The Greenfield Midland Railroad will be spun off from the IORY on or about 4-1-2025. The railroad will operate between the small yard on the west side of Midland Oh and the end of the tracks in Greenfield Oh. This line is currently the Greenfield Subdivision of the Columbus Division of the GLOR.
The railroad will interchange with the GLOR in the yard east of Midland, and will operate in conjunction with the Washington Court House Terminal Railroad, another line being spun off from the GLOR's core system.
The exact power to be used on the line has not been determined, but the current GLOR power for the line has been GP38 or GP40 power although more commen recently has been earlier GP power and some of the oddball GP's including some of the GP39's.
The line current has the following three customers, although at least one new customer is possible in 2025.
Huhtamaki New Vienna Lids & Plastic Tableware Covered Hoppers
Candle-Lite Leesburg Candle Maker Tank Cars
Adient Greenfield Automotive Seating Tank Cars
The railroad did get a substantial tie replacement project over the previous year, including near New Vienna.
Greenfield Midland Railroad (GRMR)
Re: Greenfield Midland Railroad (GRMR)
The Greenfield Midland Railroad / GLOR Greenfield Subdivision currently operates in the following manner. GLOR crews will start their day at the Adient facility in Greenfield. They normally have the power located at Adient, although they have been known to in other locations around town, depending on the number of cars on the property at Adient. They will first switch Adient, which normally involves pulling the cars to go outbound all the way clear of the Adient spur, almost 2 miles and leaving those on the mainline. They will then pull the cars from the passining siding to deliver to Adient and back up the spur to drop off the cars. Normally they only have 1-2 cars on the line at a time. Once they finish dropping off the cars, they will pull back lite power to the junction, couple to the cars they just pulled and move them to the passing siding, attaching them to any other cars to run outbound. They will then run around the train and proceed east to Leesburg. They will pull their train into the siding for Candle-Lite, pull any emptied with the end of their train, back onto the main, cut off the empties from Candle-lite and Adient, pull forward onto the siding and then back in to spot the cars and Candle-Lite. If Candle-Lite has a larger load of cars, they will leave the cars to be delivered on the previous westbound run on the siding, pull clear of the west end of the siding, back up to the outbound cars, pull those and drop them on the main, pull up back up the siding, spot the loads, reverse back to the cars they just picked up, and head west through the siding back to the mainline. If only 1-2 cars are going to Candle-Lite, they will normally just take them to Greenfield, but if its a larger cut they have to leave them in Leesburg.
In New Vienna they will switch the Huhtamaki plant. This operation involves pulling cars from the plant, dropping them on the main, pulling clear of the passing siding, pulling the cars left by the previous WB run off the passing siding and spotting them at the plant. Occassionally, the plant will require additional switching due to the order in which the cars were unloaded. Once all empties are pulled, the loads will be spotted at the plant. The plant has not produced any outbound loads in years, but does have the loading dock space available to load boxcars of product. Once the cars are spotted, the train pulls out, couples onto the outbound loads then proceeds west. They pull up short of US Rte 68 in Midland and get permission from the dispatcher to access the Midland Subdivision. They will run west to the "yard" (really a 1 track siding off the two train main). They will normally pull the train into the siding, coupling to the outbound cars, push those cars clear of the siding, leaving the outbound cars in the siding. They will then proceed back east. If they have to move cars around because they are not properly blocked, they will do this at the east end of the yard, using 2 if not all three tracks to organize their EB train. They will then head back east, dropping any Huhtamki cars in the New Vienna passing siding, before returning to Greenfield. Depending on the volume of cars, they may drop the cars for Candle-Lite in the siding as well. Upon arriving in Greenfield, they will normally cut off any inbound cars in the Junction passing siding, before pulling the engines lite power back to Adient to tie down on the siding. If the siding is in use (sometimes used for unloading additional tank cars), they will leave the power elsewhere. Normally if not on the siding, the power is located just outside the fence to the plant.
Power recently has been GP15T's #1500 and #1503, although just about any 4 axel power will be used on the line. It is expected that the GLOR will be selling GP15 series locomotives to the Greenfield Midland when it officially starts up.
In New Vienna the GLOR, upon taking over the the line from IORY, reinstalled the New Vienne Passing Siding. The siding runs approximately 1500 feet, more than enough for leaving the cars for Huhtamaki.
East of Leesburg there is approximately a 1.6 mile passing siding, however the railroad has taken this track out of service, much like the passing siding in Greenfield (in town not near the Adient spur junction. The plan is for the GLOR forces to remove the majority of the siding in Greenfield, and the majority of the siding east of Leesburg, as these tracks are no longer required for the volume of traffic seen on the line.
Garman Feed and Supply has approached the GLOR about rail access to their facility in Lyndon, on the abandoned portion of the line east of Greenfield. GLOR has expressed no interest in this project as the the estimated volume of traffic would not meet anything close to the cost to rinstalled the approximayely 3.5 miles of track to the facility.
This line, once a higher speed freight line for the Chessie System while also hosting an Amtrak train, the Shenandoah. The line now has been upgraded back to 286K capacity with a speed limit of 25 mph except. Management normally tries to keep the trains running at 15-20 mph however to save wear and tear on equipment and because the trips normally only take a few hours to complete. The crew will normally come on duty at 7:00 am and be done by 2:00 pm. They normally are running M-W-F, as the same crew often works the industry local in Washington Court House, which will soon become the Washington Court House Terminal Railroad (WCHT).
