I want to start my own railroad?

Question

How on Earth can I start and run a railroad in the USA?

Answer 1

Many of the major railroads are abandoning many of their smaller spurs as they are not profitable.

Small railroads are taking over these spurs and running them as small branchline railroads to service the businesses that are along the line.  They then interchange with the larger railroad.

Obtaining the rights to one of these small spurs is probably a good way to start.  And it does not take millions of dollars.  You just need to get the original railroad to allow use of the original rail, and a engine to run on the line.  Freight equipment is pooled so you do not need your own.

The other way, get into model railroading.  You can then build an empire as large as you want.

Good luck with your railroad from "ferroequinologist", if your are a linguist, you can figure out what my handle means

Answer 2

Its a bold idea and dont let the neigh sayers here smack down your dream.

me and a buddy where going to go into the rail service business our selves just last yr ( we are both engineneers)

your best bet is to look into local small scale "scab" outifts that handle non main line/ inter plant switching services and see about bidding on a contract to handle the company's train service

many companys out source they train aspect of thier business due to liability and costs. and might even own the tracks and engine.

for example the company i worked for handled the interplant swithing for Bulkmatic ( a trucking firm). blkmatic owned all the tracks ( except for some of the working lead) and the engine. if one could out bid the company i worked for they could come in and run the yard there.

also might be able to get into a company if you want to shell out the money and purchase a switch engine or 2 ( dont forget that you will need a larger  railroad to move your engine to a location and they dont do that for free) and you can go hunting for a company that needs in house switching again for example..smaller steel makers, warehouse facilities or a company like Corn Products.

but as a note most smaller firms that out source this type of work are often looking for a "package deal" that is some one who is willing to not only take over the swithing but also can handle the track maintance along with train service( knowing a train mechanic is a big plus also)

but stick small and make some reasonable starter goals and you could have your own railroad even if it isnt the next BN, UP or whatever

Answer 3

If you want a model one, then try looking on the NMRA's website.

For a virtual one, try Sim City, Microsoft Train Simulator or Trainz,

and for a real one, buy some land, get a big wodge of money, get some track, build some stations, get some trains etc

Answer 4

It is prohibitively expensive to start a railroad from scratch.  Good rail track and bed costs several million a mile, even if you can find it to buy.  Nevertheless, some people do get into the rail business, generally by operating over track abandoned by the major lines.  

This was more popular and more feasible 20 years ago, because the major RR's were getting rid of a lot of unprofitable spur routes.  Some of these had one or two viable customers; they just could not be serviced by the majors, who had higher costs (union labor, newer equipment, and so forth).  While much of that game is over for now, there are still some line abandonments.  If you know the  rail business and can operate on a single locomotive, you may be able to get a viable operation going.

The other possibility is to start a passenger service aimed at tourists.  These routes often use classic equipment and are designed to attract rail buffs and their families.  You need to think about scenic routes and a come up with a business plan that will allow you to operate profitably AND to do it without interfering with the operations of a freight RR.  If you can do that, and can convince the freight line that you won't cause them any hardship, they may agree to trackage rights.  Among other benefits of such an arrangement is that you won't have to pay for your own track maintenance, which is always expensive.  (Of course, you will have to pay the freight line for the trackage rights, but it would be part of a single package.)

Bottom line:  It's harder than it used to be, and it never was particularly easy, but some people do it.  You should get in touch with the Surface Transportation Board (the successor to the ICC), to talk about the legal/regulatory requirements.

Good luck!!

Answer 5

First you need to see if you are able to build a railroad via local gov. Second you need to purchase gravel, tons of two buy fours,rails, and spikes.Then purchase an engine and some cars. A narrow gage line is preferable.You can do this if you want or build a model railway.

Answer 6

Purchase the latest copy of sim city.

Answer 7

i am not sure about this one.

i am in Canada but most often laws are about the same.

we have 2 govt rail ways but in the town i am in there is one private one a short run of about 30 miles or so.

the person who owns that one bought rail line that was not used or seldom used and then made it work. the people who do that and there are quite a few manage to make it work by getting directly out there on the route and selling the use my rail road idea to the users.  A magazine in Canada called readers digest had an article on people who had done this and it said that they do things more like would have been done in the past. in one case they said the train engineer stopped his train got out went up to a place and pitched the idea of using the rail line right then and there . this worked and the engineer who did not own the rail way but just worked for it new more customers more success this is how its been done here

Answer 8

you ca, nt if you had billions you could buy one,rpicardo04 if youdlike to disscusin more detal rail and inter expert  con ,rail . csx  norfolfsouthern . guilford apl and mor

Answer 9

You know this doesn't really deserve and answer

Answer 10

Microsoft train simulator

Answer 11

I allways have love trains since i was 5 years old and i stared with just one wooden train of Thomas then when i was 9 i heard allot about  HOscales they look like reall trains but small and they bring a lots of rails. there are more scales

Answer 12

'Bout a hundred and fifty years behind the curve there, skipper.

Answer 13

Easy....................................... make billions of dollors in the next few days.........................and then once you have formed your railroad,dont let railroads like Union Pacific or BNSF take it over..................oh and did I state the part were you need billions of dollors?

Answer 14

Well, let's see. You'll need, um, uhhh, oh yes, some train cars and, um, uhhh, some engines, and, uhhh, oh, an engineer, and, uhm, maybe some fuel, and, uhhhh, well, you get the picture. duh!