On October 20, 2015, an ownership group headed by Bob McGinn purchased the dormant Mississippi Surge franchise and relocated the team to Roanoke for the 2016–17 season.

[1][2] The ownership group consisted of Bob McGinn and his three NHL player sons, Jamie, Tye, and Brock, former Surge owner Tim Kerr, and several other locals.

The Rail Yard Dawgs played their home opener at the Berglund Center in front of a sellout crowd on October 21, 2016, falling to the Knoxville Ice Bears 2–0.

Under Bremner, the Rail Yard Dawgs went 21–15–2 and qualified in the final seed for the playoffs, but were swept in the first round by the top-seeded Peoria Rivermen.

Roanoke was again selected by the top-seed Rivermen as their first round opponent and the Rail Yard Dawgs upset the regular season champions in a two-game sweep.

Building on their 2022 Finals run, the Dawgs would finish the 2022-23 regular season with a 32-19-3-2 record and 69 points, good enough for the 4th seed in the SPHL playoffs.