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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