Stefan Soloviev speaks to San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad staff in his first meeting with them at La Veta Pass on the day a judge approved the sale. La Veta Pass, at nearly 10,000 feet, is the highest railroad point in North America. (Courtesy Soloviev Group)
A southern Colorado railroad has been sold at bankruptcy auction to the owner of a nearby line, which bested a Denver firm’s bid.
A federal judge last week approved the sale of the San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad — which has about 150 miles of track radiating east, west and south from Alamosa — to a subsidiary of Soloviev Group.
Soloviev Group, a holding company that since 2018 has also owned the Colorado Pacific Railroad, which runs east from Pueblo to the Kansas border, paid $10.7 million for SLRG, according to bankruptcy court filings.
The short-line SLRG runs across five counties. It sends cargo, and previously sent tourists, through Alamosa and over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains at La Veta Pass, 9,200 feet above sea level.
While it has been owned by Chicago-based Iowa Pacific Holdings, the railroad has amassed millions of dollars in debt. In 2019, several companies owed money convinced a federal judge to place it under bankruptcy protection and let a receiver operate it.
The San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad is seen in yellow. (Courtesy U.S. Bankruptcy Court)
The SLRG was previously expected to be sold to OmniTrax, a Denver-based railroad conglomerate that is part of Pat Broe’s The Broe Group. In October, OmniTrax announced it had reached a deal with the receiver to purchase the railroad for $5.75 million.
OmniTrax’s announcement prompted pushback from San Luis Valley Great Outdoors, a recreation group that builds trails in the region, which said in a court filing that the company “is against allowing trail systems within and near its railroad easements.”
And, critically, Broe’s announcement prompted a $6.05 million offer from the Soloviev Group, followed by one from a firm named Big Shoulders Capital. That prompted a judge to set an auction for Nov. 17.
The auction prompted 62 bids, with the $10.7 million one from Soloviev Group topping the field. OmniTrax’s final bid was $10.5 million.
“We look forward to working with shippers in the territory served by the line to meet their agricultural and other transport needs efficiently and cost-effectively,” Stefan Soloviev, chairman of the Soloviev Group, said in a statement. “We are planning significant upgrades to the service so the line can operate at the highest possible level of efficiency.”
Stefan Soloviev speaks to San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad staff in his first meeting with them at La Veta Pass on the day a judge approved the sale. La Veta Pass, at nearly 10,000 feet, is the highest railroad point in North America. (Courtesy Soloviev Group)
A southern Colorado railroad has been sold at bankruptcy auction to the owner of a nearby line, which bested a Denver firm’s bid.
A federal judge last week approved the sale of the San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad — which has about 150 miles of track radiating east, west and south from Alamosa — to a subsidiary of Soloviev Group.
Soloviev Group, a holding company that since 2018 has also owned the Colorado Pacific Railroad, which runs east from Pueblo to the Kansas border, paid $10.7 million for SLRG, according to bankruptcy court filings.
The short-line SLRG runs across five counties. It sends cargo, and previously sent tourists, through Alamosa and over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains at La Veta Pass, 9,200 feet above sea level.
While it has been owned by Chicago-based Iowa Pacific Holdings, the railroad has amassed millions of dollars in debt. In 2019, several companies owed money convinced a federal judge to place it under bankruptcy protection and let a receiver operate it.
The San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad is seen in yellow. (Courtesy U.S. Bankruptcy Court)
The SLRG was previously expected to be sold to OmniTrax, a Denver-based railroad conglomerate that is part of Pat Broe’s The Broe Group. In October, OmniTrax announced it had reached a deal with the receiver to purchase the railroad for $5.75 million.
OmniTrax’s announcement prompted pushback from San Luis Valley Great Outdoors, a recreation group that builds trails in the region, which said in a court filing that the company “is against allowing trail systems within and near its railroad easements.”
And, critically, Broe’s announcement prompted a $6.05 million offer from the Soloviev Group, followed by one from a firm named Big Shoulders Capital. That prompted a judge to set an auction for Nov. 17.
The auction prompted 62 bids, with the $10.7 million one from Soloviev Group topping the field. OmniTrax’s final bid was $10.5 million.
“We look forward to working with shippers in the territory served by the line to meet their agricultural and other transport needs efficiently and cost-effectively,” Stefan Soloviev, chairman of the Soloviev Group, said in a statement. “We are planning significant upgrades to the service so the line can operate at the highest possible level of efficiency.”
