In September of 2016, Constellium-UACJ opened in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Constellium is an aluminum production facility that provides parts for the automotive industry. The R. J. Corman Distribution Center in South Union, KY stores and ships the aluminum coils, which weigh up to 45,000 pounds, into the Kentucky Transpark for the plant.  The coils are then used to produce finished aluminum body sheets which will be used at major automotive manufacturers.

Hankook Tire built their first manufacturing facility in the United States in Clarksville, Tennessee. The company has 8 locations worldwide, but decided when they built the Tennessee facility to start receiving their material by rail for the first time. R. J. Corman Railroad Company began construction on a rail spur in March of 2015, building track on the inside of the facility and out to their Memphis Line. 

For nine years, R. J. Corman Railroad Company served the J.M. Smucker jelly plant on their Tennessee Terminal, but the plant slowly began to decrease the production of its fruit spreads. Smucker’s announced in 2010 the plan to close the jelly plant in Memphis, Tennessee by the summer of 2013, and instead, was going to invest more into the facility in Orrville, Ohio, where the company is based. However, in early 2013, Smucker’s representatives from Ohio contacted R. J. Corman to gain insight on a potential peanut butter plant site.

This edition of The Mainline commemorates the 30 year anniversary of our short line railroads. Through Rick Corman’s vision, the company has grown from two short lines in Kentucky to eleven short line railroads spanning 904.09 miles of track across the nation.

Mr. Corman’s entrepreneurial spirit and can-do attitude paved the road for the company’s success and to this day push us to think outside the box and refuse to say anything is impossible. This is only one of the many reasons I am grateful for the time I got to spend learning from Rick.

Bluegrass One is an eco·friendly genset locomotive that was built entirely in the state of Kentucky. It was designed by R. J. Corman Rail power Locomotives and built to carry heavy freight loads using a gen set engine system that would decrease fuel consumption and harmful emissions. After being awarded a CMAQ Grant in September of 2009, R. J. Corman began working on gathering the documents required to build the locomotive. In 2013, after finalizing all contracts and legal paperwork, they began refabricating the locomotive that would become Bluegrass One.

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm. At the time, Katrina was the most costly, as well as the fifth deadliest, hurricane in the history of the United States. The massive storm surge caused severe destruction along the Gulf Coast and decimated parts of southern Mississippi.

On August 29, 2005 at 6:10 a.m. Hurricane Katrina, a devastating Category 3 storm, slammed into the central Gulf Coast near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana. The 145 mile-per- hour winds and heavy rains created a storm surge that soon breached the levee system protecting New Orleans. In the end, Katrina left 90 percent of the once vibrant city of New Orleans submerged in water. In the days and hours before Katrina hit, most people along the coast prepared to save what they could of their lives.

Submerged In the Midwest: R. J. Corman Storm Team Responds To A 500-Year Flood

R. J. Corman Storm Team repaired rain washouts in the Midwest in April 2008, but the devastating rains were yet to come. By mid-June of the same year, record breaking rain hit and levees along the Mississippi River started failing with Iowa and Missouri hit the hardest by flood waters. U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa was quoted saying “nearly a third of Iowa is already under water and water levels are continuing to rise”.

50+ Miles of Surfacing

• 40,000+ New Crosstie Intallation
• 76 Rehabbed Road Crossings
• 42+ Lineal Miles CWR Relay
• 29 New Turnouts