The Lima & Erie RR

[Y@]

Formed in 1997 after the end of the Spencerville & Elgin (SPEG), the LIER operates the former Erie mainline between Lima and Glenmore, OH, hence the name Lima & Erie. The railroad also operates a portion of the former Cincinnati Northern between Ohio City and Van Wert to serve a few industries and to interchange with the CF&E. West of Glenmore, the line is abandoned and most track removed.

Between 1997 and 2005, the LIER relied on seven older EMD units to carry the load, but by 2004 those engines were worn out and the LIER was looking for replacements. First, the LIER struck a deal with the Wheeling & Lake Erie to acquire five GP35's of Southern Ry. heritage. This allowed the LIER to retire its four GP9's that were severely worn out. Today, the five former Wheeling GP35's all still wear their Southern paint with the W&LE marks patched out. All five engines on the roster are high-hoods, and all remain active today. The original seven LIER units remain stored on property as parts units.

LIER Active Engine Roster
LIER GP35 3500
LIER GP35 3501
LIER GP35 3502
LIER GP35 3503
LIER GP35 3504

From an operations standpoint, the LIER remains fairly busy as some new customers have come online in the past decade, keeping the railroad a profitable operation.

Online Customers
B&G Scrap Metal - Ohio City, OH (3-5 cars a week)
Better Brake Parts - Lima, OH (5-7 cars a week)
Ferguson Industrial - Lima, OH (8-10 cars a week)
Flexible Foam Products - Spencerville, OH (5-7 cars a week)
Glenmore Agriculture Products - Glenmore, OH (10-20 cars a month)
Marathon Oil Refinery - Lima, OH (20-30 cars a week)
Mercer Landmark Grain - Elgin, OH (1 or 2 unit trains a month, also loads 15 car blocks for interchange to CF&E)
Reynolds Manufacturing - Spencerville, OH (15-20 cars a week)

Interchange is done with Norfolk Southern and RJ Corman in Lima, while interchange with the CF&E is done in Van Wert. Cars from CSX and the Indiana & Ohio are interchanged via the CF&E. Typically, the LIER keeps an engine in Ohio City, two engines in Spencerville, and two engines in Lima. The railroad operates Monday-Saturday.

LIER Train Schedule
L-10 - Spencerville-Ohio City Turn - Tuesday & Friday - OD at 05:00
-Runs west before sunrise and usually returns east in the mid-morning.

L-11 - Ohio City Local - Mon/Wed/Fri - OD at 11:00
-Goes north to CF&E interchange first, returns south in the mid afternoon and goes west to Glenmore in the evening. Usually returns east after sunset.

L-12 - Spencerville Local - Monday through Saturday - OD at 06:30
-Runs west first if they have work in Elgin, then returns east to work in Spencerville. Crew also goes to Lima once or twice a week to swap cars with L-13.

L-13 - Lima Local - Tuesday through Saturday - OD at 13:00
-Works industries on the west side of Lima first, then works in the yard before interchanging with NS. Crew also goes west to Spencerville two or three times a week to swap cars with L-12.

65 car unit trains for Elgin are delivered by NS and usually rate two or three of the GP35's. These trains are the highest priority and often cause the L-12 job to be annulled. They are run as extras using the lead engine number for a symbol. It typically takes 2 or 3 days for the trains to be loaded due to the setup at Elgin.

[Y@]

A couple good updates on business with the LIER.

The new Pedigree Petfoods plant east of Ohio City will begin receiving cars on March 1st. The plant has been under construction for about a year and plant officials and tech/mechanic employees have been working out the kinks for a couple weeks now. The plant is expected to receive 10-20 cars of corn, wheat and flour every week, but some say that number is expected to grow. The plant is built next to US 127 about 2 miles east of Ohio City.

Starting sometime in March, Mercer Landmark in Elgin will be loading 30 car blocks of wheat that will be interchanged to/from CSX and sent south to Cincinnati for loading on a barge. They're expecting one block of cars a week until mid-June, when that business will likely end until next harvest. The cars will come via the CF&E in Van Wert. Rumor has it that the LIER purchased two sets of 30 cars for this new business, to be numbered LIER 6000-6059. These would be the first freight cars owned by the LIER aside from seven former Conrail ballast cars.

There is one not-so-good update, the 3502 suffered a severe mechanical failure this morning. The unit was assigned to the L-11 job, but is being taken to Lima for inspection before likely being sent to Bellevue on NS for repair. Although I don't have detail on exactly what happened, I do know the unit will be gone for about a month and NS will be letting us borrow another EMD in its place. That unit should be interchanged to the LIER by Thursday.

[conrailman75]

I like this railroad Y@, good job!

[DT&I]

Any idea on what NS will be giving you guys?

[Y@]

Thanks guys.

Sounds like the LIER is getting a GP38AC or GP38-2. Should be on its way from Bellevue on Tuesday and be delivered Wednesday night or Thursday morning. Will go via 303 to Fostoria tomorrow and then L76 and L74 to Lima on Wednesday.

[Y@]

NS 5142 (high hood GP38-2) is en route to the LIER on todays NS 303. If delivered in time, it will go west on this evenings L76 and then L74 to Lima. This would allow the LIER to begin using it tomorrow morning. At this time, the four active LIER locomotives are placed as follows.

LIER 3500 - Based in Lima on the L-13 job.
LIER 3501 - Based in Ohio City on the L-11 job.
LIER 3503 - Based in Lima on the L-13 job.
LIER 3504 - Based in Spencerville on the L-10 and L-12 jobs.

The 3503 will be left in Spencerville this evening for the Spencerville crews to use along with the 3504. Once on property, the NS 5142 will replace the 3503 in Lima. The 3502 was interchanged to NS this afternoon and will head east toward Bellevue tonight.

[Y@]

The 5142 was delivered yesterday around noon and is being used on L-13 today with the 3500. The 3501 remains in Ohio City, while the 3503 and 3504 are together in Spencerville.

There is a Mercer train coming from NS, and it should be interchanged to us sometime this evening. As usual, the L-12 crew will pull it west tomorrow afternoon using with the 3504 leading the 3503. It should be loaded by Tuesday morning.

LIER's seven ballast cars were interchanged to NS Wednesday afternoon and are billed to go to Buffalo, NY. Rumor has it they've been sold, which isn't surprising seeing as they haven't been used in a few years.

[Y@]

The 65 car Mercer train was spotted in Spencerville around 18:00 on Friday evening.

[AARR]

I enjoy following your short line threads

[Y@]

Thanks Don.

George Geitner, president of the LIER, may be stepping down or even selling the railroad in the near future. No big changes are expected either way, as neither Watco or G&W have expressed interest in the LIER. I have heard rumors about a temporary paint booth potentially showing up this summer though... Stay tuned.

[Y@]

The startup date for Pedigree Petfoods has been pushed back to Monday March 4th.

All 60 of the grain cars purchased by the LIER are in Piqua Yard on the CF&E in Lima. They have already been patched into their new LIER numbers 6000-6059. Most of the cars are former CRDX, FURX or PTLX, and all 60 are 3-bay ribbed side style cars. They should be interchanged in Van Wert tomorrow.

No major shakeups in the power placement this week.