Indiana Northeastern 10-18-08

[Rick M]

I caught this GP-30 by suprise while travelling through Fremont, IN. This unit was stationary on the tracks and might do local switching during the week as their were some box cars and hopper near by. Anybody familiar with this short line? are they owned by Rail America? I also saw some more of these units in Hillsdale, MI.

[PAT.C]

HERE IS LINK...http://www.indiananortheasternrailroad.com/

[AARR]

IN is independently owned. You're thinking of MSO that's owned by Pioneer, Conrail Jon.

[AARR]

Primary customers are the elevators in South Milford and Reading, and the utility plant in Litchfield that receives 30 cars of coal per week. They have other customers that ship fertilizer, tallow, particle board, plastic, and a few others.

[Rick M]

Primary customers are the elevators in South Milford and Reading, and the utility plant in Litchfield that receives 30 cars of coal per week. They have other customers that ship fertilizer, tallow, particle board, plastic, and a few others.

Thanks for all the info guys, didn't know about plant in Litchfield and I will check out the website.

[Big Frank]

I grew Up in Litchfield Lived there for 20 yrs Watched HCRR as a kid and INE as I grew up its my fav short line U have to love the NKP Inspired paint on there engines!!! Heres a pic I took last fall / winter when i was visiting my pops.


these pics are of the 1500 before it was painted as it sat tied down outside of the power plant in Litchfield

[AARR]

Nice pictures, 1225hubbard. Anymore of the IN you can share with us?

[Big Frank]

Nice pictures, 1225hubbard. Anymore of the IN you can share with us?

Unfortunately Don I don't most of my stuff was taken on 35mm and I haven't scanned them in, but i will tell ya that I am planning a trip home soon to see the Parents and I plan on taking allot of pics while im there. What I did happen to find tho while I was looking were pics I had forgot about that I had on a cd There from when I came back from Iraq and I caught the CSX army train bringing our gear back in Nash vegas (nashville) TN along with some other great old stuff from BC and East lansing if you would like I can post some of that.

[AARR]

1225hubbard, IN has a handful of customers in Coldwater. I think they head that way several times a week and can spend the better part of the day switching. Good luck!

[GP30M4216]

Some of this is copied over from an old thread on the Railfanning Information board from a post by Mackinac Mac - unfortunately, most of the photos on that thread have been turned into little red X's:

Indiana Northeastern, an independent shortline, operates one of the coolest fleets of locomotives I can think of, AND they're all kept in excellent shape inside and out! They have a great NKP inspired paint scheme and the locomotives look great rolling across northern Indiana, Ohio, and southern Michigan in any season.



INER locomotive roster:
1073
A chop-nosed GP9 which was rebuilt to GP10 specs and originally worked on the Illinois Central Railroad.

1500
A chop-nosed GP7 from the Westmoreland Scenic Railroad which went bankrupt a few years ago. It is formery a Santa Fe Rebuild and a good solid switch engine which they frequently keep in Reading, MI. The most recent acquisition by INER and the most recent painted in INER colors.

1601
A vintage GP7 and INER's eldest unit from 1952. This is the EX-Hillsdale County Rail Co (HCRC) 1601, former SJ&LC 606, and originally Reading Railroad #606.

1602
A GP9 from 1957. Formerly Burlington Northern #1766 and originally Great Northern Railroad #693.

1770
A chop-nosed GP9 from 1957 Ex-HCRC 1770, formerly BN #1770, and originally Great Northern #697.

2185
A classic second generation hood unit, a GP30 from 1962. This classic raised-roof unit was originally from the Reading Railroad and later Conrail with the same road number.

2230
Another very classic later GP30 from 1963. This classic raised-roof unit was originally from the Pennsylvania Railroad and later Conrail. It has the same number on Conrail, and briefly spend time at Larry's Truck & Electric before coming to the INER.

Out of service roster (all stored at Hillsdale, MI):

47
INER used to roster this classic GP7 from the Detroit Toledo Shoreline Railroad. #47 was recently retired with the arrival of #1500 and sold to IBCX. #47 is still sitting at the Hillsdale Yard, rejected by the NS at the Montpelier, OH interchange for bad wheels (thin flanges). (not sure if the status of this locomotive has changed since last year.... anyone know?)

