Texas terminal for refining and chemical shippers opens for business

Alpenglow Rail seeks to expand its reach on US Gulf Coast

A photograph of tank cars parked in a rail yard.

Alpenglow Rail's Port Arthur facility is open for business. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Alpenglow Rail subsidiary USA Rail has a new railcar storage, switching and transloading logistic park near Port Arthur, Texas. The facility has received its first railcars and is open for business.

Alpenglow Rail seeks to target refining and chemical shippers operating in the Port Arthur area. The facility recently completed the first phase of its development, which includes the construction of over 30,000 feet of track. 

The terminal will provide customers needing or seeking access to Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU), Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP), CSX (NASDAQ: CSX) and CN (NYSE: CNI). KCS is the primary service provider for the 51-acre Port Arthur terminal. 

“Our first phase of construction at Port Arthur was such a huge success that we are announcing that we will roll immediately into our phase two construction, doubling the facility to store more than 1,000 railcars and constructing a state-of-the-art transloading facility that will be capable of handling many commodities such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, crude oil, asphalt, biodiesel, ethanol and more,” said Alpenglow Rail CEO Rich Montgomery.


Through this Port Arthur terminal, “we have direct access to all the major refining and chemical players with direct access to middle America and Mexico. That gives USA Rail customers a huge advantage over other rail terminals in the region and has resulted in nearly all of the terminal’s capacity being pre-leased under long-term contracts from local rail shippers,” Montgomery said.

(Image: Alpenglow Rail)

This isn’t only the Gulf Coast-area facility for Alpenglow Rail. When Alpenglow Rail, a company that seeks to invest and operate in rail businesses, acquired USA Rail in August, it also acquired USA Rail’s terminal in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. That facility is a 1,000-railcar spot storage, switching and transload yard served by UP. 

Alpenglow Rail and USA Rail also expect to announce in the first quarter of 2021 the construction of an additional rail terminal in the Gulf Coast region.

Besides these Gulf Coast-area terminals, Alpenglow Rail and its subsidiaries also operate VIP Rail, which has two current rail terminals in Ontario, Canada, and a third terminal set to open in eastern Ontario. 


Denver-based Alpenglow Rail describes itself as a company that “develops and manages freight rail businesses and related transportation assets across North America and is actively seeking acquisitions and partnerships in short line railroads, terminals and related transportation businesses.”

Subscribe to FreightWaves’ e-newsletters and get the latest insights on freight right in your inbox.

Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Joanna Marsh.

Related articles:

Alpenglow finalizes first short-line rail acquisition

Borderlands: Trade official wants new free-trade zone on Texas-Mexico border

Short line shorts: Jaguar grows network, OmniTRAX adds rail-ready sites


Exit mobile version