INER to replace 85# rail 2012

[Notch 8]

INER has gotten everything in place that will allow them to replace the remaining 13 miles of 85 pound rail, The 85# rail is located in Steuben County Indiana and is the former NYC's Fort Wayne & Jackson's line that ran between the two namesakes cities,The rail that is being repaced is around 80 years old ! and is just plain wore out and too light for today's traffic.. Should be an interesting project to witness..

05/15/2012
Steuben County Council approved a $1.25 million loan to Indiana Northeastern Railroad for track improvements at its May 15, 2012 meeting. Approval follows several months discussion regarding the need to upgrade sections of rail between the Dekalb County line and Michigan State line. Approximately five of the 18 miles have already been upgraded from 85 lbs. rail to 115 lbs. rail. The remaining 13 miles will be completed before the end of the year, thanks in part to the county loan from Major Moves funds.
Additional funding will be provided through the Indiana Northeastern Railroad and The Andersons, a large grain and transportation concern with a facility in Reading, Michigan. The State of Michigan owns the rail north of the state line and had previously upgraded the rail. The upgrades will allow Andersons to transport grain in larger, more efficient railcars. The company will also support the rail project through a $1.75 million loan to the Railroad. The Indiana Northeastern Railroad will invest the balance of the $5 million project costs and has already received bids to proceed with work in 2012. Substantial completion is expected to be achieved by December 2012.
In addition to the rail upgrades, the Indiana Northeastern Railroad invested over $1.5 million in Hudson, Indiana over 2011-12 to construct a maintenance facility which will allow the company to maintain its locomotive fleet. The Railroad operates over 120 miles of track in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio and connects with the Norfolk Southern Railroad in Montpelier, Ohio. It served over 20 manufacturing and agricultural customers in 2011, including nearly 5,100 railcars. The Railroad is a for-profit company that employs management, engineers and maintenance workers.
The Steuben County Commissioners and Steuben County Economic Development Corporation supported the loan request on behalf of the Railroad, as did interests in Michigan. These upgrades and additional business from The Andersons will insure the viability of this railroad for years to come. Several industrial sites throughout Steuben County are served through this railroad, including the 38-acre Hudson Shovel-Ready Site.

[NoviRailfan]

Another good article about this work. Interesting that the traffic from The Andersons accounts for a significant amount of traffic on the north-south portion of the line.

http://www.indianaeconomicdigest.net/ma ... leID=65044

[AARR]

...including nearly 5,100 railcars.

IIRC they were handling around 3000-3500 cars a year as of 10-15 years ago so despite loss of coal and DCA traffic is up substancially.

[Super Chief]

This is good news. I must admit that if the Coldwater to Sturgis line was to be rehabed won't that help also. We have 30 millon dollars in a revolving tax fund that just sits there and Trine University in Angola unsucessfully tried to tap into it, but the county commisoners never seem to get to serious about economic deveopment in this county? [St. Joesph]. Seems to me that the Old Road would be a good canidate for some of this money and bring added prosperity to the INER. Is Pioneer Rail a handicap for this to happen. Any body with a thought on why Elkhart seems to be a out of the loop for INER please enlighten me. I am new today to the thread so I don"t have a clue what the hold up would be for INER to go west? AARR I was a member of your group years ago and now retired I have more time now to persue railroad related. So hi to Don and always enjoy the forums.

[AARR]

Any body with a thought on why Elkhart seems to be a out of the loop for INER please enlighten me. I am new today to the thread so I don"t have a clue what the hold up would be for INER to go west? AARR I was a member of your group years ago and now retired I have more time now to persue railroad related. So hi to Don and always enjoy the forums.

Welcome SC! Don Simon is banhammered from this site but I am sure he appreciates your acknowledgment

What keeps INER from getting to Hellkart you ask? To the west MSO & GDLK and to the east NS. Unless they build a new route INER will not get to Hellkart. Perhaps their best bet will be MSO/GDLK if they can ever buy or get trackage rights but 99.99% unlikely that will ever happen.

[Super Chief]

So Sturgis to Coldwater now becomes another trail? I've heard there has been discussions with INER about this very thing happening. Too bad the ethenol plant fell thru for Burr Oak . We shall see>

[AARR]

Too bad the ethenol plant fell thru for Burr Oak . We shall see>

Quite a few late ethanol plants fell through inlcuding one in Ithaca in which they laid tracks and would have been huge (110 million gallons per year) so it could have gotten economies of volume but nevertheless as a late entry it did not get investment interest.

