Louisville and Indiana Railroad

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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. Today, CSX has trackage rights on the entire line, with multiple trains a day turning the corner at Seymour to head to Cincinnati, bypassing the LCL Subdivision.

In 2022, LIRC acquired the Southern Indiana Railroad (SIND). This allows them to more directly serve the cement facilities in Speed, IN and interchange with CSX at Watson, IN.

In 2023, LIRC received a contract to switch out the cement plant along the CSX Indiana Subdivision in Mitchell, Indiana.

Louisville and Indiana Railroad Interchanges

  • NS in Louisville, KY (Panama Yard)
  • CSX in Louisville, KY (Osborn Yard), Watson, IN, and Mitchell, IN
  • PAL in Louisville, KY
  • INRD in Indianapolis, IN
  • MG Rail in Jeffersonville, 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 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 102 Flatcar 19?? Ex-??
LIRC 105 Caboose 1963 Ex-LIRR C62.

Louisville and Indiana Railroad Train Symbols

Symbol Origin Terminus or Turnaround Frequency Notes
Z550 Columbus, IN Indianapolis, IN (INRD) M-F OD @0900 Works to Franklin M-F, INRD M-W-F.
C32A Columbus, IN Jeffersonville, IN M-F OD @1900
J52A Jeffersonville, IN Columbus, IN M-F Return of C32A, usually leaves around 0400
J11A Jeffersonville, IN Jeffersonville, IN Daily Yard Job. May also interchange with PAL and NS in Louisville?
J12A Jeffersonville, IN Speed, IN M-F Late afternoon/early evening run.
J13A Jeffersonville, IN Port of Indiana - Jeffersonville, IN M-F Dutch Lane/Port of IN Job.
JKN0 Louisville, KY (NS) Edinburgh, IN (Kokomo Grain) As Needed NS Grain Empties
KJS0 Edinburgh, IN (Kokomo Grain) Jeffersonville, IN As Needed NS Grain Loads
JCN0 Jeffersonville, IN Camp Atterbury, IN As Needed Military Trains
CXTR Columbus, IN Varies As Needed Columbus Extra
JXTR Jeffersonville, IN Varies As Needed Jeffersonville Extra
GXTR Varies Varies As Needed Grain Extra
WC00 Columbus, IN Varies As Needed Work Train
WJ00 Jeffersonville, IN Varies As Needed Work Train

Louisville and Indiana Railroad Customers

Customer Location Company Description Type of Railcar Notes
BJK Industries Louisville, KY Plastic Packaging Covered Hoppers Louisville Industrial Lead.
PQ Jeffersonville, IN Silicate & Silica Products Covered Hoppers Dutch Lane Industrial Lead.
Pfau Oils Jeffersonville, IN Animal Fat & Oil Products Tank Cars Dutch Lane Industrial Lead.
Buzzi Unicem Jeffersonville, IN Cement Terminal Covered Hoppers Dutch Lane Industrial Lead.
LIRC Transload Jeffersonville, IN Transload Facility Covered Hoppers/Tank Cars/Boxcars Dutch Lane Industrial Lead.
JEI Transload Jeffersonville, IN Transload Facility Covered Hoppers/Boxcars/Centerbeam Flatcars
84 Lumber Jeffersonville, IN Lumber Yard Centerbeam Flatcars
Heidelberg Materials Speed, IN Cement Plant Covered Hoppers/Boxcars
Ilpea Industries Scottsburg, IN Plastic Products Covered Hoppers
Genpak Scottsburg, IN Food Packaging Covered Hoppers
Morgan Foods Austin, IN Private Label Food Products Boxcars
Cerrowire Crothersville, IN Wire & Cable Products Covered Hoppers/Boxcars
Silgan Plastics Seymour, IN Plastic Packaging Covered Hoppers
Heidelberg Materials Mitchell, IN Cement Plant Covered Hoppers Switching contract. Cars delivered/pulled by CSX L452/L453.
Dorel Juvenile Columbus, IN Pediatric Nutritional Products Covered Hoppers Columbus Industrial Lead.
Kroot Columbus, IN Scrap Metal Recycling Gondolas Columbus Industrial Lead.
Columbus Silgas Columbus, IN Propane & Fertilizer Supplier Tank Cars/Covered Hoppers
Drug Plastics Closures Edinburgh, IN Medical Packaging Covered Hoppers
Utz Edinburgh, IN Plastic Packaging Covered Hoppers
Kokomo Grain Edinburgh, IN Grain Elevator Covered Hoppers
Sonoco Flexible Packaging Atterbury, IN Packaging Company Covered Hoppers Atterbury Industrial Lead.
Camp Atterbury Edinburgh, IN Military Equipment Staging Yard Flatcars Atterbury Industrial Lead.
Berry Global Franklin, IN Plastic Packaging Company Covered Hoppers
Carter Lumber Franklin, IN Lumber Yard Boxcars/Centerbeam Flatcars
Amcor Franklin, IN Plastic Packaging Products Covered Hoppers



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