WI&I Lorain Subdivision

[Y@]

The Lorain Subdivision was, in its day, a somewhat busy bridge route for the WI&I. Constructed between 1849 and 1860, the railroad connected Knoxville, TN, to St. Louis, MO, under the operation of three separate railroads. CTC was installed on the line in the 1950's, with US&S searchlights being installed by the WI&I, as was standard across the system. By the early 1970's, the portion from Bowling Green, KY, to Knoxville was abandoned and largely ripped up, but the west end had survived thanks to a steady flow of both online and overhead traffic. A sizable yard in Bowling Green was jointly operated by the WI&I and L&N, then Seaboard System, Chessie System and eventually CSX until 1990. West of Bowling Green, the railroad ran through the hills of western Kentucky to the Ohio River at Owensboro, where it met the Bowling Green Southern on the north side. Although the Lorain Subdivision (known as the Bowling Green Line in the 60's and 70's) went directly to the namesake of the BGS, they did not directly connect there. The WI&I paralleled the BGS from Four Mile Creek, Indiana, into Evansville, then continued on to St. Louis. When the stretch from Four Mile to Evansville became part of the Evansville Terminal in 1980, the Lorain Sub was 81.7 miles long between Four Mile and Bowling Green.

At the time, this was the WI&I's only route extending towards southern Indiana and Kentucky, and thus a solid traffic base and plenty of interchange with other roads was done. In the mid-80's, traffic levels were higher than ever before as the WI&I and newly formed Seaboard System had come to an agreement on routing bridge traffic over the WI&I from Bowling Green to Evansville. It was not uncommon to see overhead traffic from any of the western class one's running over the WI&I to reach southern connections. A strong online traffic base between Bowling Green and Mill Village, which was about 2/3 of the way to Owensboro, was also vital to the WI&I. During 1983-1988 period, traffic levels were consistently high.

When the WI&I acquired the former BGS mainline from Evansville to Louisville in 1990, the original WI&I between Evansville and Four Mile was ripped out and a new connection to the Lorain Sub was added. With a new route to Louisville, some of the interchange between the WI&I and CSX was moved north to Louisville. Soon, the ex-BGS had become a vital bridge route all its own, and by 1994 about half of the traffic had moved from the Lorain Sub to the ex-BGS, now known as the WI&I River Sub. Between 1994 and 1999, bridge traffic continued to decline, but online traffic remained steady. After the Conrail split in 1999, the bridge traffic on the Lorain Sub went away altogether, with Louisville now officially the main WI&I/CSX connection. By early 2001, the line was down to a pair of through trains 5-6 days a week, and the locals based in Bowling Green, Lorain and Evansville. In 2002, the final active customer (Mead Paper) remaining west of Mill Village shut down, and the WI&I filed to abandon the line between Mill Village and Four Mile, putting the rest of the line up for sale. Genesee & Wyoming bought the line and began operating it as the Bowling Green & Northern, reporting mark BGNR. Today, the BGNR operates the former WI&I between Mill Village and Bowling Green, a distance of 65.8 miles.

Following this post will be a list of online customers and a list of common train symbols, both from 1987, and a list of the online customers today under G&W ownership, as well as a track chart from 1987 versus one from 2013.

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WI&I Lorain Sub in 1987


Bowling Green Northern Railroad in 2013


The main differences in the "then & now" is that some of the yard tracks in BG, Lorain and Mill Village have been ripped up, the east siding at Mill Village is gone, and of course the track now ends outside of Mill Village. 5th Avenue Tower in Lorain closed in 1995 and the SD Dispatcher took over that territory. G&W has yet to de-activate the CTC from Mill Village to Bowling Green despite the lack of any real need for it to be active.

Currently, the BGNR has cars stored in the sidings at Fall River, Clay, and Green Hill, as well as one of the yard tracks in Lorain.

Below is a customer list from 1987 that also tells whether the industry was still online in 2013, as well as a group of customers that have come online since the sale to G&W. The list goes west to east from Four Mile to Bowling Green. Although the WI&I was timetable east/west, the BGNR has adopted the north/south orientation to the line.

