IERY(Illinois Eastern Railway)
Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:05 pm
After the break up of Conrail in 1999, the PRR Chicago main went to CSX who used the line lightly for a few years from Crestline, OH to Chicago, IL. But CSX already having the Garrett Sub and Willard Sub no longer needed a secondary line such as the PRR. In 2004 it was sold to the IERY who did a decent job of generating traffic on the line. With 2 grain trains a day between Lima and Crestline and a few more road trains business went well. In 2010 the IERY was purchased by RailAmerica who sent most of the power away to other lines leaving the line underpowered and forced to use hard ridden CSX 4 axles for road power. After interchanging with the IORY began to decline in 2009 the IERY was given worn out CORP and TP&W power which constantly needed repaired. Crews mainly began to compain about the lack of 6 axle power for road trains, only 2 IERY SD40M-2's and 1 SD40-2 remained on IERY property and one of the SD40M-2's had major fire damage to the inside of the cab and nose and was OOS awaiting scrap or repair. As of 2010 the IERY had 4 GP38-2's, 5 GP40-2's, 5 GP50's, 1 SD40M-2, and 1 SD40-2 to operate with.
Out of the 5 GP50's 3 of them were almost always being repaired at one time or another while the other 2 worked mainly out of Chicago. Three of the GP38-2's and the SD40-2 were on the IORY almost everyday and were usually returned when the IERY ran a nocturnal transfer over to Sugar Street yard in Lima leaving just one SD40M-2 and the rest of the GP's to work everything between Central Indiana and Crestline. Finally in 2011, 3 GMTX SD60's arrived on a one year lease while RailAmerica figured out its power arrangement. GMTX #'s 9022, 9024, and 9030 served mainly on road trains and ran well. In early 2012 when the lease on the SD60's was up the lease was not extended and the SD60's left the system in the spring of that year. Once again the railroad was short on power after RailAmerica sent all 4 GP38-2's to the IORY to work out of Flat Rock and Lima North and South. Soon after talks of a G&W-RA merger were going around and the IERY leased 4 HLCX SD40-2's for 6 months in June of 2012. In August of 2012 SD40M-2 #8801 was repaired and back in road service at the same time as all 5 GP50's and for awhile CSX ran a Q543/544 pair over the line from Buffalo, NY to Lima, OH where they were handed to the IORY there in Lima.
G&W Takeover
In early 2013 G&W and CSX decided to anull the Q543/544 pair and also not to extend the lease on CSX 6044 and 6065 which were promptly returned to CSX. The 4 HLCX SD40-2's were sent back after their lease was up and IERY 8802(SD40-2) and IERY 3000-3003(GP38-2's) were given back to the IERY. With a new industrial park in Van Wert, OH being constructed the IERY purchased two NREX SD50's #'s 8696 and 5448. They became IERY 6000 and 6001. Major maintainance efforts were made also to replace jointed rail and old Pennsy signals on the line.
Current Roster:
IERY 3000-3003 GP38-2
IERY 8800-8803 SD40M-2
IERY 3004-3009 GP50
IERY 3010-3014 GP40-2
IERY 6000-6001 SD50
IERY 8804-8812 SD40-2
Trains:
Road Manifests
100 Chicago, IL,Ft. Wayne, IN
111 Ft. Wayne, IN,Chicago, IL
126 Chicago, IL-Lima,OH(IORY)
137 Lima, OH(IORY), Chicago, IL
Grain
201 Crestline,OH(CSX), Lima,OH
210 Lima,OH, Crestline,OH(CSX)
228 Chicago,IL(BNSF), Columbia City, IN
239 Columbia City, IN, Chicago,IL
Locals, Turns, and Transfers
301 Lima, OH, Van Wert, OH
302 Lima, OH, Crestline, OH
337 Ft. Wayne, IN, Columbia City, IN
338 Columbia City, IN, Ft. Wayne, IN
339 Ft. Wayne,IN, Warsaw,IN
340 Chicago,IL, Warsaw,IN
X - Extra
S - Second Section
K - Recrew
V - Alternate Schedule
G - Grain Recrew
A - Second Grain Section
Chicago District: Chicago,IL - Ft. Wayne, IN
Lima District: Ft. Wayne, IN - Lima, OH
Crestline District: Lima, OH - Crestline, OH
On occasion NS will reroute a roadrailer east out of Ft. Wayne onto CSX at Crestline and back onto NS at Berea.
