Eastern Railroad Discussion > SD70s Galore in INRD's Hot Zone

Only a couple years ago, the Indiana Rail Road was a relatively easy railroad to chase all day if you knew what to look for and have a scanner. The railroad's operations in Greene and Sullivan Counties (which I like to call the hot zone) typically offered the typical railfan a great day trip. A visit to the hot zone in early 2021 once yielded me 8 or 9 INRD movements in a day, plus a chase of an ISRR coal train into Knox County. However, over the past two years the railroad has become less and less interesting to chase. Coal traffic has diminished significantly (though as a business the railroad is solid thanks to growing intermodal business which has filled the coal gap nicely), and crew shortages are hampering operations somewhat. Schedule changes have also made the railroad less desirable. Gone are the morning Hiawatha-Palestine turn jobs which met and swapped cars near Dugger. For a while gone were the daylight running of SAHW and HWSA, arguably the railroad's most important manifests, though that schedule has somewhat returned to normal now (SAHW and HWSA no longer meet and swap crews in Switz City). Most impactful from a railfanning perspective though, gone are the SD9043MACs which were icons of the railroad.

None of my visits to the hot zone in 2023 yielded more than 3 or 4 trains. However a tip from a friend in February of 2024 while I was in the area yielded a fun morning in which I captured 6 of the railroad's 10 ex-NS SD70Ms which replaced the 90s in only a few hours on 3 different trains. It was a throwback to a couple years ago when this railroad was fun. 

1.) Just after sunrise, a crew takes 7001 and 7002 light power to Bear Run Mine from Hiawatha Yard in Jasonville. They were to pick up a loaded CSX coal train bound for Cayuga, IN (INRD runs these between Terre Haute and the mine, CSX takes them between the power plant and Terre Haute). Normally CSX power is used but this morning the B-unit wouldn't cooperate thus rescue power was needed.

2). Train NTHW, the return leg of a new train that replaced the Palestine Turn and SAHW's responsibilities for interchanging with CN in Newton, IL, had to wait for this light power to clear Glen (where the Midland and Indianapolis Sub's meet). CTC is in place between Sullivan and Linton on the Indianapolis Sub, and Glenn and Jasonville on the Midland Sub, and it proved it's usefulness on a non-class 1 here. Normally this train makes it back to Hiawatha before daybreak, but actually outlawed while waiting and a yard job had to relieve them.

More coming.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/24 13:30 by retlaw121.

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3) Another of NTHW

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4) With the red tacked on the blue, the Cayuga coal loads (train CBRCY) could depart the mine.

5) CBRCY crossing a large fill created as part of the extension of the Midland sub to reach Bear Run Mine in 2012.

6) While short, the Midland sub has many great photo locations. This one at County Road 1500 West is among my favorites.

More coming.

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7) Waiting impatiently at Bear Run while all this was going down was a loaded train for the Merom power plan (CBRME), the only power plant still served directly by INRD. After CBRCY finally got out of the way, they took off for Merom. This train has been bouncing back and forth between loading at Bear Run on INRD and Oaktown on CSX. The new owners of the power plant prefer Oaktown, however it's heavily served by CSX and getting trains in and out can take too long so Bear Run will be used instead.

8) Now on the Indy sub, CBRME crosses an old wooden bridge next to an old flooded mine pit.

9) CBRME approaching Hoosier Jct which they would take the diverging route toward the power plant.

More comming still

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10) As a bonus, the CBRME power would return light to Hiawatha yard for servicing after delivering the coal.

11) Rounding a curve on the Merom spur

12) Blasting through Dugger which had seen quite a bit of train action that morning.
 

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Love the photos. Back in the mid 90s, I mostly drove around following the tracks and rarely seeing a train. Had fun exploring the trestles though.

Posted from Android

And lastly, two photos almost two years apart. After the morning action wrapped up around 1pm, I raced back north to Bloomington to check off a shot on the to-do list I had wanted ever since the SD70M's were painted and SAHW returned to daylight runs. Northeast of Bloomington near Unionville, the railroad steps out over Lake Lemon on an impressive viaduct. While smaller than it's sister, the famed Tulip Trestle 30 miles down the line, this bridge is easily my favorite location on the entire railroad. It also has sentimental value as my grandmother lives nearby and I spent many adventures as a child seeing trains cross it. By coincidence or shear luck, the scene was almost identical to a shot I got 2 years earlier. High water, clear sky, leaf-less trees, and big red power. The only differences were in the locomotives and the angle I shot it at. While the SD70M's will never fill the boots of the SD90s I grew up around, they still look amazing in red and I for one am a happy camper.

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Great coverage!  Thanks for sharing.

texchief1

Thanks for the update on the SAHW/HWSA schedule. Do the trains still typically meet at Linton, even if they don't swap crews? Or does HWSA leave later than it used to?

Excellent series! The last photo is my favorite.

Dan

Posted from iPhone

toledopatch Wrote:
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> Thanks for the update on the SAHW/HWSA schedule.
> Do the trains still typically meet at Linton, even
> if they don't swap crews? Or does HWSA leave later
> than it used to?

There is no meet, as HWSA no longer has it's own crew. That crew is now used for HWNT and NHTW Hiawatha Yard in Jasonville, IL - Newton, IL and Newton - Hiawatha working Palestine, IL both ways. I am not sure why there are two symbols unlike the other turn jobs as it's the same train. SAHW now goes directly to Hiawatha yard and the crew hops on HWSA there and takes it back north.

Great bunch of photos.

Kim Heusel

One crew turn these days.

Terrific bunch, makes me wanna visit some day...

JG

The trackwork looks really good, if not GREAT, for a regional RR.  What is the short history of this line?  Leased from a big Class 1, or did they do all that trackwork themselves?

Fantastic series!! The bridge shots are incredible!

coach Wrote:
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> The trackwork looks really good, if not GREAT, for
> a regional RR.  What is the short history of this
> line?  Leased from a big Class 1, or did they do
> all that trackwork themselves?

They did it all themselves. The Indianapolis Sub from Indy to Newton, IL is former IC. The STB wouldn't let them abandon it in the 80s so INRD's founder bought it cheap. It was in a horrible state of repair however and the railroad had to fight to bring it back to where it was usable. It's quite the railroad success story.

The Chicago Sub from Terre Haute to Burns City (NSA Crane) is the former CP/Soo Lata Sub (former MLW territory). It was sold to INRD in the early 2000s and was in a better state of repair. INRD still made some significant upgrades to it, though by that point the coal business was making them a rich railroad. The Chicago Sub once ran all the way to Bedford then took the CSX Hoosier Sub (ex-Monon) to Louisville which was leased. However, CSX found a better routing for traffic between Indy and Louisville via LIRC. For the Hoosier Sub they told INRD to take it or leave it. INRD decided it wasn't worth the investment to keep it so it was abandoned.

The Midland Sub is two parts. From Jasonville to CP Glenn (Dugger, IN) it's a former Peabody mine spur, and from Glenn to Bear Run mine it's new construction undertaken by the railroad in 2010.

Track speed for most of the railroad is 40mph with CTC in place for maybe 25% of it. It is indeed a very strong class 2, despite being smaller than most other regionals.

Posted from Android

Definitely miss the SD90s and sad I never got up there to see them in person, but the new SD70Ms look super sharp as well. The notch-nosed variant was always my favorite of the SD70Ms.

Nice pics!!