INE news(edited)

[Marylee]

Don't know why they didn't leave them west of Coldwater, but looks like the INE brought a bunch of storage cars from Coldwater and have shoved them up the branch to Litchfield. They stored cars here years ago, but not since they began shipping coal again. Have read about the shredded tire BS, but was hoping they would still be burning coal in Litchfield to some degree. Hopefully this is temporary due to track west of Coldwater and not losing the coal on the branch.

[AARR]

Thanks for the info, Marylee. At 30 cars a week this would be a significant loss of traffic. I'll hope for the best until we hear otherwise.

[GP30M4216]

The track going west from Coldwater is in bad shape, it's true. Meanwhile, the Litchfield line is like the Cadillac of IN branchlines....all welded rail, new ties, etc. Still, disheartening to hear that coal has stopped moving for now. I know they have a strong base of traffic on the Coldwater branch and in general they have survived the recession pretty well, but this was an important Michigan customer for them. I'm glad I made the effort to see one of their coal moves back in August of 2009. Of course, with no coal for now, maybe they'll be able to get the 1500 into the shop and get a nice coat of black with yellow trim. Anyone know if they've repaired the 1073 yet?

[Buster Manning]

Cars are there TEMPORARILY......some cars west of Coldwater are being shuffled around for access......

more coal is coming .......

[UncleRaul]

The tires would only supplement the coal being burned at the power plant. Just heard a story on the radio today about a plan to recycle most of the used tires sitting around in piles in the state.

[INE-KP]

Not bad news at all - NO the Coal shipments haven't stopped, just slowed down, look for one in the next few weeks. The cars on the Litchfield Branch are there because we needed to move them out of the way to gain access to the bulkhead flat cars located on the West side of Coldwater as they are being called up - they will go away. No the 1073 is not fixed yet. Maybe the 1500 will get painted this year. It would be best to simply ask what is going on than to proclaim "Bad News". If you haven't noticed, we've been pretty busy

[tazer]

I was in Hillsdale Sunday and caught the 1500 crossing Carleton road heading into the yard with some gons and covered hoppers
This is the first time I have ever seen a train at that crossing

Where did the 1500 come from ?

[TrainWatcher]

Ex-ATSF

[Big Frank]

Ill have took look at some picks i have from the last time i went to Litchfield to visit my parents I got some shots of it tied down but Im almost Positive under the primer you can still read Westmorland Scenic under it which may heave been its last owner and who they acquired the loco from

[GP30M4216]

INE-KP, thanks for the updates and the news. Glad to hear the coal hasn't stopped....and good to hear the bulkhead storage cars are being called up....business is improving someplace! And I didn't mean to make it sound like IN's business is decreasing, I know for a fact the IN has rode out the recession well and has more than just a couple new customers over the past year!

The GP7u 1500 is a former ATSF locomotive....it has the ATSF style cab, and most of its first generation diesel details are missing from a rebuild. In between the ATSF and IN, it was in fact running for the Westmoreland Scenic, and yes, if you look at the long hood correctly, you can still see this name on the side.

Hopefully this will be another good year for the IN. They seem to really focus on customer service and are making a real effort to improve their trackage. Cheers to that!

[Big Frank]

heres one of the pics i took thats not far from the parents house i have more ill see if i can find them