Jan. 15, 2025

This paid piece is sponsored by Knife River South Dakota.

There aren’t many South Dakotans with a skill set like Dylan Fossum’s.

He gained decades of experience building rail track and performing line repair and maintenance for private industry and railroads.

“In South Dakota, historically there have been very few railroad contractors, and we were the first,” said Fossum, whose father, Gary, started GA Fossum & Associates Inc. in 1982.

Fossum came into the business two decades later and ultimately became the sole owner before deciding to wind down the operation at the end of 2023.

“For 42 years, we worked for private industries and short-line railroads. We had done some contracting work for Ellis & Eastern previously and had a very good relationship there.”

That relationship led to a mutually beneficial business opportunity in 2024. Ellis & Eastern Railroad, which is owned by Knife River South Dakota, hired Fossum as a project manager.

“We work on our own mainline all the time and had the opportunity to expand and start offering that service for other customers that had tracks on their property,” said Clark Meyer, president of Knife River South Dakota.

“That includes ethanol plants, grain elevators or any industry that has a rail spur. Adding Dylan to our team helped us take on that work, and we had a successful first year. It’s been very well received, and that group has done a great job.”

The timing aligned well to bring Fossum onto the team and expand Ellis & Eastern’s services, said Ryan Hunsaid, the railroad’s general manager.

“We have used Dylan and his services a lot throughout the years, so when we learned he was winding down the business, we asked if he would be interested in joining our team and expanding this portion of our business,” Hunsaid said. “That team has been incredibly busy, and we’re very proud of the work they’ve done. Dylan took them under his wing and showed them the ropes and everyone accepted the challenge with a positive attitude.”

The team has taken on more than 60 projects since June.

“It might be as small as changing out a broken rail, adjusting a switch, or one of our larger projects involved repairing flood damage on a mainline from all the storms in June,” Fossum said.

“We accomplished a lot in a short amount of time, and our team members quickly took on new responsibilities and hit the ground running.”

The in-house team at Ellis & Eastern is approaching 20 employees, with the goal of continuing to expand that in 2025. “The demand is always there,” Hunsaid said. “It’s just like maintenance on your car. There’s always work that must be done. We pride ourselves on being a one-stop shop for all your rail needs.”

The contracting group’s work added to an exceptionally busy year for Ellis & Eastern, which had a record year for railcar storage and continued work on a major project to rehabilitate the mainline between Valley Springs and Brandon.  When the rehab is completed, Ellis & Eastern looks forward to adding more customers and having the opportunity for industries to expand on the short line.

“We’re right on schedule,” Hunsaid said. “Our loaded railcar movement goes hand in hand with the construction activity. Diversifying our services with the contracting group is definitely a win, and we want to grow that as much as we can.”

There’s also a lot of potential to grow, Fossum added.

“This opportunity with Knife River and Ellis & Eastern that was presented to me has been a good fit,” he said. “I love working with our customers, I take pride in having solutions to their needs, and there looks to be a lot of work in front of us.”

To learn more about the services of Ellis & Eastern Railroad, contact Ryan Hunsaid at 605-336-5861 or ryan.hunsaid@kniferiver.com.