Updated - 05/01/2023
GCW HO Rail Services -
ISO 9001 Quality
Maintenance & Emergency Services
Our Service to the GCW Community of HO Scale Rail Customers
GCW Rail Services is the Single Source service provider for all facets of GCW Great Lakes Division. Although we are made up of several entities, our individual companies come together to form a custom package to respond to our customers’ unique needs. All companies and service groups are unified under one GCW HO RR banner and adhere to the same set of core values in order to provide consistent, high-quality solutions for our HO rail customers.
Maintenance Services Include:
- Track Rehabilitation
- Replacement of Broken or Worn Out Rail
- Ballast Replacement & Surfacing
- Drainage Ditching & Culvert Replacement
- Emergency Repairs
- Track Inspection & Annual Maintenance
- Joint Replacement
- Switch & Turnout Cleaning
- Industrial Maintenance
- Track Undercutting
- Right-of-Way Clearing & Brush Cutting
- Pressure Washing
- Painting
- Generator Maintenance
- Vehicle Services
- General Maintenance
Repair Services Include:
- Traction Motor Changes
- Wheel Bearing Inspections
- Track Panel Installation
- Switch or Turnout Installation
- Emergency Rail Watch
- Railcar Maintenance
24 Hour Fire and Emergency Response
Our trains operate across much of the Mid-West, where drought conditions and high winds are common, so we can expect – and plan for – wildfires on or near our tracks. Although we take steps to prevent fires, they can and do occur, from lightning strikes, trespassers or other sources. The sooner we put them out, the sooner train service can resume and the damages to property – ours and our neighbors’ – can be minimized.
To combat wildfires, we have tank cars full of water staged in areas prone to fire conditions. And in the Mis-West, we have two unique firefighting “weapons” in our arsenal – specially equipped trains that are an effective and innovative approach to fighting fires.
Specialized Equipment:
- Side Booms
- Hi-Rail Rotary Dumps
- Hi-Rail Vac Trucks
- Hi-Rail Excavators
- Hi-Rail Welding Trucks
- Grapple Truck Super Saw
- Mobile Command & Communications Centers
- Helicopter Leasing
Wreck Services Include:
- 24/7 Emergency Dispatch
- Re-railing Locomotives & Cars
- Post Derailment Clean-ups
- Load Transfers & Adjustments
- Heavy Equipment Transfer & Recovery
- Helicopter Leasing
Have a problem with your HO Layout? We will help solve it!
Our maintenance crews will handle tie jobs, right-of-way clearance, ditch repair and switch or turnout cleaning. We are highly-equipped and strategically located to handle any job – big or small.
We can help you maintain your industrial lead with annual track maintenance and repair plans. Let us take care of the maintenance so you can focus on your core business!
GCW's Rail Services Inspiration is from the R.J. Corman Railroad Group
R.J. Corman Railroad Construction was founded in 1973 by Richard J. Corman.
In 1983, R. J. Corman Derailment Services was founded and opened its first division in Columbus, Ohio. From 1997 to 2000, eight more Derailment Services divisions were opened across the north and mid-east.
The company's original headquarters, Jay Station, was completed and opened in Nicholasville, Kentucky. The property was dedicated to Rick's father, Jay Corman.
R.J. Corman began operating short line railroads in 1987 with the purchase of the Bardstown Line and the Memphis Line. The company continued to acquire and rehabilitate many lines throughout the 1990s. They've reopened many Railbanked lines, and in Pennsylvania, in 2008 they began work to reopen a fully abandoned non-railbanked corridor, to serve a new industrial park, landfill, and quarry.[2][3]
The Bardstown Line became home to My Old Kentucky Dinner Train, which took its inaugural run in 1989.
In 1990, R. J. Corman's first Distribution Center was opened in South Union, Kentucky.
R. J. Corman Material Sales began in 1994, after the company agreed to begin serving as Conrail's full service track and rail material distributor.
In 2001, R. J. Corman launched its Railroad Switching company.
From 2003 to 2004, R. J. Corman's runway, Lucas Field, was constructed in Nicholasville, Kentucky. With that project's completion, R. J. Corman Aircraft Maintenance was launched.
R. J. Corman Railroad Group announced on June 18, 2009, that it had acquired the assets of Railpower Technologies Corp, and its U.S. subsidiary, Railpower Hybrid Technologies.[4]
Fortune Magazine released a feature story on Rick Corman, an American classic self-made success.
On April 1, 2013, R. J. Corman Signaling was formed and began operations.
Rick Corman died on August 23, 2013, after an 11-year battle with Multiple Myeloma.
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