Federated Railways Inc., an affiliate of Federated Capital Corp., has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Rail Logistics LC., including its "Cold Train" Express Intermodal Service.

The new subsidiary will be called "Federated Cold Train LLC" and will conduct business as Cold Train. The company will maintain its current management team and staff, including Steve Lawson as president and chief executive officer, and will retain its current headquarters located in Overland Park, KS.

Federated Capital Corp.'s holdings consist of a variety of service, leasing and railroad assets, including the Great Lakes Central Railroad Inc., a 400- mile regional railroad operating entirely in the state of Michigan, and Federated Railcar Inc., owner of a fleet of refurbished passenger cars.

Rail Logistics launched the "Cold Train" Express Intermodal Service in partnership with BNSF Railway from the Port of Quincy Intermodal Terminal in Washington state in April of 2010, and then more recently began a similar Cold Train service from Portland, OR. A recent study of 29 western U.S. and Canadian locations with intermodal terminals (including the Port of Quincy Intermodal Terminal) ranked Quincy, WA, as the lowest cost location for operating a distribution center or a warehouse.

Since the Cold Train refrigerated expedited intermodal freight service was launched, it has grown rapidly in popularity with shippers in Washington state and Oregon, as well as the Midwest and East Coast.

In 2013, Cold Train expanded its Washington-based refrigerated container fleet to over 400 state-of-the-art Hyundai 53' containers while adding several new destinations on the East Coast. As a result, Cold Train now delivers refrigerated cargo from Washington and Oregon to 20 states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia and Florida. Furthermore, Cold Train has regular express service from Washington and Oregon to Toronto.

In addition to shipping Washington state and Oregon fresh produce and frozen foods eastbound to 20 states and one province, Cold Train hauls frozen and refrigerated foods and some dry goods back from the Midwest and East Coast to Washington state and Oregon. Hauling loaded or full containers both directions maximizes utilization of equipment, which helps to reduce costs and provide both an inbound and outbound service for shippers and receivers.

The combined assets of Federated Capital Corp. and Cold Train will provide a wide variety of freight transportation options for shippers, growers, producers, packers, food processors and retailers alike.

"The addition of Cold Train to our portfolio of service and asset based companies will allow Federated Capital Corporation to add the fast growing 'domestic intermodal' sector to its freight rail transportation portfolio," Louis P. Ferris, president of Federated Capital Corp., said in a press release. "This is important as many shippers and receivers are looking for door-to-door intermodal logistics solutions that decrease cost, increase efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint. Federated Capital plans to add a minimum of 1,000 containers to the Cold Train fleet over the next 5 years, bringing the fleet to 1,400 containers."

"We are excited about becoming part of the Federated group of companies, and with Federated's resources behind Cold Train, we will have the capital necessary to keep pace with the continued increasing demand as we move towards our goal of becoming the largest asset based temperature controlled domestic pure intermodal carrier," Lawson added in the press release. "With fuel prices continuing to remain high and long haul trucks becoming increasingly regulated and in tighter supply, shippers and receivers are finding that Cold Train provides a reliable, cost effective and fast transportation option, while also adding much needed capacity."