The
Dispatch The newsletter for Watco Companies
FPO
November 2020
Table of Contents Elwood Joliet & Southern Railroad Begins Chicago Area Operations _________________________________ 4 Watco’s Houston Team Donates to Local Elementary School ________________________________________ 5 Watco Restores Cattle Train Service in Queensland __________________________________________________ 6 Long-time Team Member Has Interesting Career at Catoosa _________________________________________ 7 Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Takes Top Safety Award _____________________________________________ 8 Team Member Anniversaries _____________________________________________________________________ 9-10 Ron Tapley Retires from Birmingham ______________________________________________________________ 11
Highlights
On the Cover
Check Out the New WatcoGear.com (It’s never too early to start shopping for the holidays.) Supplies and deliveries may be slower due to COVID.
On the cover: Anthony Evans shot this image of two Watco Australia locomotives, hauling 45 empty cattle wagons, pass through Thagoona, bound for Warwick, Queensland, in Check out our new custom hats on demand!
Share your story with us: marketing@watcocompanies.com 2 The Dispatch | November 2020
preparation for the new cattle train service.
Safety Anniversaries
October 1: Euclid Terminal (OH) – 10 years October 9: Arkansas Southern Railroad (AR, OK) – 15 years October 9: Louisville Scrap Terminal (KY) – 24 years October 12: Ashdown Switching (AR) – 5 years October 13: Yellowstone Valley Railroad (ND) – 8 years October 17: Dallas (Zacha) Terminal (TX) – 4 years October 29: Stillwater Central Railroad (OK) – 2 years
November 2020 | The Dispatch 3
Elwood Joliet & Southern Railroad Begins Chicago Area Operations For some, Elwood and Joliet Jake bring to mind “The Blues Brothers.” But at Watco the names represent the newest short line, the Elwood Joliet & Southern Railroad (EJSR), which started operations on October 28. The rail line is less than 3 miles from the Old Joliet Prison in Joliet, Illinois, where “The Blues Brothers” movie starts out. EJSR General Manager Tyler Dunsworth said, “We went out and met with the customers to find out what their needs and expectations were, so the transition was a smooth one. We look forward to serving them and growing the business.” The four customers on the line include a chemical blending company, a grain transloader, a scrap metal business, and a sodium carbonate provider. In addition to serving the four customers along the approximately 2-mile line, the team will also be serving an adjoining storage and transit (SIT) yard that Watco purchased. The 39-acre SIT yard will serve customers needing forward storage of crucial plastic, chemical, and other bulk inventory with effective access to the extensive Chicago rail network. The yard currently holds approximately 500 cars and will have room to accommodate more as upgrades are made to the site. 4 The Dispatch | November 2020
Although forward-thinking in its business model, the line also gives a nod to its history with the tag, “The Phoenix Line,” under the logo. The reference is to the Phoenix Horse Shoe Company, which the line served back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The EJSR team might not be on “a mission from God,” like the Jake and Elwood characters, but they are looking forward to delivering safe, efficient service to our new customers, helping them grow their businesses, and providing critical storage capacity in Chicagoland.
Watco’s Houston Team Donates to Local Elementary School Each year, the Watco Houston team has helped with a golf tournament to help raise funds to benefit a local elementary school. COVID-19 reared its ugly head and caused the cancellation of the tournament, but that didn’t stop the Houston team. On Friday, October 23, Watco Houston presented a $10,000 check to the Woodland Acres Elementary School. The donation will assist the school in purchasing additional school supplies, equipment, and other items they need. Vice President of Greens Port Industrial Terminals Ernie Farrand and Sales Assistant Jennifer Sévère
attended the check presentation ceremony at the school. It was a small, socially-distanced event in the gymnasium, with kids and staff present. Sévère said, “Watco Houston considers it a blessing to be a blessing to others in need. We wanted to make sure we were able to continue to support the school and the children who attend it.” The staff stated they have purchased numerous books and will be purchasing needed equipment for the school using the $22,800 donation Watco Houston presented to them from last year’s golf tournament.