In New Vienna they will switch the Huhtamaki plant. This operation involves pulling cars from the plant, dropping them on the main, pulling clear of the passing siding, pulling the cars left by the previous WB run off the passing siding and spotting them at the plant. Occassionally, the plant will require additional switching due to the order in which the cars were unloaded. Once all empties are pulled, the loads will be spotted at the plant. The plant has not produced any outbound loads in years, but does have the loading dock space available to load boxcars of product. Once the cars are spotted, the train pulls out, couples onto the outbound loads then proceeds west. They pull up short of US Rte 68 in Midland and get permission from the dispatcher to access the Midland Subdivision. They will run west to the "yard" (really a 1 track siding off the two train main). They will normally pull the train into the siding, coupling to the outbound cars, push those cars clear of the siding, leaving the outbound cars in the siding. They will then proceed back east. If they have to move cars around because they are not properly blocked, they will do this at the east end of the yard, using 2 if not all three tracks to organize their EB train. They will then head back east, dropping any Huhtamki cars in the New Vienna passing siding, before returning to Greenfield. Depending on the volume of cars, they may drop the cars for Candle-Lite in the siding as well. Upon arriving in Greenfield, they will normally cut off any inbound cars in the Junction passing siding, before pulling the engines lite power back to Adient to tie down on the siding. If the siding is in use (sometimes used for unloading additional tank cars), they will leave the power elsewhere. Normally if not on the siding, the power is located just outside the fence to the plant.
Power recently has been GP15T's #1500 and #1503, although just about any 4 axel power will be used on the line. It is expected that the GLOR will be selling GP15 series locomotives to the Greenfield Midland when it officially starts up.
In New Vienna the GLOR, upon taking over the the line from IORY, reinstalled the New Vienne Passing Siding. The siding runs approximately 1500 feet, more than enough for leaving the cars for Huhtamaki.
East of Leesburg there is approximately a 1.6 mile passing siding, however the railroad has taken this track out of service, much like the passing siding in Greenfield (in town not near the Adient spur junction. The plan is for the GLOR forces to remove the majority of the siding in Greenfield, and the majority of the siding east of Leesburg, as these tracks are no longer required for the volume of traffic seen on the line.
Garman Feed and Supply has approached the GLOR about rail access to their facility in Lyndon, on the abandoned portion of the line east of Greenfield. GLOR has expressed no interest in this project as the the estimated volume of traffic would not meet anything close to the cost to rinstalled the approximayely 3.5 miles of track to the facility.
This line, once a higher speed freight line for the Chessie System while also hosting an Amtrak train, the Shenandoah. The line now has been upgraded back to 286K capacity with a speed limit of 25 mph except. Management normally tries to keep the trains running at 15-20 mph however to save wear and tear on equipment and because the trips normally only take a few hours to complete. The crew will normally come on duty at 7:00 am and be done by 2:00 pm. They normally are running M-W-F, as the same crew often works the industry local in Washington Court House, which will soon become the Washington Court House Terminal Railroad (WCHT).
Re: Greenfield Midland Railroad (GRMR)
There has been another developement related the the GRMR. The Blue Rock Quarry outside Greenfield, OH has been out of service since the early 2010's and has since flooded. A new company, Blue Rock LLC, has purchased the quarry and the long delapidated, but still intact trackage from the quarry to the the connection with the GRMR in Greenfield. They are planning on draining the quarry and resuming operations in 2027. What is intersting is how they plan to drain the quarry. The plan is not what the conventional plan would be, to pump the water into nearby paint creek. They are planning on harvesting the water and purifying it for sale as drinking water. As such, they will be using rail transportion to transport the water from the quarry to a bottling facility they are building outside Cincinnati.
The tracks to the quarry was still physically present, but would require significant improvement. The companies plan is to rebuild the trackage, approximately 2.25 miles work to the GRMR and operate the tracks themselves, interchanging cars with the GRMR. Once the pit would be dewatered, the facility would then be used to harvest the limestone remaining on site, as well as ship a limited quantity of limestone water to the bottling plant.
GRMR / GLOR management is not holding their breathe that this operation will take off, but the company has pulled permits to begin the process of rebuilding the buried trackage. GRMR / GLOR management feels they would be more than willing to deliver any supplies that may be needed and to haul the product into and out of the facility, as it would not require any significant upgrades to the railroad on the railroad's part.
The tracks to the quarry was still physically present, but would require significant improvement. The companies plan is to rebuild the trackage, approximately 2.25 miles work to the GRMR and operate the tracks themselves, interchanging cars with the GRMR. Once the pit would be dewatered, the facility would then be used to harvest the limestone remaining on site, as well as ship a limited quantity of limestone water to the bottling plant.
GRMR / GLOR management is not holding their breathe that this operation will take off, but the company has pulled permits to begin the process of rebuilding the buried trackage. GRMR / GLOR management feels they would be more than willing to deliver any supplies that may be needed and to haul the product into and out of the facility, as it would not require any significant upgrades to the railroad on the railroad's part.