Four Mile
Four Mile Co-Op - Stopped shipping in 2001

Owensboro
Arcelor Mittal - Stopped shipping/receiving in 1998
General Motors - Received cars until 1999
Mead Paper - Stopped shipping/receiving in 2002
Napa Auto Supply - Received cars until 1995
Owensboro Metals - Stopped shipping in 1998

Malden
Kentucky Farmers Co-Op - Stopped shipping in 1993

Kirkland
Kirkland Feeds - Received cars until 1996

Mill Village
AC Delco - Received cars until 1991
Coleman Plastics - Still online
Gerken Paving - Still online
Kentucky Farmers Co-Op - Still online
Kentucky Milling - Still online
Proctor & Gamble - Still online
W&E Metal and Materials - Still Online

Pineville
Coleman Brothers Industrial Supply - Still Online

Lorain
Airgas - Still online
CF Industries - Still online
General Mills - Still online
Johnson & Johnson - Stopped shipping/receiving in 2006
Nucor Steel - Still online
The Home Depot - Received cars until 2004
Wal-Mart Distribution - Still online

Royerton
Blackledge Grain - Stopped shipping/receiving in 2001
Goodyear Tire & Rubber - Still online

Glen Lynn
Kentucky Farmers Co-Op - Stopped shipping/receiving in 2010

Churchill
Omnisource - Still online

Bowling Green
D&I Warehouse - Still online
Ford Motor Company - Still online
Franklin Industrial Minerals - Still online
Maxwell Bulk - Stopped shipping/receiving in 2003
Shelley Materials - Came online in 2011
Wells Fargo - Still online

[Y@]

Below is a list of train symbols that commonly ran over the Lorain Sub in the late 80's.

EVBG and BGEV - Each ran 4-5 times a week between Evansville and Bowling Green. These were the standard road trains that did not stop to switch and were often priority moves.

BGLR and LRBG - Each ran 3-4 times a week between Bowling Green and Lorain. These were the trains that forwarded online traffic to Lorain for the locals and the Mill Village turn.

LRMV and MVLR - Each would run 3 times a week, west one day and east the next. These were technically turn jobs based in Lorain that forwarded cars to Mill Village for the locals there.

EVMV and MVEV - Each would run twice a week, east one day and west the next. Although these were not turn jobs, the crews were based in Evansville and would cab back to Mill Village the day after coming east to return to Evansville.

UPCS and CSUP - Overhead traffic from UP and CSX. Often at least three would run in a week.

SPCS and CSSP - Overhead traffic from SP and CSX. Usually two or three a week.

BNNS and NSBN - Overhead traffic off the BN bound for NS in Atlanta and vice versa. Usually three or four a week.

CNWX and ICAX - Overhead traffic off the CNW and IC, respectively. Used one symbol in either direction. Both would run two or three times a week.

CPNS and NSCP - Overhead traffic from CP and NS. Usually two or three a week.

In 1987, there were two locals based in Mill Village, two in Lorain, and one in Bowling Green.

[AARR]

Well done!

[Y@]

Here are more detailed explanations for what each of the locals responsibilities were.

The Mill Village based locals (MV-L1 and MV-L2) were responsible for working all industries in Mill Village as well as everything west as far as Four Mile. Often, one or both of these locals would require a second crew (MV-X1 and MV-X2) to get the days work done. Power for these locals could be any assortment of 4-axle EMD power on roster, including GP20's, GP30's, GP38AC's, GP40's, and GP50's.

