Elkhart & Western expanding

[Loco_Engr]

Looks like Pioneer Railcorp will be operating the former NKP I-MC District between Argos & Walkerton soon.

http://www.stb.dot.gov/filings/all.nsf/ ... enDocument

[AARR]

Thanks for the heads-up. Seems like a decent little shortline. If anyone knows more info about customers and interchanges please let us know.

[MSchwiebert]

Not sure about customers, but interchanges would be: NS at Argos for certain, CF&E at Plymouth (there's a connecting track there put in in the 1990's when NS bought the ex PRR from Ft. Wayne to Valpo that could conceivably be used). I don't think there's a transfer track between the CSX & the line at Walkerton. At some point in Walkerton the lines ownership changes from NS (to be Elkhart & Western) to CSS&SB (South Shore) Not sure if it's north of the diamond with CSX or south of it. So it's also conceivable that the short line could interchange with the South Shore. Reading the application though, while the Elkhart & Western is not prevented from interchanging with anyone else, they also get benefits from interchanging with the NS at Argos.

Thanks for the heads-up. Seems like a decent little shortline. If anyone knows more info about customers and interchanges please let us know.

[AARR]

Somewhere on E&W's line they have a cement customer that receives (or ships out?) covered hoppers. They also have a 50' box car customer somewhere on the original line. I thought at one time the had an auto parts customer but I don't know if I'm recalling that correctly.

[thomas]

in argos just north of the NKP diamond there is a small grain mill but it has'nt seen cars in a long time.
in plymouth there is 4 active customers, plus interchange with cf&e.

in walkerton there no interchange with csx and 1 active customer.

the interchange point with south shore is several miles north of walkerton, it is nothing more than a short siding

[Loco_Engr]

The track between Walkerton & Kingsbury is OOS, as NS filed to discontinue service on this portion of the line last year. South Shore operates down to the industrial park in what used to be the Kingsbury Ordinance facility. The section of the line that is OOS is not included in the lease, so don't look for a CSS/E&W interchange anytime soon. The other interchange would be with the Fulton County RR, which operates the line south of Argos to Rochester. FC is not a common carrier, it is a private carrier that serves its owner (Wilson's Fertilizer & Grain) as well as Corn Products (both in Rochester). I would look to the possibility of Pioneer attempting to buy this segment of the line, as there are some potential customers in Rochester that FC is not interested in developing.

Just today (Monday), I followed the NS L43 local up to Plymouth & back. They had 3 cars for DelMonte, and returned engine light. It looked like they would make a trip to Walkerton tomorrow (Tuesday) as well as switch a plastics customer in Plymouth, based on the cars in the yard.

[Loco_Engr]

A quote from T.O.:

"STB posted a filing on Friday that NS is going to lease their branchline from Argos to Walkerton, IN to Pioneer Railcorp's Elkhart & Western. 23 miles of railroad with a half-dozen customers and NS being the only connection... NS currently serves the branch on Thursdays..."


Trying to figure out how this guy got that info out of the STB filing. I'll read it again, but I don't recall it saying anything about how many customers or when NS served the line......


As it stands, NS local L43 is on duty at Argos between 8-9am Monday through Friday. They generally do a little switching in the yard before heading around the southeast wye onto the I-MC line where they run around the train and head north. You will usually not hear them get a track warrant on the radio, but they will call the dispatcher for the north & south bound signal at Argos, as well as reporting to CYO when they depart. The main customer is a DelMonte processing plant in Plymouth, as well as one or two companies that receive plastic pellet hoppers. The one customer in Walkerton gets served about once a week, last I knew....and that's about it.

I really hope Pioneer can make a go of this operation....this is the line I grew up near back when NS ran two locals and a few coal trains between Argos & Michigan City, and IHRC ran from Argos to Peru....

[csxt4617]

Has Pioneer ever really made a good "go" at anything? They sure don't seem to be doing anything on their line in Hartford other than using it to store coal hoppers.

[Loco_Engr]

Railroads are in business to make money, and car storage is big bucks for many shortlines right now.

As far as Pioneer's success (or lack of it) with the small traffic base on this line, time will tell. I'm not too familiar with their operations on other lines that they own, but it's a darn sight better than having the track ripped up.

[AARR]

Has Pioneer ever really made a good "go" at anything? They sure don't seem to be doing anything on their line in Hartford other than using it to store coal hoppers.

I'm sure they've tried to generate more business on their WMI line. They are dependent on CSX for good service. So, if a potential customer, like the Coke plant in Paw Paw, loves WMI, but dislikes service on CSX, there's not a lot WMI can do. Also, WMI has been making extra effort to deliver the 1 or 2 cars of produce per year to the customer down the line. If they didn't care they wouldn't switch that customer.

[That Guy]

Really surprised RailAmerica didn't snatch this up to become part of the CFE. They have the connection track in Plymouth. Also I saw that E&W can interchange with who ever, but they get a lease bonus or something like that for interchanging with NS. Maybe some new business for the CFE?

[Loco_Engr]

What's the rate difference on single grain cars CF&E vs. NS? I speculate that the reason Wilson's in Rochester hasn't loaded many cars this year is due in part to the rate for single cars...I don't believe there have been any unit trains on the FC in quite some time.

[AARR]

I don't believe there have been any unit trains on the FC in quite some time.

Ok, I give, whose FC?

[MSchwiebert]

FC = Fulton County RR, it's a non-common carrier (I believe) that owns the former EL in Rochester IN - used almost exclusively to load out unit grain trains that would be interchanged to the NS at Rochester.

[Loco_Engr]

Fulton County RR, LLC is a private carrier owned & operated by Wilson's Fertilizer & Grain in Rochester, IN. They operate the ex-NKP Indianapolis-Michigan City District from Rochester to just south of Argos, as well as the ex-EL in Rochester.

[AARR]

Ok - thanks guys. Sounds like there's not much business with FC this year. Hope that changes.

[KenB]

What does Fulton County use for locomotives? Painted and lettered? Where kept?

[Loco_Engr]

FC uses whatever NS unit is available at Argos after the L43 is done for the day. Not sure how power will be handled once Pioneer takes over....

[conraildan]

Does anyone know how much Pioneer Rail pays its conductors and engineers? I was thinking about signing up and sending in my resume for this new line. i have several years experience as a conductor.

[Loco_Engr]

Last I heard, a conductor on one of their local (Indiana) lines was making around $17 an hour, but no overtime.