Pioneer Lines (formerly Pioneer Railcorp) is a holding company for a number of American short-line railroads. Other subsidiaries offer locomotive and freight car leasing to its own railroads and to third parties, and also freight car cleaning. Pioneer Lines also has interests in real estate and newsletter publishing. It has been owned by BRX Transportation Holdings since 2019. The company, originally named Pioneer Railroad Company, was founded on January 30, 1986 by Guy L. Brenkman. The company raised the capital for its first acquisition through a self-underwritten public stock offering. It continued this method of raising capital for subsequent acquisitions. Almost all of the short lines owned by Pioneer are lines spun off by Class I railroads. On August 8, 2022 Patriot Rail Company announced its intention to acquire Pioneer Lines. Railroad subsidiaries Pioneer Lines operates 15 railroads in 12 states, as of 2022: Decatur Junction Railway (DT) Elkhart and Western Railroad (EWR) Fort Smith Railroad (FSR) Garden City Western Railway (GCW) Georgia Southern Railway (GS) Gettysburg and Northern Railroad (GET) Indiana Southwestern Railway (ISW) Kendallville Terminal Railway (KTR) Keokuk Junction Railway (KJRY) Michigan Southern Railroad (MSO) Mississippi Central Railroad (MSCI) Napoleon, Defiance & Western Railroad (formerly the Maumee and Western) Pioneer Industrial Railway (PRY) Ripley and New Albany Railroad (RNAB) Vandalia Railroad (VRRC) Former railroads Alabama and Florida Railway (AF) - Line totally abandoned in 2011. Alabama Railroad (ALAB) - Line sold to Alabama Railroad LLC in 2020 Shawnee Terminal Railway (STR) (Out of service) West Michigan Railroad (WMI) - Line partially abandoned in 2012, then sold to the Hamilton Hartford Group on November 3, 2015. References External links American companies established in 1986 Companies based in Greenwood Village, Colorado Companies based in Peoria County, Illinois Companies traded over-the-counter in the United States Railway companies established in 1986 United States railroad holding companies