Southern Ontario

Company History: The SOR was launched in 1998 and joined the RailAmerica shortline family in 2000. They operate two disconnected segments of former Canadian National lines. The first runs north from the Lake Erie port of Nanticoke to Calidonia, then northwest to Branford and Paris, Ontario. The other segment serves the heavily industrialized area around Hamilton and Burlington, Ontario. In total they own 69 miles of track. They are now part of the Genesee & Wyoming family of shortlines. Traffic includes chemicals, fertilizer, grain, lumber, machinery, petroleum products, plastics, scrap, steel, vegetable oil and wallboard.

Successor/Parent History: 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.
On July 23, 2012, Genesee & Wyoming Inc. announced that it intended to purchase RailAmerica. They assumed control on December 28, 2012.
Map Courtesy of Genesee & Wyoming Inc.

Brief History: Canada is a North American country stretching from the U.S. in the south to the Arctic Circle in the north. Major cities include massive Toronto, west coast film centre Vancouver, French-speaking Montréal and Québec City, and capital city Ottawa. Canada's vast swaths of wilderness include lake-filled Banff National Park in the Rocky Mountains. It's also home to Niagara Falls, a famous group of massive waterfalls.