These operate as:
262 Ft. Wayne, IN(NS), Crestline, OH(CSX)
261 Crestline, OH(CSX), Ft. Wayne, IN(NS)
Out of the 5 GP50's 3 of them were almost always being repaired at one time or another while the other 2 worked mainly out of Chicago. Three of the GP38-2's and the SD40-2 were on the IORY almost everyday and were usually returned when the IERY ran a nocturnal transfer over to Sugar Street yard in Lima leaving just one SD40M-2 and the rest of the GP's to work everything between Central Indiana and Crestline. Finally in 2011, 3 GMTX SD60's arrived on a one year lease while RailAmerica figured out its power arrangement. GMTX #'s 9022, 9024, and 9030 served mainly on road trains and ran well. In early 2012 when the lease on the SD60's was up the lease was not extended and the SD60's left the system in the spring of that year. Once again the railroad was short on power after RailAmerica sent all 4 GP38-2's to the IORY to work out of Flat Rock and Lima North and South. Soon after talks of a G&W-RA merger were going around and the IERY leased 4 HLCX SD40-2's for 6 months in June of 2012. In August of 2012 SD40M-2 #8801 was repaired and back in road service at the same time as all 5 GP50's and for awhile CSX ran a Q543/544 pair over the line from Buffalo, NY to Lima, OH where they were handed to the IORY there in Lima.
G&W Takeover
In early 2013 G&W and CSX decided to anull the Q543/544 pair and also not to extend the lease on CSX 6044 and 6065 which were promptly returned to CSX. The 4 HLCX SD40-2's were sent back after their lease was up and IERY 8802(SD40-2) and IERY 3000-3003(GP38-2's) were given back to the IERY. With a new industrial park in Van Wert, OH being constructed the IERY purchased two NREX SD50's #'s 8696 and 5448. They became IERY 6000 and 6001. Major maintainance efforts were made also to replace jointed rail and old Pennsy signals on the line.
Current Roster:
IERY 3000-3003 GP38-2
IERY 8800-8803 SD40M-2
IERY 3004-3009 GP50
IERY 3010-3014 GP40-2
IERY 6000-6001 SD50
IERY 8804-8812 SD40-2
Trains:
Road Manifests
100 Chicago, IL,Ft. Wayne, IN
111 Ft. Wayne, IN,Chicago, IL
126 Chicago, IL-Lima,OH(IORY)
137 Lima, OH(IORY), Chicago, IL
Grain
201 Crestline,OH(CSX), Lima,OH
210 Lima,OH, Crestline,OH(CSX)
228 Chicago,IL(BNSF), Columbia City, IN
239 Columbia City, IN, Chicago,IL
Locals, Turns, and Transfers
301 Lima, OH, Van Wert, OH
302 Lima, OH, Crestline, OH
337 Ft. Wayne, IN, Columbia City, IN
338 Columbia City, IN, Ft. Wayne, IN
339 Ft. Wayne,IN, Warsaw,IN
340 Chicago,IL, Warsaw,IN
X - Extra
S - Second Section
K - Recrew
V - Alternate Schedule
G - Grain Recrew
A - Second Grain Section
Chicago District: Chicago,IL - Ft. Wayne, IN
Lima District: Ft. Wayne, IN - Lima, OH
Crestline District: Lima, OH - Crestline, OH
On occasion NS will reroute a roadrailer east out of Ft. Wayne onto CSX at Crestline and back onto NS at Berea.
These operate as:
262 Ft. Wayne, IN(NS), Crestline, OH(CSX)
261 Crestline, OH(CSX), Ft. Wayne, IN(NS)