Louisville and Indiana Railroad Railroad History
The Louisville and Indiana Railroad is a Class III railroad that operates freight service between Indianapolis, Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky, with a major yard and maintenance shop in Jeffersonville, Indiana. It is owned by Anacostia Rail Holdings.
The 106-mile line was purchased from Conrail in March 1994. Previously, it was owned by Penn Central, and before that, the Pennsylvania Railroad. It serves the cities of Franklin, Sellersburg, Seymour and Columbus, Indiana, and also serves the former Clark Maritime Center, now Port of Indiana (via MG Rail).
The LIRC was briefly home to the Amtrak passenger train Kentucky Cardinal, a failed attempt to capture express business from the United Parcel Service air hub in Louisville. Inconvenient departure and arrival times, coupled with jointed track which limited speeds to 30 mph (48 km/h), led to the train's demise in 2003. The former express facility is now run by A&R Transport, which is a plastics transload facility. Plastics make up the majority of the online business with the railroad.
CSX negotiated trackage rights over portions of the LIRC in 2004. This enabled CSX to abandon a portion of former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad trackage from New Albany, Indiana to Jeffersonville, and access the remainder of the line to Charlestown, Indiana and the former Indiana Ammunition Plant using LIRC trackage over its Ohio River bridge. Additionally, CSX has used rights over the LIRC as far north as Seymour, where it connects with another former B&O line (now the CSX Indiana Subdivision at Seymour) from Cincinnati, Ohio to St. Louis, Missouri. These trains have been used to bypass the congested CSX LCL Subdivision between Cincinnati and Louisville.
Louisville and Indiana Railroad Interchanges
- Norfolk Southern in Louisville.
- CSX in Louisville, KY, Seymour, IN, and Indianapolis, IN.
- Paducah and Louisville in Louisville.
- Indiana Rail Road in Louisville, KY and Indianapolis, IN.
- MG Rail in Jeffersonville, IN.
- Southern Indiana Railroad in Speed, IN.
Louisville and Indiana Railroad Locomotives
|
Number
|
Model
|
Year(s) Built
|
History
|
Notes
|
LIRC 2001
|
GP38-3
|
1967
|
Ex-CEFX 3805/CORP 3805/CSX 2024/BO 3824.
|
|
LIRC 2002
|
GP38-3
|
196?
|
Ex-CEFX/SOU?
|
|
LIRC 2003
|
GP38-3
|
1966
|
Ex-CEFX 3864/CORP 3864/EMDX 194/MILW 2000/MILW 191.
|
|
LIRC 2004
|
GP38-3
|
1969
|
Ex-CEFX 3810/CORP 3810/LLPX 2004/NS 2723/SOU 2723.
|
|
LIRC 2006
|
GP38-3
|
1981
|
Ex-LIRC 221/DVR 221.
|
|
LIRC 2007
|
GP38-3
|
1981
|
Ex-LIRC 223/DVR 223.
|
|
LIRC 2301
|
GP39-2
|
1984
|
Ex-LIRC 2371/UP 2371/MKT 372.
|
|
LIRC 2302
|
GP39-2
|
1984
|
Ex-LIRC 2375/UP 2375/MKT 376.
|
|
LIRC 2303
|
GP39-2
|
1984
|
Ex-LIRC 2376/UP 2376/MKT 377.
|
|
LIRC 2304
|
GP39-2
|
1984
|
Ex-LIRC 2378/UP 2378/MKT 379.
|
|
LIRC 3001
|
SD40-2
|
1979
|
Ex-CEFX 3155/UP 3554.
|
|
LIRC 3002
|
SD40M-2
|
1967
|
Ex-CEFX 3113/SP 7421/SP 8855.
|
|
|
Louisville and Indiana Railroad Rolling Stock
|
Number
|
Type of Railcar
|
Built
|
History
|
Notes
|
LIRC 101
|
Crane
|
19??
|
Ex-??
|
|
LIRC 105
|
Caboose
|
1963
|
Ex-LIRR C62.