November 2020 | The Dispatch 5
Watco Restores Cattle Train Service in Queensland Watco’s East West rail team in Australia recently performed a task that hadn’t been done in Queensland for more than 20 years: They moved cattle by train. Watco East West, which is jointly owned by Watco Australia and East West Road & Rail, was formed in 2019 to pursue livestock and regional container rail freight opportunities in Queensland. Watco’s Australia rail team recently delivered a 20-wagon train of cattle from western Queensland to processors in the eastern part of the state where the beef will be used for both domestic supplies and export. The team was able to move just the one train before rains halted the delivery of additional cattle. To restore cattle train service, Watco East West purchased 45 cattle wagons in 2019 that had been used in the former cattle train service and brought them back to life at the maintenance base in Warwick. The Queensland government contracted Watco to provide the service operating the trains and the 6 The Dispatch | November 2020
new freight hub. The movements are encouraged by the government in part to help take trucks off the road for environmental and congestion concerns. Watco Australia’s expertise and capability to establish and deliver cost-efficient rail freight services, combined with the local industry expertise and capability of East West Road & Rail, provide freight customers in Queensland a new alternative in the market to deliver rail freight and also terminal services. “There had been significant interest from big pastoral companies and processors alike in taking advantage of the rejuvenated service,” said Watco East West director Chris Hood. “The hub represents a new opportunity for both producers and processors to re-look at the logistics of moving cattle not only in the southwest but also from the central and northwest regions.”
Team Member Spotlight
Billey Wiley
Billy Wiley has seen a lot in his nearly 45 years at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa in Catoosa, Oklahoma. Wiley started working at the port in 1976, and performed many duties throughout the years before joining the Watco team as an operator in 2017, when Watco took over stevedoring and transloading duties at the port’s main breakbulk and project cargo dock. “I was down there one day and they said they were hiring, and I got on. Didn’t know I’d be there this long,” Wiley laughed. “The old port’s had it’s ups and downs but I’ve hung around.”
the barges, and I’ve seen the water low enough for 1,500-ton barges to drag the bottom,” Wiley said. “I’ve unloaded so many barges and seen so many things come in, mostly steel coils though. We could unload one of them in about five hours. They say it takes seven or eight, but we can do it in five. A lot of those coils weigh 25,000 pounds, some of them will weigh up to 50,000. They’re about seven or eight feet tall.” He recalled many unique events from his career, like pulling a calf from the channel, encountering a boat with a German crew, the port’s 25th anniversary celebration, seeing 3-foot carp from the dock, pulling a news van out of the mud (and getting a thank you card from the news station), and a guy who brought his goat to work.
Wiley got his start working in the barges, rigging steel I-beams and coils to be discharged to the dock. His time in the barges didn’t last too long, though.
“Somebody gave him a goat. He tied it up by the water and it started raining. The towboat people called up and said he needed to get it because the water was rising and about to drown the goat. This guy had a nice Lincoln, and he put that goat in the back seat. By the end of the day, that goat had about eaten his back seat up. He wasn’t laughing, but we sure did,” Wiley said.
“I was down in the barge, and the owner looked over the edge and said, ‘I wish somebody had their CDL (Commercial Drivers License).’ I said I had one, and he said, ‘Well get on up out of there.’ I started driving trucks for them and it kept me out of those hot barges,” Wiley said.
Wiley plans on retiring toward the end of the month and said, “About the only bad luck I’ve had is losing my wife. I had some health problems earlier this year, and they thought it might be COVID. It was just half a cold and blood pressure, but the boys I work with sure were worried.”
After that, Wiley spent the majority of his time driving, operating forklifts, and verifying the inventory of what arrives, is discharged, and loaded.
Golf has been part of Wiley’s life even longer than the port, and he plans to focus more on his golf game once he retires. He started caddying at golf courses in the area in the 1960’s. Over the years, he’s caddied a lot of tournaments, including for professional golfer Nancy Lopez and country singer Billy Parker. He plays quite a bit as well.
“Our bosses and all of them out there, they’re all hard workers and they’re good bosses and good people.”
“I’ve been out there in the cold, and I’ve been out there in the heat. I’ve seen the water high enough you could step off the dock right onto
November 2020 | The Dispatch 7
Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Takes Top Safety Awards The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association recently presented the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad (WSOR) with two of its top safety awards at its annual convention, held virtually due to COVID-19. The WSOR received the Central Region President’s Award, which is based on 2019 safety data. They received awards for having the most man-hours with a 0.00 frequency rate, according to Federal Railroad Administration data. The second award was for having the lowest frequency rate, below the industry average for 250,000 - 500,000 man-hours worked. “When you consider the number of obstacles our team faced while accumulating over 400,000 man-hours in 2019,” said WSOR General Manager Preston Nelson, “These awards are proof that every team member is committed to and believes in our safety culture.” He added, “We cannot thank each team member enough for their individual contributions. The level of commitment, creativity, and resilience this team displays each and every day is something we are proud of and should never take for granted. We are all honored to be industry leaders, and everyone on this team remains committed to continuing to safely improving every day, not only for ourselves and our families, but our customers.”
