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.

Today the railroad sees nearly 200,000 annual carloads and because it is centrally located in the Midwest and reaches Chicago it has connections with all of the Class Is, including CSX, BNSF Railway, Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, Canadian Pacific and Canadian National. Also of interest is the Indiana’s logo, which is based roughly from that of the late Monon which also operated in the same region.

To give a brief history and overview of the Illinois Central since it predominantly makes up the Indiana Rail Road, it was one of only a very few railroads to serve markets with north-south running main lines and not the traditional east-west movements. What made its routing even more odd was that it served Midwestern markets that likewise traditionally moved goods east and west, such as Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis, and New Orleans. Regardless of this the IC carved out a living hauling goods from Chicago to New Orleans and while today the Canadian National owns the railroad, its name continues to survive after over 150 years of existence.

Throughout the 1990s the railroad remained strong and profitable and not surprisingly because of its new success, other larger railroads became interested in it. This railroad was the Canadian National and after negotiations were completed the CN took control of the IC in 1998.

The Indiana’s current roster includes an all-EMD lashup ranging from four to six-axle power. Below is a current roster courtesy of The Diesel Shop:

#30-33 - EMD GP38AC – Ex-Helm, ex-Illinois Central

#34-36 - EMD GP38-2

#40-45 - EMD SD40-2: Ex-Helm, ex-Burlington Northern

#550, #554, #555, #560 - EMD SD10: Ex-Soo Line, ex-Milwaukee Road (Stored, OOS)

#600 - EMD H15 (SD35m): Ex-CSX, ex-Seaboard System, ex-Seaboard Coast Line, ex-Atlantic Coast Line (Stored, OOS)

#1701 & #1813 - EMD GP35M: Ex-Wisconsin Southern

#3801 and #3802 - EMD GP16: Ex-CSX

#2000 - EMD CF7: Ex-Santa Fe

#2543 - EMD CF7: Ex-Santa Fe

INDR currently has six GP38-2s and two GP38ACs on lease, and also recently purchased 11 ex-Soo SD60s.

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.

For more reading on Regionals like the Indiana Rail Road consider the book Regional Railroads of the Midwest by Steve Glischinksi. Along with featuring the INRD other Regionals covered in the book include the "Chicago Central Pacific; Dakota, Minnesota Eastern; Escanaba Lake Superior; Iowa Interstate Railroad; Iowa, Chicago Eastern; Kyle Railroad; Red River Valley Western; Twin Cities Western; Toledo, Peoria Western; Wisconsin Central; and Wisconsin Southern" with plenty of photographs and information about each. If you have an interest in smaller carriers like Regionals, and/or are interested in learning more about their operations, you will almost surely enjoy the book. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing this book please visit The Railroad Diamond by clicking the tab in the menu to your left marked "TRD Store".