Terre Haute, Brazil & Eastern Railroad
- AAR Reporting Marks - TBER.
- TBER Cab Ride Video
Terre Haute, Brazil & Eastern History
The Terre Haute, Brazil & Eastern Railroad was a short-lived shortline railroad that ran the former Conrail Limedale Secondary from Terre Haute, IN to Limedale, IN. It was incorporated on May 1st, 1987 and began operations on October 15th, 1987.
The Conrail Limedale Secondary was once part of the Pennsylvania Railroad's St. Louis Line from Pittsburgh, PA to East St. Louis, IL. When the Penn Central merger happened, PC, and subsequently CR, favored the NYC St. Louis Line route from Terre Haute eastward, and PRR's route from Terre Haute westward. Thus, the PRR east of Terre Haute and NYC west of Terre Haute became secondary lines, with the PRR east becoming the Limedale Secondary.
In 1984, Conrail filed to abandon the Limedale Secondary. In 1987, TBER purchased 30 miles of the line from the former C&EI, then CSX Chestnut St. Yard in Terre Haute, through the ex-PRR East Yard in town (which became TBER's main yard and headquarters) to Limedale, Indiana to serve a few online customers.
TBER also hosted a dinner train for the Coleman family, named the "Beaver Hawk Express." It took passengers to and from the Waterwheel Restaurant at US-40 and 550 W near Cloverland, IN. It loaded and offloaded passengers in Limedale, Brazil (behind Kroger today) and at the Water Wheel Restaurant. Cars used were flatcars modified into open air passenger cars. In 1988, 3,750 rode the Beaver Hawk Express.
Unfortunately, TBER never got off to a great start. By this point, neglect by PC and CR had left the tracks in poor shape. Most grade crossings on the line did not work. TBER could not afford the upkeep and unfortunately ceased operation on December 31st, 1993. The line was removed and dismantled shortly after.
Unfortunate Losses:
- 84 Lumber stopped shipping by rail in April 1989, aside from 3 cars in Dec 1989/Jan 1990.
- TBER was used as the "middle man" for CR/CSX interchange in Terre Haute, as they had no direct connection at Haley. Doing this required using trackage rights on SOO, and thus the money they made off CSX-CR interchange was cancelled out by paying for SOO trackage rights.
- TBER planned to serve Amax Coal's Chinook Mine near Seelyville, IN. Traffic never materialized, and building the spur there ended up in TBER's bankruptcy.
TBER interchanged with the following:
- SOO at their Van Yard in Terre Haute, IN
- CR at their Duane Yard in Terre Haute, IN (via trackage rights on SOO Latta Sub to Conmil Connection)
- CSX at Chestnut Street Yard in Terre Haute, IN
Terre Haute, Brazil & Eastern Locomotives
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Terre Haute, Brazil & Eastern Customers
Terre Haute, Brazil & Eastern Map
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