8 The Dispatch | November 2020
Team Member Anniversaries Congratulations to the following team members celebrating September anniversaries:
1 Year: Lisa Adkins, Stephen Anderson, Scott Behn, Kaleb Biffar, Kris Bond, Stephanie Bunger, Carmen Candelo,
Nicole Waller, Robert White, Willie White, Corey Witherspoon, Sam Yim
4 Years: Brian Addis, Katie
Eric Caprilla, Todd Cayler,
Bequette, Donald Frazier, Guy
Reagan Chalupnik, Angela
Heffington, Tonya Hilton, Robert
Chappell, Rodney Corn, Lucas
Jansson, James King, Bryan
Culbertson, Robert Dattilo, Felix
Leonard, Brian Quisenberry,
Delgadillo, Nathan Doyle, Daniel
Richard Thomas
DuBois, David Edwards, John
5 Years: Shalae Bastian, Marcus
Ellenburg, Hector Franco, Jason Gray, Joshua Gulick, Mark Jeffers, Andrew Koski, David Larue, Henry Legg, Marlon Maldonado, James McKay, Ryan Miller, Leonard Minor, Edem Nyanibo, Nyree Outley, Brian Pruin, Martavius Ray, Patric Raymond, Shawn Schaefferkoetter, Donald Sorge, Saw Taw, Christina Utphall, John Vela, Jesse Warner, Samuel Watt, Allen West
2 Years: James Alexander, John Barrows, Thomas Coward, Timothy Davis, Joseph Elliott, Norman Fair, Drew Fitzwater, David George, Efrain Gonzalez, Christie Harvey, Kimberly Hughes, Jeremy Jones, Kyle Jones, Matthew Koester, Jonathon LeBleu, Jeremy Lothridge, Arthur Meade, Lacie Moore, Kenneth Peters, Garrett Pickens, Isaac Poitra, Andres Rivera, Lanny Ross, Nadeia Shemwell, Chad Simpkins, Charles Sizer, Wendy Smith, Zachary Tatum, Anita Van Rooyen,
Carlton, Fabiola Cervantes, Corey Davis, Renita Edwards, Erik Gath, Billy Hams, Timothy Keegan, Paul Kotzman, Daniel Mavers, Andy Nielsen, Curtis Olson, Jon Ripley, Anthony Shepherd, Zachary White, Floyd Yeubanks
6
Years: Andrew Beard, David Boissenin, Brad Bourbina, Nicholas Bowers, William Burns, Brian Butler, Daniel Duron, Ryan Esser, Ryan Fayet, Brian Gehlsen, Marcus Graham, Thomas Lundy, Geraldine Mansch, Marty McClendon, James Miller, Anthony Oliva, John Patton, Mark Rainey, Brady Sansom, Jeremy Spates, Charles Spencer, Matthew Tillery
7 Years: Jayson Banks, John
Boehm, Brandon Burdick, Valrie Calhoun, James DeGraaf, Brian Freeman, Nick Golian, Terry Gooch, Robert Hiller, Katarina Lawrence, Justin Mead, Booker Sanders, Dylan Skeen
8 Years: Matthew Adams,
Jeffrey Ebarb, Amber Gardner, Timothy Humphrey, Aaron Jensen, Dexter Sepulvado, Cody Tracy, Michael Trull
9 Years: Gregory Bartholomew,
Everts Batista, Brooke Beasley, Shane Bengson, James Chinowith, Anthony Coziar, Erik DeHoyos, Justin Gaulrapp, Brent Henson, Robert Hill, Geoffrey Holder, John Janikowski, Melissa Jasper, Lawrence Jones, Jonathon Key, Lester LaCaze, Hilda Morin, Zachary Parker, Aaron Tombosky, Eric Turner, Dyke Whitney, John Wiebelhaus, Gregory Wooldridge
10 Years: Courtney Burks,
Alan Cheek, Michele Howard, Karzaer Jackson, Timothy Lewis, Keith Singleton, Kevin St Aubin, James Tyler
11
Years: Chad Davis, Kevin Hampton, Brian Kemp, Joseph Knight, Jacob Link, John Walker
12
Years: Derek Brau, Andrea Harville, Travis Hodge, Joseph Magruder, Jeffrey Pierce, Ali Wade
13 Years: Charles Chipman,
Shawn Coates, Armando DeLeon, Philip Roberts, David Rotz, Jesus Sanchez
14 Years: Eddie Blackwell,
Joshua Jewell, Gerald Lewis, Afton Lundy, Marvin Miner, Lawrence Rapp, Earl Sims, Ron Spencer
Dennis Burt, Mickaela Doyle,
November 2020 | The Dispatch 9
Team Member Anniversaries
15
Years: Dale Bright, John Dozier, Robert Godfrey, Je Mon Guerrero, Charles McCall, Leon Norrgard, Ramon Salazar
16 Years: Rick Baden, Joshua
Braden, Zachary Henwood, Scott Holmes, Michael Marino
16 Years: Marvin Albritton, Kyle Kozman
17 Years: Robert Powell, Eric Slimp
19 Years: Jimmy Johnson,
27 Years: Carlos Barnes, John
21 Years: Steven Ayala, Cyril
29 Years: James Belsha 32 Years: Charlie Estes, Bruce
Gerald Wiser
Bangari, Jesus Cepeda, Steven Russelburg, Kelley Scarrow
22 Years: Timothy Hoffman 23 Years: Lloyd Huston 24 Years: Paul Loper 25 Years: Chad Byles 26 Years: Julie Sanchez
Ostrander, Terry Showalter
Ferrebee, Kenneth Jordan
33 Years: Mary Mauch 35 Years: David Bidleman, Vic McClure, William Norris
37 Years: Charles Faraone
