Michigan company to acquire Cold Train service

QUINCY - Michigan-based Federated Railways Inc., recently announced plans to acquire the assets of Rail Logistics, including its Cold Train Express Intermodal Service.

The Michigan company, an affiliate of Federated Capital Corporation, has already entered into an acquisition agreement for Rail Logistics' assets, according to a recent Cold Train statement. The new subsidiary will be called Federated Cold Train and will conduct business as Cold Train.

The company will maintain its current management team and staff, including Steve Lawson as president and CEO, according to their statement.

In addition, the company will keep its current headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas.

Federated Capital Corporation's current holdings include the Great Lakes Central Railroad, a 400-mile regional railroad in Michigan and Federated Railcar, the owner of a fleet of refurbished passenger cars.

Rail Logistics launched its Cold Train service in Quincy in 2010. The company also recently began a similar service in Portland, Ore.

Cold Train's Washington-based container fleet now includes more than 400 refrigerated containers. They deliver refrigerated cargo from Washington and Oregon to 20 states, including several in the Midwest and on the East Coast, according to their statement.

Cold Train also has regular service to Toronto, Ontario in Canada.

Together, Cold Train and Federated Capital Corporation will be able to provide a wide range of freight transportation options for their customers.

In addition to hauling cargo eastbound, Cold Train brings back goods from the Midwest and East Coast to Washington and Oregon. Shipping full containers both directions helps reduce costs and provides both an inbound and outbound service for customers.

Lawson said becoming part of Federated's group of companies is a benefit for Cold Train.

"With Federated's resources behind Cold Train, we will have the capital necessary to keep pace with the continued increasing demand as we move towards our goal of becoming the largest asset based temperature controlled domestic pure intermodal carrier," he said in a statement.

Federated Capital Corporation president Louis P. Ferris said his company plans to add a minimum of 1,000 containers to the Cold Train fleet over the next five years.