[Super Chief]

You are right as a member of PM1225 we went by the one you mentioned quite a few times at Railfest 2009. I saw all the yard tracks of China rail and the incomplete status of that one. Too bad GLDK could'nt make an offer on White Piegon to Coldwater but Pioneer would probably jack the price sky high. They have been doing crossing work in Sturgis and only time will tell if they replace the ties they said they would in the MDot plan they submitted.
As a matter of practicality Andersons probably want every shipment headed towards Maumee so the NS is logical at Montpieler. Thanks for the answsers.

[NoviRailfan]

Since AG traffic seems a big part of INER's operation in Michigan, how much potential is there along the line between Coldwater and Sturgis? Seems like they could potentially capture what currently moves by truck.

[Notch 8]

This is good news. I must admit that if the Coldwater to Sturgis line was to be rehabed won't that help also. We have 30 millon dollars in a revolving tax fund that just sits there and Trine University in Angola unsucessfully tried to tap into it, but the county commisoners never seem to get to serious about economic deveopment in this county? [St. Joesph]. Seems to me that the Old Road would be a good canidate for some of this money and bring added prosperity to the INER. Is Pioneer Rail a handicap for this to happen. Any body with a thought on why Elkhart seems to be a out of the loop for INER please enlighten me. I am new today to the thread so I don"t have a clue what the hold up would be for INER to go west?

Why would the State of Indiana or Stueben County have interest in putting money into tracks that are located in the State of Michigan ?
I don't see a big need to get to Elkhart, a majority of the traffic is grain on the INER and is shipped to the SE of the US and coal ever returns it was comming out of Ohio.. I look for things to stay the same with NS and the connection at Montpelier OH and I would guess that even if the INER was to get the Sturgis-White Pigeon portion of The Old Road that the interchange point would remain at Montpelier or operate two separate railroads instead of 1 continous route, Sadly with the news of the Indiana portion getting rebuilt even makes the unused portion of the Old Road less important, there had been talk of lifting the Old Road and re-laying this on the north south portion of the INER trackage.. I personally would like to see the INER to go all the way to White Pigeon but on the other hand it seems like alot of trackage for a small amount of traffic and Pioneer has not put any money in this trackeage either, however ties and ballast would fix that issue.
Since we are speculating on the future here is what I would love to see... I would like the Old Road to be re-habbed between Coldwater and Sturgis and since heavier rail is being installed on the Indiana portion bring NKP 765 up to Coldwater and have Litlle River 110 and NKP 765 pull excursions.. you could turn the engines in Sturgis and in Hillsdale... If all else fails there still is # 110 that will be running over a portion of this track

[Michael]

I just noticed this article from last year:

MDOT to share proposal to remove US-12 railroad viaduct in Batavia Township
http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9620_11057-256651--,00.html
This is in between Coldwater & Bronson

BACKGROUND: MDOT is considering replacing the railroad viaduct on US-12 in Batavia Township with an at-grade, or street level, crossing. The bridge is in need of replacement in 2012. MDOT is evaluating the cost-benefit of either replacing or removing the viaduct and installing an at-grade crossing with warning devices.

[Notch 8]

Construction has started and I will post photos as the work on the rebuild continues..

Ties are being stuffed under the rails and now rail has began to show up on flat cars
loaded with stick rail produced in Columbia City SDI's Mill.

http://www.fwarailfan.net/community/vie ... f=7&t=2713

[jwilliam33]

The above post about MDOT's replacement of the overpass over the Old Road got me thinking about MDOT's rail assets. MDOT owns a good portion of the INER's Michigan trackage. The MDOT website is clear that the State intends to divest itself of its rail assets over time, starting with the Lenawee County RR assets which was sold to the A&B. It also states that the Hillsdale County RR assets are next in line. Does anyone know the timeline under which the State will make such a move and how they determine the value of the property?

[MQT3001]

The MDOT website is clear that the State intends to divest itself of its rail assets over time, starting with the Lenawee County RR assets which was sold to the A&B.

Yet they are in the process of buying most of the rest of the Michigan Line.


Does the state still own most of the LSRC Mackinac Sub or have they already sold that portion?

[Notch 8]

The line west of Coldwater is owned by INER and the line on the south end of the State of Michigan's portion is also owned by the INER, so the state owned portion is land locked on both ends by INER. Kind of makes it unattractive to many buyers.. On the bright side Indiana Northeastern is good at what they do... Run and grow a Railroad.
Will the FRA/DOT/MDOT allow an at grade crossing on such a road ? Th US12 bridge is rough, when it was constructed 7 trains daily traveled those rails ..