Unique Rail Connection Discovered Portfolio manager Tony Delserone mentioned in a conversation with Watco CFO Rick Baden that he had a Watco connection through his great-grandfather. His great grandfather worked for a railroad that eventually became what is now Watco’s Pennsylvania Southwestern Railroad (PSWR). Delserone’s great-grandfather went to southern Pennsylvania around 1900 to work for the Pennsylvania Railroad, also known as the Pennsy. In the 1920s, the line carried three times more traffic than any other railroad its size. However, in 1970, the railroad filed for bankruptcy. This, and the bankruptcy of other large railroads, led to the creation of the Staggers Act, a bill reducing federal regulations for railroads and allowing short lines like the Pennsylvania Southwestern to get their start. Baden sent Delserone a PSWR hat as a reminder of the railroad and the connection to his family. Delserone recalled that about 20 years ago, he and his family took a ride on a historical steam train that rode the PSWR line. They stopped for lunch by the tracks, and Delserone noticed one of the rails was stamped Carnegie Steel 1898. “Still in service a century later,” he told Baden. “That was about a year before Andrew Carnegie and his lieutenant H.C. Frick sold out to J.P. Morgan to form the United States Steel Company. Of course, the coke hauled by that line eventually supplied U.S. Steel.” Yet another connection: A U.S. Steel location in the South is served by another Watco short line, the Birmingham Terminal Railway. 10 The Dispatch | November 2020
Ron Tapley Retires from Birmingham Terminal Railway Ron Tapley spent a big part of his last day as a team member of the Birmingham Terminal Railway (BHRR) saying goodbye to old friends and sharing advice with some of his younger team members. “It’s really important to remember to always look after one another and to be safe in everything you do,” said Tapley. “Communication is so important and is what makes it safe and helps us do our jobs better.” BHRR General Manager David Tarwater said, “Mr. Tapley was just an all-around great guy. It did not matter if he was on the clock or not, he was always there to help. I have known Mr. Tapley for 23 years, and he has never been injured. The main reason for his unblemished safety record was because he was deliberate in everything he did. He would look at every situation to determine the safest course to take. If there wasn’t a safe way to conduct a task, he would stop until he made it safe to proceed.” Tapley started working in the rail industry back in 1997 for the Birmingham Southern Railroad for the track department. Four years later, the railroad experienced a slow-down, and he was offered a position with the Fairfield Southern, where he ran locomotives. Four years later, he went back to the Birmingham Southern Maintenance of Way (MOW) team and then transitioned over when they were purchased and became the BHRR. Tapley said, “You always hear rumors when a purchase happens, and I was nervous at first. But Watco has turned out to be a very family-oriented
company, and both the team and management have been super. I wanted to retire (earlier), but didn’t because I’d miss the people I worked with.” Kris Colley, BHRR Roadmaster, said, “Mr. Tapley was a great team member and an even better guy that represented the BHRR in nothing but a positive manner. It’s impossible to replace someone who not only was a role model for everyone else at the MOW, but was a friend to everyone outside of work as well. There is no better person to have working with you than Mr. Tapley and I just want to thank him for everything he has done for the BHRR and Watco.” Working with the different types of equipment was one of the things Tapley liked best about his job, and he will continue working with equipment in his retirement. “I’ll still be doing some dozer and backhoe work on the side,” said Tapley. “I’d get bored sitting at home and staring at the walls. I need to keep busy.” Tapley is also looking forward to seeing more of his five grandchildren and possibly getting to travel with his wife once things get a little more normal. “I told the younger guys that it’s going to go by really fast,” Tapley said. “It seems like not that long ago one of our other team members was helping me pick out a locker at the bathhouse, and now I’m leaving, and someone else will be taking over that same locker.” November 2020 | The Dispatch 11
