Progressive Rail

What Progressive Rail does

Progressive Rail Incorporated is a privately held short-line railroad holding company headquartered in Lakeville, Minnesota. Founded in 1996, the company operates a family of 10 Class III short-line railroad subsidiaries across 8 U.S. states (California, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin). Its subsidiary roster includes Chicago Junction Railway, Chicago St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, Crab Orchard & Egyptian Railway, Clackamas Valley Railway, Cannon Valley Railroad, Iowa Traction Railway, Iowa Southern Railway, Progressive Rail Incorporated (the core parent subsidiary), St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, St. Paul & Pacific Northwest Railroad, and Wisconsin Northern Railroad. The company provides freight transportation, transloading, and related logistics services to industrial shippers in manufacturing, warehousing, and bulk materials handling, with interchange connections to all seven major North American Class 1 railroads (BNSF, CPKC, CN, CP, CSX, NS, UP).

The company's core technology is the physical short-line rail network itself, augmented by transloading infrastructure that handles bulk materials, blending, forest products, hazmat, heavy lift, tankcar heating, liquid storage, frozen storage, heated and inside warehousing, pipe, resin, and scales. Revenue is generated primarily through tariff-based transaction fees for carload freight movement and transloading services, with rates published in 6000 and 8000 series tariff documents for each subsidiary and made available through the NARPS tariff portal. Go-to-market is sales-led and direct B2B, with regionally assigned carload sales representatives covering Illinois, California, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, and the Pacific Northwest, supplemented by a 24/7 Customer Solutions team (1-888-PRO-RAIL), a customer web portal, and dedicated emergency and administrative contact channels. The company is owner-operated under Dave Fellon (Owner), with Andrea Dobbelmann as CEO and Layne Leitner as COO, and shows no external institutional investors, no public listing, and no disclosed M&A or funding activity.

Name

Progressive Rail

Legal name

Progressive Rail Incorporated

Website

https://progressiverail.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Progressive Rail Incorporated is a privately held short-line railroad holding company operating 10 Class III railroad subsidiaries across 8 U.S. states, providing freight transportation, transloading, and warehousing services to industrial shippers with connections to all major Class 1 carriers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Short-Line Rail Freight Transportation

NAICS

Short Line Railroads (482112), Support Activities for Rail Transportation (48821)

SIC

Railroads, Line-Haul Operating (4011), Railroad Switching & Terminal Establishments (4013)

akta.pro primary industry

Short Line & Regional Railroads (General Merchandise) (TLADACAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Rail Terminal Switching, Shunting & Yard Locomotive Services (TLAJAFAF)

Keywords

• Short line railroad
• Freight transportation
• Transloading services
• Carload shipping
• Rail freight logistics

Headquarters

HQ city

Lakeville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices11 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Freight Transportation Services: Short line railroad operations providing freight transportation across 8 states through 10 subsidiary railroads. Revenue generated through carload freight charges, transloading services, and tariff-based pricing for freight movement and storage.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Progressive Rail is a short-line railroad holding company that provides carload freight transportation and transloading services through a family of 11 railroad subsidiaries operating across 8 U.S. states (California, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin). Its services connect industrial shippers to all major Class 1 railroads (BNSF, CPKC, CN, CP, CSX, NS, UP) via interchange, supported by transload facilities offering bulk materials handling, blending, hazmat, heavy lift, tankcar heating, frozen/heated warehousing, liquid storage, and inside/outside storage.