1603
Retired from service and a parts source, but still sits at the Hillsdale Yard. Ex-HCRC 1603, former NYC 7303, and originally Cleveland Union Terminal #5903.

4216
Also resting outside the INER shops in Hillsdale is former C&O GP30M #4216 from the CSXT. This unit is now IBCX and a parts source for the fleet's other two GP30s #2185 and 2230.

Monitor:

161.100 Mhz AAR-66
161.400 Mhz for INER Traffic. They call towns along the line.

The Indiana Northeastern Railroad Company (INER) began its operations following the demise of the Hillsdale County Railroad Co in 1992. INER operates one north-south line, two east-west lines, and a partial north-south branch line. Operations are headquartered at Hillsdale, MI in the historic train depot beside their yard, a central location for these 4 railroad lines that are all linked together.

(Hillsdale to Sturgis)

Originating out of Hillsdale, westward the INER connects with the New York Central "Old Road" which they operate on to Coldwater, MI. The INER recently acquired the trackage from the Michigan Southern (MSO) as far as Sturgis, but some track maintenance is needed on that line.

The Indiana Northeastern runs about 5-6 times a week to Coldwater, MI. There are several industries there including:

A pallet company that receives lumber, a large fertilizer distributor, rendering plant, plywood mill (inbound), and plastics plant around the Coldwater area. They also service a plant food / potting soil plant east of Quincy with a couple of cars per month. The MSO serves an elevator in Burr Oak.

There is a large flour mill in Quincy that is not currently receiving carloads.


(Jonesville to Litchfield)

At Jonesville, MI the old Lake Shore and Michigan Southern route to Lansing branches off to the north and the INER operates as far as the Michigan South Central Power Agency Plant in Litchfield where this line ends.

Litchfield receives about three 30 car units of coal per month.

(South Milford, IN to Montpelier, OH)

In Indiana the INER operates on the old N&W Gary District (former Wabash) from South Milford to Pergo Junction near Montpelier, Ohio. From here they operate on the NS Huntington District to get into Norfolk Southern's Montpelier Yard, the primary interchange point.

(Steubenville, IN to Hillsdale, MI)

The main north-south line is the former New York Central route between Fort Wayne and Jackson, Michigan. The INER uses the portion of this line from Steubenville, Indiana north to Hillsdale, Michigan.


The Indiana Northeastern loads grain in Reading, MI several times a week. This process can be time consuming and requires 2 units. While the grain cars are loaded at the large elevator, another diesel takes cars full of corn and unloads them at a nearby facility. The corn is checked for a certain grade, by a tidious process using a small auger and the the moister levels and such are checked. The empties are then filled with grain for the return trip.

Hope this is helpful!

[AARR]

The Indiana Northeastern loads grain in Reading, MI several times a week. This process can be time consuming and requires 2 units. While the grain cars are loaded at the large elevator, another diesel takes cars full of corn and unloads them at a nearby facility. The corn is checked for a certain grade, by a tidious process using a small auger and the the moister levels and such are checked. The empties are then filled with grain for the return trip.

Can someone elaborate on this process? Where are the loads taken too and unloaded?

[GP30M4216]

I searched through the railroadfan archives a little bit and found some more INER photos to post up here. These are from Mackinac Mac:


GP30 2230, GP10 1073 and GP9 1770 at Hillsdale, MI.


High hood GP9 #1602 at the grain elevator at Reading, MI.


GP30 2230 sitting in the yard at Hillsdale.


1602 switches grain hoppers near the elevator at Reading, MI.


2185 outside the engine house in Hillsdale.


Former Detroit & Toledo Shore Line, and still sporting D&TSL number and paint, shown out of service at Hillsdale, MI. I'm not sure of the current status of this locomotive on the INER roster. It has now been relettered to IBCX, but can't be interchanged to NS due to thin flanges. It would be great if this locomotive could some day return to service on the INER!

