WASHINGTON — Jaguar Transport Holdings, which owns or controls 11 other short lines, is seeking to buy two railroads in Washington state, the company said this week in filings with the Surface Transportation Board.
The transaction would include the Columbia Basin Railroad (reporting marks CBRW) and the Central Washington Railroad (reporting marks CWAR). The Columbia Basin operates 86 miles of track — 73 owned by the railroad and 13 leased from BNSF — in a series of lines centered around Warden, Wash., southwest of Spokane. The Central Washington operates 80 miles of track in two disconnected sections in or near Yakima, Wash. The two railroads date to 1986.
The July 14 filings — here for the CBRW and here for the CWAR — say the intention is to close the deal by Aug. 13. However, BNSF Railway must approve the transaction; its agreement to sell the lines used by the two railraods includes right-of-first-refusal language giving the Class I railroad the option to repurchase the lines in the event of a transfer of control. The filing says closing will depend on BNSF’s pending response.
Financial and other terms of the sale were redacted from the STB filings.
JTH’s Jaguar Rail Holdings operates eight short lines: the Southwestern Railroad in New Mexico; Texas & Eastern; Oregon Eastern; Missouri Eastern; Charlotte Western and Kinston Railroad, both in North Carolina; Waterloo Railroad in Iowa; and the recently created Kansas City West Bottoms Railroad [see “Union Pacific to lease 1.25 miles …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 20, 2025]. Two other railroads, the Cimarron Valley Railroad in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Colorado, and Washington Eastern Railroad, are controlled through Wyoming & Colorado, operator of the Oregon Eastern. The West Memphis Base Railroad is controlled through a separate JTH affiliate.
