Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad (CKIN)

Saving a Railroad - Archived Documents

Freight Railroads Background

Indiana Railroad Map

Freight Rail Works

Soy Transportation

Grade Crossing Repair

A joint effort between the Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad, Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum and the Town of North Judson saw the old wood timbers removed from the Sycamore Street double-track grade crossing in North Judson. A new asphalt surface was applied along with new rubber flangeways. A $23,000 grant was secured from the Rail Section at the Indiana Dept of Transportation for the purchase of materials. All labor and road closure barricades were donated as part of the local match for the grant.
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Tearing Out of Crossing
Rebuilding of Crossing
Finished Grade Crossing

Thomaston Construction for CKIN

Monday, October 13, 2008
Norfolk Southern Railroad installs their switch to make the connection between the Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad and NS. Railworks completed the installation of the interchange track during the week of October 5, 2008. Its been a project in the works for just over a year, but the $360,000 project is now complete and the interchange will be officially opened the week of Oct 19.
This new interchange will now offer Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad users two class 1 railroad outlets. CSX at Wellsboro and now Norfolk Southern at Thomaston.

Friday, Oct 5, 2007
Earth work for the construction of the interchange between the Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad (track in the foreground) and the Norfolk Southern (track to photographer's left) has begun with noticeable progress. Here you see the northeast quadrant cleared of trees and the top soil removed along most of the curve. Fill dirt will be trucked to the site next, to gradually build up the right-of-way for the track to be installed. One can determine the center-line of the future connecting track with the visual aid of the survey stakes.

Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad enables Indiana agricultural grains grown in LaPorte, Porter and Starke counties to reach outside markets. Many are feed grain markets in the southeast United States. Plant food arrives in bulk through covered hopper car or tank car and is off-loaded into trucks at facilities and sites in Union Mills, LaCrosse and Malden. Economy in bulk favors the agricultural producer through lower input costs.
Railroads provide the lowest cost for land transportation of bulk commodities. The U.S. Department of Transportation has projected a 66 % growth in total freight traffic between 2000 and 2020.

According to a director of feed grains for a major Class 1 railroad "State highway officials have said the cost of increasing highway capacity is prohibitive, and that railroads will have to take on a bigger share of the burden."
Indiana has 4,255 railroad route miles, 91% of these miles are operated mostly by Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation.

The Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad interchanges currently with CSX Transportation at Union Mills. A future interchange with Norfolk Southern is currently underway and will provide a second access point to a competitive Class 1 railroad system.
There are 15 Indiana counties and 86 communities served exclusively by short line railroads like the Chesapeake and Indiana (CKIN). The Incorporated Town of North Judson owns the 33-mile railroad and contracts operations of the railroad line to the CKIN. The Town, local counties, INDOT and Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum sought to preserve the railroad line for current and future economic and tourism benefits.

Mark Stanek photos

JK Line Remembered - A look back

The 16-mile JK Line as it was known under Frick Services and finally Cargill ownership, saw tracks removed from the corridor in 2004. Cargill had sought to sell the elevator facilities in Monterey and Winamac, and the rail lines to those facilities. Today, piles of rail and ties are still at Monterey and Winamac awaiting removal to other locations, being resold by A&K Railroad Materials. Both corridors are now railbanked for future reactivation if warranted, but for now interim trail use permitted by US DOT.
Here we see some photos by Mark Stanek taken of activities at Monterey on the JK Line where a unit train of new Burlington Northern covered hoppers were being loaded with grain, during April of 1999. The railroad line was previously known during the 1980's as the Tippecanoe Railroad (TRR) serving the then Buckeye Feed and Supply.

The facility originated unit grain trains of 65-cars, with a capacity of 227,500 bushels. The grain generally moved to eastern destinations including ports for export. The TRR or JK Line connected with then CSX at North Judson.
During the mid-1980's, expansion of the on line grain storage at the Monterey facility increased to 4.5 million bushels, with Tippecanoe Railroad handling in excess of 20 unit trains per year. The facility had the capacity to load one 100-ton hopper car every 5-minutes. The Buckeye Feed and Grain at one time was a central grain loading and storage facility for some 3,500 agricultural producers in a four county area.
Today, in the ethanol faze of American history, some 150 ethanol plants may be built by the end of 2009 across the heartland of America, brewing 9-billion gallons of ethanol. Its reported a 100-million gallon facility will require 37-million bushels of corn or 10,000 hopper cars. This corn demand for a 100-million gallon facility would be grown over about 230,000 acres, needing 115 railroad tank cars of nitrogen fertilizer.

The - what if's - come to mind when looking back just a short few years...