|
|
|
Louisville and Indiana Railroad Customers
|
Customer
|
Location
|
Company Description
|
Type of Railcar
|
Notes
|
BJK Industries
|
Louisville, KY
|
Plastic Packaging
|
Covered Hoppers
|
|
Brown-Forman
|
Louisville, KY
|
Distillery
|
Tank Cars
|
|
PQ Corporation
|
Jeffersonville, IN
|
Chemical Company
|
Covered Hoppers
|
|
Pfau Oils
|
Jeffersonville, IN
|
Fats and Oils
|
Tank Cars
|
|
Buzzi Unicem
|
Jeffersonville, IN
|
Cement Manufacturer
|
Covered Hoppers
|
|
Kitchen Kompact
|
Jeffersonville, IN
|
Cabinetry Manufacturer
|
Covered Hoppers/Boxcars
|
Active shipper?
|
Jeffersonville Transload Yard
|
Jeffersonville, IN
|
Transload Terminal
|
Covered Hoppers/Tank Cars/Boxcars
|
|
Andersons Railcar Repair Facility
|
Jeffersonville, IN
|
Railcar Repair
|
Various
|
|
Dutch Lane Transload Yard
|
Jeffersonville, IN
|
Transload Terminal
|
Covered Hoppers
|
|
American Commercial Barge Line
|
Jeffersonville, IN
|
Barge Terminal
|
Flatcars/Gondolas/Hoppers
|
|
84 Lumber Company
|
Jeffersonville, IN
|
Lumber Yard
|
Centerbeam Flatcars
|
|
Lehigh Cement
|
Speed, IN
|
Cement Manufacturer
|
Covered Hoppers/Boxcars
|
|
R.L. Vuckson
|
Vienna, IN
|
Transload Terminal
|
Covered Hoppers
|
|
Ilpea Industries
|
Scottsburg, IN
|
Plastic Manufacturer
|
Covered Hoppers
|
|
Genpak
|
Scottsburg, IN
|
Food Packaging Products
|
Covered Hoppers
|
|
Morgan Foods
|
Austin, IN
|
Canned Food Products
|
Boxcars/Covered Hoppers/Tank Cars
|
Active shipper?
|
Cerrowire
|
Crothersville, IN
|
Copper Wire Manufacturer
|
Gondolas/Flatcars/Boxcars
|
Active shipper?
|
Silgan Plastics
|
Seymour, IN
|
Plastic Manufacturer
|
Covered Hoppers
|
|
Pretium Packaging
|
Seymour, IN
|
Plastic Packaging Company
|
Covered Hoppers
|
|
Dorel Juvenile
|
Columbus, IN
|
Juvenile Products
|
Covered Hoppers
|
|
Kroot Corporation
|
Columbus, IN
|
Scrapyard
|
Gondolas
|
|
Columbus Transload Yard
|
Columbus, IN
|
Transload Yard
|
Covered Hoppers
|
|
WestRock
|
Columbus, IN
|
Paper Mill
|
Boxcars
|
|
Columbus Silgas
|
Columbus, IN
|
Propane and Fertilizer Supplier
|
Tank Cars
|
|
Drug Plastics Closures
|
Edinburgh, IN
|
Medical Packaging
|
Covered Hoppers
|
|
Georg Utz
|
Edinburgh, IN
|
Plastic Manufacturer
|
Covered Hoppers
|
|
Kokomo Grain
|
Edinburgh, IN
|
Grain Elevator
|
Covered Hoppers
|
|
Sonoco Flexible Packaging
|
Edinburgh, IN
|
Packaging Company
|
Covered Hoppers
|
|
Camp Atterbury
|
Edinburgh, IN
|
Military Equipment Staging Yard
|
Flatcars
|
|
Berry Global
|
Franklin, IN
|
Plastic Packaging Company
|
Covered Hoppers
|
|
Carter Lumber
|
Franklin, IN
|
Lumber Yard
|
Centerbeam Flatcars
|
|
Amcor Rigid Plastics
|
Franklin, IN
|
Plastic Packaging Company
|
Covered Hoppers
|
|
Mid America Rail Car Leasing
|
Whiteland, IN
|
Passenger Car Leasing
|
Passenger Cars
|
|
Mid States Asphalt
|
Indianapolis, IN
|
Asphalt Supplier
|
Tank Cars
|
|
|
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