RailTex was a transportation holding company that specialized in owning and operating short line railroads across North America.
Based in San Antonio, Texas, the public company was a leader in making unprofitable lines shed by Class I railroads into viable transportation routes. The company was taken over by RailAmerica in February 2000.
History
RailTex was founded in December 1977 by Bruce Flohr as a business that leased rail cars.[1] Flohr had invested $50,000 of his own money and had investor help for another $50,000 from investors. Flohr had started as a Southern Pacific train-crew brakeman in 1965 and rose to superintendent of Southern Pacific's San Antonio Division until he became deputy administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration in 1975.
Seeking to broaden the revenue base, he purchased the San Diego & Imperial Valley Railroad. Operating the railroad the company quickly developed a formula for a series of successful takeovers, including:
In 1986 it acquired its second short line, Austin & Northwestern Railroad.In 1989 it sold its rail car business to