The L1 job went on duty at 0500 Monday through Friday to work the industries around Mill Village and Pineville. Typically, if their work was not done by 1300, a new crew would be ordered to recrew them at 1500, thus becoming the X1 job. This job almost always rated two units. When working the 3.4 mile long Mill Village industrial track, the crew would shove east up the hill, tie the train down, break the power apart, then switch out the three industries located on the track; Coleman Plastics, KY Milling and W&E Metal. The other online customers (AC Delco, Gerken Paving, KY Farmers, and P&G) were all located along the mainline through town. Quite often, the L1 would have the main tied up and any through traffic would have to run through one of the sidings to get around them. This could sometimes be a bottleneck, further lengthening the day for the L1 and X1 crews. Once their work was done in downtown, the crew would tie their train down in the yard and take cars for Coleman Bros. in Pineville east, switch the small industry, and return west to tie down for the day. A regular day would usually see them wrapping up around 1700 after their recrew earlier in the afternoon.

The L2 job went on duty at 1200 Monday through Friday to switch the yard and work west to Four Mile before returning east. Like the L1 job, this local usually rated two or three 4-axle units, and if need be, a recrew would be ordered for them around 2000. A typical day would find the L2 crew spending 2-3 hours in the yard prior to departing for the trip west, stopping to switch the elevator at Kirkland (as needed) along the way. The crew would get to Four Mile, run around their train, then come back to Owensboro to switch the customers on the 2.3 mile long Red Lake industrial track. This required them to shove into the stub siding located about halfway down the I.T., tie the train down, and work Arcelor Mittal, General Motors, and Mead Paper before re-assembling their train and returning to the mainline to work Napa (as needed) and Owensboro Metals. The elevator at Malden would be switched on the return trip, usually in the middle of the night. Sometimes, their work order would be bad enough that a third crew (MV-XX) would recrew the X2, usually around 0600. The third crew would bring the train back to Mill Village, and within a short amount of time the regular L2 crew would show up to start the process all over again.

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The Lorain based locals (LR-L1 and LR-L2) were responsible for working all the industries between Lorain and Glen Lynn. The situation in Lorain was much different from Mill Village, as the two crews had less to accomplish between them and often could get their work done in 10-12 hours. If a recrew was needed, the new crew would take over as LR-X1 or LR-X2, respectively. Due to the lack of 6-axle restrictions, the L2 job could receive any bigger EMD's available, like SD38AC's, SD40-2's, SD45's, or SD60's. The usual power was either three 4-axles or two 6-axles.

The L1 job went on duty at 0500 Monday through Friday to switch the yard and work the industries around town. Although there were several industries in Lorain, not every one would need worked each day of the week, so it was relatively easy for the crew to wrap up by the early evening. All of the industries were located along the 4.8 mile Nucor I.T., which was two tracks for nearly the entire length with several hand throw crossovers, making most switching moves fairly easy. This job usually rated two 4-axle motors.

The L2 job went on duty at 0630 Monday through Friday to build their train and run east to Glen Lynn. Although the elevator at Glen Lynn was not worked on a daily basis, the daily switching moves at Goodyear in Royerton required them to be facing west. Royerton was located at MP 30.1 between the sidings at Glen Lynn and Wallace. The L2 would usually begin working Goodyear around lunch time and be done and ready to head west by 1500.

At the time, the WI&I had six SD38AC's (380-385) on the roster that typically stayed between St. Louis and Bowling Green. Throughout the late 80's, engines 383 and 384 were often based in Lorain as the L2 power due to the stiff grades at Clay and Glen Lynn. The L2 was often heavy in both directions as Goodyear received and shipped loaded cars. If they weren't found on the L2 job, they were often found on the LRMV or MVLR.

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The only local based in Bowling Green was the BG-L, called at 1200 in Bowling Green on Monday through Friday.. If a recrew was needed, the BG-XL was called. This local was responsible for working the industries in BG and Churchill. This job usually rated two 4-axle units. The crew would do any work needed at the various industries in BG, then re-assemble their train and run west to Fall River to run around their train before returning east to work Omnisource in Churchill and eventually getting back to BG to tie up. A typical day required the crew to work 10-12 hours.

[Y@]

Track charts for the three industrial tracks.

Red Lake I.T.


Mill Village I.T.


Nucor I.T.

[AARR]

I'm enjoying following along. It'll take me a little while to digest all the detail but it looks realistic with just enough "license" too make it interesting.