railroad holding company, that owns or maintains an interest in 122 railroads in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom and formerly Australia. It operates ...

.Genesee & Wyoming - Goderich-Exeter Railway (GEXR)
/ref>

History

The Goderich–Exeter Railway was created in 1992 by its owner, RailTex (subsequently purchased by

RailAmerica RailAmerica, Inc., based in Jacksonville, Florida, was a holding company of a number of short-line railroads and regional railroads in the United States and Canada. In 2007, RailAmerica was acquired by Fortress Investment Group. Before that, it ...

in 2000, and

in late 2012), to operate over Canadian National Railway's Goderich Subdivision, of track between Stratford and Goderich, Ontario; and its Exeter Subdivision, of track between

Centralia, Ontario South Huron is a municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in the southern part of Huron County. It was formed by amalgamation of the townships of Stephen and Usborne with the Town of Exeter in 2001, in an Ontario-wide municipal ...

and Clinton Jct. that was acquired from CN. The railway started operation on April 3, 1992. On November 15, 1998, the Goderich–Exeter Railway took over operation of CN's Guelph Subdivision, which runs over between Silver Junction (in Georgetown) and

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

. The railway had expressed an interest in acquiring the former CN branchline from Stratford to

Owen Sound Owen Sound ( 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay. The primary tourist attractio ...

, but was unable to do so as a result of changes to Ontario labour law which made the acquisition uneconomic. On February 1, 2021, train 581 ran away down the hill in Goderich, Ontario. They hit a pickup truck, semi truck and a shed. Some cars and the locomotives derailed as a result.

Freight services

The railway handles around 25,000 carloads of freight annually, consisting mainly of automobile parts,

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

and

fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

grains A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legumes ...

, soy meal and

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

. From Stratford the line serves the east west corridor of Huron and Perth Counties serving Mitchell, Dublin, Seaforth, Clinton, and Goderich. There is also a spur line running south from Clinton, serving, Brucefield, Hensall, Exeter, and Centralia.Goderich–Exeter Railway map
/ref> Traffic on the Goderich Subdivision mainly consists of agricultural products and salt from the Sifto Canada

salt mine Salt mining extracts natural salt deposits from underground. The mined salt is usually in the form of halite (commonly known as rock salt), and extracted from evaporite formations. History Before the advent of the modern internal combustio ...

s in Goderich, and construction equipment produced by a Volvo Motor Graders plant in Goderich (closed 2010). It also connects with the port facility at the Port of Goderich. As of 29 August 2020, GEXR operates on the

Guelph Junction Railway The Guelph Junction Railway is a shortline railway owned by the City of Guelph, Ontario, and serves the city's northwest industrial park. The railway was the first federally chartered railway in the Commonwealth of Nations to be owned by a munic ...

Interchanges

The Goderich–Exeter Railway interchanges with CN in Stratford yard.

Locomotives

As of 2017, the railway owned 13 locomotives, which were acquired used. Its first four locomotives, purchased between 1992 and 1994, were given names of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

an characters (#177 was named " Titania", #178 " Paulina", #179 " Portia", and #180 "

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

"), as Stratford is the home of the Canadian Shakespearean Festival. Unit #'s 178, 179, and 180 have since been sold to other railways. GEXR was acquired by

in 2012. The railway also leases a few locomotives. All of its locomotives were made by

General Motors Electro-Motive Division Progress Rail Locomotives, doing business as Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its su ...

and include

EMD GP38 The EMD GP38 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1966 and December 1971. The locomotive's prime mover was an EMD 645 16-cylinder engine that generated . The company built 70 ...

s, EMD GP35s,

EMD GP40 The GP40 is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between November 1965 and December 1971. It has an EMD 645E3 16-cylinder engine generating . The GP40 is longer than its EMD 567D3A-engined pred ...

s, and

EMD SD40-2 The EMD SD40-2 is a C-C diesel-electric locomotive built by EMD from 1972 to 1989. The SD40-2 was introduced in January 1972 as part of EMD's '' Dash 2'' series, competing against the GE U30C and the ALCO Century 630. Although higher-horsep ...

s. As of March 2017, some of its locomotives are owned by subsidiaries of

Roster

List of GEXR's active units (as of July 2019)

4095, built in May-1966 Nee SOR 4095 Nee

Canadian National The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN ...

4004 EMD GP38-3 2073, rebuilt April 2017 Nee GEXR 3821

EMD GP38-2 The EMD GP38-2 is an American four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors, Electro-Motive Division. Part of the EMD Dash 2 line, the GP38-2 was an upgraded version of the earlier GP38. Power is provided by an EMD 645E 16-cyl ...

2117, built in Dec-1972 Nee RLHH 2117 EMD GP35 2500, built in March 1965 Nee QRGY 2500

Return of CN

After a 21-year lease to GEXR, CN took over GEXR's yards and the Guelph Subdivision on Nov. 15, 2018. Metrolinx assumed ownership and responsibility for the Guelph Sub from Georgetown to Kitchener. However, GEXR still runs on the Goderich and Exeter Sub.

References

External links

Goderich-Exeter railway on Genesee & Wyoming
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goderich Exeter Railway Ontario railways Rail transport in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo Rail transport in Stratford, Ontario Rail transport in Huron County, Ontario RailAmerica Genesee & Wyoming 1992 establishments in Ontario Standard gauge railways in Canada