The Indiana Rail Road

The Indiana Rail Road (INRD), based in Indianapolis, Indiana is a Regional operation that began in 1986 and currently operates over 500 miles of trackage in a rough “X” between Louisville, Kentucky and Chicago (north-south) and Newton, Illinois to Indianapolis (east-west). Its current system includes lines made up of ex-Illinois Central, Milwaukee Road and Soo Line trackage with its most recent acquisition being that of the MILW/Soo between Terre Haute and Bedford, Indiana. Because of the major cities the railroad serves today it has allowed the company to grow exponentially since it first began more than 25 years ago. Today, the Indiana has connections to all seven Class I railroads (one of the only Class IIs to hold such a distinction) and a diversified traffic base ranging from coal to agriculture.

In 2006, however, things changed as the railroad saw massive growth of new lines, albeit much of the territory is actually trackage rigths. That year the Indiana purchased from Canadian Pacific former Milwaukee Road route from Terre Haute to Bedford, Indiana once known as the Latta Subdivision. Under Milwaukee ownership this line was extended from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky through Indiana. However only the isolated section mentioned above remained by 2006 and to access the line Canadian Pacific used trackage rights over CSX between Chicago and Terre Haute. Additionally, CP had rights over CSX between Bedford, Indiana and Louisville. All of this transferred to the Indiana Rail Railroad upon purchase of the former Milwaukee line.

The Indiana Rail Road's traffic base includes coal from the Powder River Basin region, chemicals, petroleum products, plastics, food products, scrap metal, recyclables, and grain. Some of the railroad's customers include General Electric, Hershey's Chocolate (yes, Hershey's!), Marathon Petroleum, and a host of power plants. Other services the railroad offers includes transloading and storage facilities. Perhaps, though, their most important asset is their numerous interchange partners, which allows for the movement of so much traffic. For more information about the Indiana Rail Road please click here to visit their website. There you can find out more about the company's history and also see a detailed, interactive map of where they operate.

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The Indiana’s current roster includes an all-EMD lashup ranging from four to six-axle power. In recent years the railroad gained newer EMD SD9043MACs, which look quite striking in the company's red and white livery. For more information about its roster please refer to the chart below.

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