[Big Frank]

well Reading Michigan is Right by Hillsdale so I imagine they store cars in Hillsdale and they just take them to Steubenville than over to the interchange with NS thats my guess not to sure tho there is always grain hoppers setting in the yard on M-99 By the Burger king there in Hillsdale

[AARR]

Thanks Nathan.

[leo28150]

Cars in Hillsdale are in storage.

Usual procedure when loading a train in Reading is to have a crew of two engineers and a conductor with two engines load the train, then have a second crew take the two engines and half the train to Steubenville when finished loading, then come back and get the other half, put the train together in S-ville and then take the train to Montpelier. This spliting of the train is due to the grades and rail conditions between Reading and Pleasant Lake. Usually the train will switch anything on the way that needs done to get those cars back to interchange. As for the emptying of the cars after they are loaded, I'm going on the assumption that the moisture was too high when graded--which is done before it is loaded into the car by a grain inspector who checks it while in the process of getting from the silos to the flood-loader. Loading a 50 car train in Reading usually takes about 8 hours; with the track layout in Reading, there is room for an engine and 6 cars to load and not block the crossings that are on either side of the loader. The second engine will be sitting behind the first set that's loading, waiting for it to get done; when the first set is on the last car of it's set, the second engine will shove forward with it's cut of 6 cars until it's close to the first set and wait until it's out of the way, then with the ok from the person up in the tower, move forward under the loader and then stops and moves under the loader from his command. Meanwhile, the loaded set is moved to the north and cut off in the clear of the switch for the pass track, then the engine grabs another 6 empty cars, pulls to the south end of town, and gets in line behind the set that is loading on the loading track and waits until it's time to move in position to load.

[flatspot]

Most of what was posted in the lengthy post above was accurate but I am going to have to pick a few nits so as not to have any misinformed members of the railfan community out there (Can you imagine such a thing?).

1. While we wish we ran to Coldwater 5-6 times a week it is really more like only a couple of times per week. Sometimes a large amount of traffic will justify more runs, though.

2. The 1500 is not yet repainted into the beautiful IN paint scheme. She was slated to undergo the transformation but we kept her too busy to be taken out of service for a couple of weeks to do so. Maybe next year!

3. There are far more loads that unloads at Reading on a typical day. When the elevator is doing a sub-par job of mixing its corn more unloads will occasionally occur. By the way, as of October 1, the elevator in Reading is owned and operated by The Anderson's.

If any of you come out to chase us, be sure to wave. I'm pretty easy to spot as I am the good-looking one.

Jeff

[leo28150]

Are you sure that you are better looking than Dobber? I miss his smile:-)

[AARR]

Thanks for the good info leo and flatspot. Wish I had time to railfan and see the handsome engineers

[GP30M4216]

Hi Flatspot:

You seem to know all the good details and we appreciate you sharing them with us! Perhaps you know the most recent details about the following three locomotives. Has there been any change of status that you are aware of?

47
INER used to roster this classic GP7 from the Detroit & Toledo Shoreline Railroad. #47 was recently retired with the arrival of #1500 and sold to IBCX. #47 is still sitting at the Hillsdale Yard, rejected by the NS at the Montpelier, OH interchange for bad wheels (thin flanges). (not sure if the status of this locomotive has changed since last year.... anyone know?)

1603
Retired from service and a parts source, but still sits at the Hillsdale Yard. Ex-HCRC 1603, former NYC 7303, and originally Cleveland Union Terminal #5903.

4216
Also resting outside the INER shops in Hillsdale is former C&O GP30M #4216 from the CSXT. This unit is now IBCX and a parts source for the fleet's other two GP30s #2185 and 2230.

Thanks!

[flatspot]

The info on the 47 is very accurate except that it may be of interest to some to know that it used to carry the reporting marks "PGRV" for the Pigeon River Railroad which was the family owned operation that purchased the assets of the Hillsdale County Railroad. A few relatively minor things would get the 47 back on the road but it's not technically property of INRR.

Everything else is as reported. The engine block in the CSX engine may find its way into the 1603 or 1770 someday.

You're right, Lee. I did forget about Dobber when I declared myself to be the handsome one. What was I thinking?

Jeff