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The Port of Baltimore
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January/February 2014
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service capabilities.”
The railroad, which employs 25 people
and serves about 30 customers, also
provides switching and rail services for
non-Port-related companies.
Headquartered at the eastern edge of
Canton, the company owns a transloading
facility on Boston Street for customers
who don’t have their own railroad siding.
In addition, it has just built a new grain
transfer facility, where containers of
agricultural products can be transferred
into silos for loading into railcars and trucks
supplied by The Terminal Corporation. A
subsidiary, Freestate Logistics, runs a small
operation with one locomotive in Cecil
County, Md.
In addition to grain, the railroad trans-
ports crude oil, asphalt, lumber, ethanol,
aluminum, cement and chemicals, some of
which are used at the nearby Sun Products,
a manufacturer of detergents. The company
has even handled the gigantic components
used to build wind towers, which were
loaded onto special railcars.
A key part of the company’s operations
is switching railcars around until they’re in
an order that makes loading and unloading
easier for its customers.
“Think about it like a mail-sorting opera-
tion,” Magness said. “We sort and deliver
the rail cars to the customer, and when
they’re finished, we give them back to the
[major] railroads.”
Said Dave Thomas, Director of
Operations for the Maryland Port
Administration (MPA), “The MPA recognizes
that Canton Railroad is a critical resource
in our efforts to fulfill our core mission
of transporting international cargoes
through the region. The business relation-
ships that Canton Railroad has built with
John Magness at the helm cannot be
understated.”
While the Canton Railroad owns its
locomotives, it doesn’t own the railcars,
which are the property of companies or
other railroads. (Approximately 450 short-
line railroads provide vital connections
throughout the United States.)
The Canton Railroad Company started
in 1906, and when it was developing the
property, it asked the larger railroads to
come in, but they weren’t interested.
“That’s one way to get created,” Magness
said with a laugh, noting that other short-
line railroads popped up during the 1980s,
when railroads were deregulated and sold
off branch lines.
Canton was originally involved in
stevedoring and warehousing as well, and
it was privately owned until 1987. But that
year it was in bankruptcy, and the Seagirt
Marine Terminal was under construction.
Recognizing the importance of rail access
for the new terminal, the State of Maryland
bought the Canton Railroad. Today, its stock
President and CEO John C. Magness touts
the flexibility of small railroads and the great
working relationship between Canton Railroad
Company and the Port of Baltimore.
