NEW YORK — Investment firm Ridgewood Infrastructure has acquired a controlling interest in Sierra Railroad Co., the California company including short line Sierra Northern Railway and locomotive builder RailPower.
At the same time, with Ridgewood’s investment, Sierra is acquiring Central Valley Ag Transport, an agricultural transload facility owner and operator serving customers along Sierra’s rail network.
“Sierra is a high-quality shortline rail platform with strong fundamentals, a diversified customer base, and a strategic footprint in some of California’s most important industrial and agricultural corridors,” Ryan Stewart, a partner at Ridgewood Infrastructure, said in a press release. “Our team brings deep experience owning and operating shortline and other railroad businesses across the United States, and we see meaningful opportunities to build on Sierra’s strong foundation by driving additional freight volumes for both existing customers and new customers, expanding transload capabilities, and supporting innovation across the platform.”
Sierra Northern operates approximately 130 miles of track in three non-contiguous segments, in the Sacramento and Oakdale areas in Central California and in Ventura County in Southern California. It interchanges with Union Pacific and BNSF Railway.
RailPower was acquired by Sierra Northern in February 2025 to expand its efforts to build low- or zero-emission locomotives, including hydrogen-powered units [see “Sierra Northern acquires …,” Trains.com, Feb. 7, 2025]. Sierra Northern began testing its first hydrogen unit shortly thereafter [see “Sierra Northern holds first test …,” April 8, 2025].
The acquisition of CVAT brings Sierra transload capabilities that are significant in California’s dairy and agricultural industry.
“This partnership with Ridgewood marks an important next step for Sierra,” said Sierra Northern CEO Kennan H. Beard III. “Ridgewood’s experience operating rail and infrastructure businesses, combined with their investment approach, gives us the resources and support to accelerate execution across the platform. We are focused on growing volumes, expanding transload capacity, and continuing to serve our customers with the reliability and responsiveness they expect.”
Sierra Railroad Co. founder Mike Hart said Sierra “had reached a point where meaningful near-term investment was required to pursue identified opportunities. Ridgewood stood apart as a differentiated, value-added partner with a deep understanding of the rail industry and a proven track record of building lower middle-market infrastructure businesses.”
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You don’t hear about very many companies getting into California, most every one is leaving.