Product overview

Progressive Rail is a short line and regional railroad operator comprising 11 railroad subsidiaries operating across 8 states (California, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin). The company offers freight transportation and shipping services through its family of railroads: Chicago Junction Railway, Chicago St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, Crab Orchard & Egyptian Railway, Clackamas Valley Railway, Cannon Valley Railroad, Iowa Traction Railway, Iowa Southern Railway, Progressive Rail Incorporated (the core parent subsidiary), St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, St. Paul & Pacific Northwest Railroad, and Wisconsin Northern Railroad. Each railroad operates independently with connections to Class 1 carriers (BNSF, CPKC, CSX, NS, UP, CP). The company also provides transloading services and operates Carload Connection facilities that offer bulk materials handling, blending, forest products, hazmat, heavy lift, tankcar heating, warehousing, and storage capabilities. No API or AI capabilities are offered.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Chicago Junction Railway (CJR) Short-line Class III freight railroad operating in Elk Grove Village, Illinois (Elk Grove Village Industrial Park) with Class 1 connections to CN, CPKC, CSX, NS, and UP; provides carload freight service and interchange for shippers in the Chicago region.
• Chicago, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (CS&P) Short-line Class III freight railroad operating in Bensenville, Illinois (Bensenville Industrial Park) with Class 1 connections to BNSF, CPKC, CSX, NS, and UP; provides carload freight service and interchange for shippers in the Chicago region.
• Crab Orchard & Egyptian Railroad (COER) Short-line Class III freight railroad operating in southern Illinois between Marion and Ordill, with Class 1 connections to BNSF and UP, plus a transload facility at 502 Old Creal Springs Road, Marion, IL.
• Clackamas Valley Railway (CVLY) Short-line Class III freight railroad operating in Clackamas, Oregon, with Class 1 connection to UP; serves shippers in the Portland metro area.
• Cannon Valley Railroad (CVRC) Short-line Class III freight railroad operating between Northfield and Cannon Falls, Minnesota, with Class 1 connection to UP and a transload location at 1022 N 5th Street, Cannon Falls, MN.
• Iowa Traction Railway (IATR) Short-line Class III freight railroad operating between Mason City and Clear Lake, Iowa, with Class 1 connections to CPKC and UP, plus a transload facility at 12045 West State Street, Mason City, IA.
• Iowa Southern Railway (ISRY) Short-line Class III freight railroad operating between Centerville and Albia, Iowa, with Class 1 connections to BNSF, CP, and NS, plus a transload facility at 1303 S. 21st Street, Centerville, IA.
• Progressive Rail Incorporated (PGR) Core short-line Class III freight railroad subsidiary operating the Dan Patch Line, Eagandale Line, Faribault Line, and Jesse James Line in Minnesota, with Class 1 connection to CP. Founded in 1996.
• St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (SP&P) Short-line Class III freight railroad operating in Watsonville, California, providing carload service to shippers on California's Central Coast.
• St. Paul & Pacific Northwest Railroad (STPP) Short-line Class III freight railroad operating in Kettle Falls, Washington, with Class 1 connection to BNSF, serving shippers in the Pacific Northwest.
• Wisconsin Northern Railroad (WNR) Short-line Class III freight railroad operating between Norma and Cameron, Wisconsin, with Class 1 connection to UP, plus a transload location at 8004 Commerce Parkway in the Norma/Chippewa Falls area.
• Transloading Services Comprehensive transloading and warehousing services operated at Progressive Rail's transload locations, including bulk materials, blending, forest products, hazmat handling, heavy lift, tankcar heating, liquid storage, frozen storage, heated warehouse, inside warehousing, outside storage, merchandise, pipe, resin, scales, track pans, heavy duty ramp, and freeway access; serves industrial shippers needing to transfer freight between rail and truck or to stage product.
• Carload Connection Intermodal and transload facility connection service operated by Progressive Rail that links shippers' freight to the Class 1 railroad networks of BNSF, CPKC, CN, CP, CSX, NS, and UP across the company's 8-state footprint.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Union Pacific (UP)coreTechnology or IntegrationClass 1 railroad connection providing interchange capability for Chicago Junction Railway (Elk Grove Village, IL), Cannon Valley Railroad (Northfield, MN), Iowa Traction Railway (Mason City, IA), Clackamas Valley Railway (Clackamas, OR), Wisconsin Northern Railroad (Chippewa Falls, WI), and St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (Watsonville, CA)
• BNSF RailwaycoreTechnology or IntegrationClass 1 railroad connection serving Crab Orchard & Egyptian Railway (Marion, IL), Iowa Southern Railway (Centerville/Albia, IA), and St. Paul & Pacific Northwest Railroad (Kettle Falls, WA)
• Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC)coreTechnology or IntegrationClass 1 railroad connection serving Chicago Junction Railway, Chicago St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, and Iowa Traction Railway
• Canadian National Railway (CN)coreTechnology or IntegrationClass 1 railroad connection for Chicago Junction Railway interchange operations
• CSX TransportationcoreTechnology or IntegrationClass 1 railroad connection for Chicago Junction Railway interchange
• Norfolk Southern (NS)coreTechnology or IntegrationClass 1 railroad connection for Chicago Junction Railway and Iowa Southern Railway (Albia, IA) interchange
• Canadian Pacific Railway (CP)coreTechnology or IntegrationClass 1 connection for Progressive Rail Incorporated's Dan Patch Line (Bloomington, MN), Lakeville transload facility, and Iowa Traction Railway (Mason City, IA)

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Market position

Strengths4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/progressive-rail-incorporated

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Progressive Rail