Mark Stanek photo file photo	Weed spray or fertilizer?? A Purdue University Forestry & Natural Resources truck tries out some test plots and weed control spray on the Wellsboro segment of the C&I during 2006. In the background an eastbound Norfolk Southern RR freight crosses the Chesapeake and Indiana RR diamond at Thomaston. This section of the C&I is former Pere Marquette RR.
Mark Stanek photo	C&I locomotive No. 2003 crosses the Chicago Ft. Wayne & Eastern RR diamond at Hanna- Milepost 9.1.
Mark Stanek photos	C&I Railroad crews with assistance from the LaPorte County Hwy Dept rehab a rural grade crossing east of LaCrosse. C&I appreciates the assistance of the county highway departments.
Mark Stanek photos	C&I locomotive and crew awaits the loading of grain into hopper cars at the Union Mills Co-Alliance facility. Final switching moves will build a "unit" train of Indiana grain for outbound pickup by CSX locomotive and train crew at Wellsboro-Milepost 15.3. CSX's double track main line across northern Indiana, crosses the double track main lines of the GrandTrunk/CN at Wellsboro. C&I presently only has an interchange connection with CSX at Wellsboro.
Mark Stanek photo	A Norfolk Southern locomotive crosses the C&I track at Thomaston-Milepost 6.4. A proposed interchange track between C&I and NS is tentatively set for construction during the first half of 2007. The new interchange track will be built in the northeast quadrant, on railroad r/w property.
Mark Stanek photo	The Co-Alliance facility at Malden, like the one at Union Mills, uses a newly installed batch-weigh loadout system to fill hopper cars, to a max per railcar weight of 286,000-lbs. The new system of weighing grain while loading, increases the efficiency and opens up additional market routes for selling the unit grain trains. The Co-Alliance facility at Malden uses its own locomotive; a former Santa Fe unit to move rail cars in and out of loadout tracks. Presently all inbound and outbound rail cars to Malden go back to Wellsboro for interchange with CSX. Malden is Milepost 230.8 on the former C&O Rwy section of the C&I Railroad.

October 2006
Members of the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum install 80 new rural crossbucks along the 33-mile Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad. The C&I Railroad received an INDOT Passive Grade Crossing Grant for the installation of the improved, highly reflective crossbucks or "Railroad Crossing" warning signs. HVRM was contacted by C&I to install the crossbucks in the rural areas for a set fee per installation. HVRM accepted the job and new wooden posts were also installed with the improved crossbucks affixed to the tops.

C&I Railroad personnel themselves affixed the new reflective crossbucks to all the electric grade crossing installations along the railroad line. The new signs are a noticeable improvement over the older worn crossbucks.

Press Release 2/22/06

Local Railroad Receives INDOT Grant to

Improve Operations

The Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad Company has been awarded a $180,000 grant by the Indiana Department of Transportation. The grant is part of more than $1.7 million in Industrial Rail Service Fund (IRSF) grants to eleven short line railroads throughout the state. Lt Governor Becky Skillman, who also serves as Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development said: “These grants are an important step forward as we work to strengthen Indiana’s smaller communities.”

The C & I Railroad plans to use the 2006 grant toward a $340,000 project to build a new connection with the Norfolk Southern Railroad near Thomaston in LaPorte County. The new connection will enable locally grown grain to reach additional distant markets in the southeastern US. The C & I presently connects with the CSX Railroad at Union Mills, Indiana. The 33 mile C & I serves the communities of North Judson, LaCrosse, Malden and Union Mills. It was purchased in 2004 from CSX by the Town of North Judson in order to preserve the line from abandonment.

C & I president Powell Felix thanked the many local political and economic leaders that lent their support to the grant application. “Adding a new rail connection is an investment in infrastructure that will enhance the competitiveness of the area served by the C & I for decades to come. The IRSF grant program fosters a public – private investment relationship that enables projects to go forward that would otherwise not be possible if the financing burden was left solely upon Indiana’s small railroads.”, said Felix. Last year the C & I received an IRSF grant to help improve the track and repair several bridges to handle the heavier 286,000 pound rail cars that are becoming the industry standard.

Customers of the C & I Railroad include Co-Alliance (the former LaPorte County Coop), Bruder Fertilizer, Agriliance and Cargill. The railroad handles outbound grain and inbound fertilizer products for the local agribusiness community. The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum at North Judson also has access to the railroad and hopes to expand excursion operations, which in turn bring in tourism development to the area.

Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad

August 1, 2005 began the second year of operations for the Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad. The C&I is the entity that conducts 33-miles of railroad operations over the former C&O/Pere Marquette/CSX lines located in LaPorte, Porter and Starke Counties. The Incorporated Town of North Judson has ownership of the railroad after a massive effort in by multi-levels of government, business and non-profits came together to preserve the rail line from abandonment in 2004. The effort was put forth to preserve current economic benefits and foster future benefits both economically and through historic railroad operations and tourism opportunities. Oversight of the railroad is performed through the North Judson Railroad Advisory Committee.

The C&I handled 725 revenue freight cars for the first year of operations. Most of this freight was outbound corn and soybeans and the rest was inbound plant food or fertilizers. It is highly expected that 1,000 freight cars will move over the C&I in the coming year of operations. C&I received a $150,000 matching grant from the Indiana Industrial Rail Service Fund in its first year, for railroad ties and repairs to several bridges. That work is currently now underway. C&I was recently awarded a grant from the Indiana Dept of Transportation and its Passive Grade Crossing Improvement Program to replace most of the rural crossbucks along the railroad's rural crossings with new posts and crossbuck materials.

Presently two facilities of the LaPorte County Farm Bureau Co-op utilize the railroad asset, one facility at Malden in Porter County and the other facility located at Union Mills, in LaPorte County. Bruder Fertilizer is another railroad user, off loading plant food at LaCrosse. Two other businesses near Malden are now off loading product from railcars for their business operations. Sites at North Judson, Malden and Union Mills can be utilized by any business wishing to ship in or ship out product. The Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad interchanges with the CSX railroad system at Wellsboro/Union Mills.

Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum at North Judson, and C&I Railroad have hosted 3 North American Railcar Operators Association excursions on the railroad during the first year, and additional outings are being planned for 2005-06. Also, museum volunteers have assisted C&I Railroad with some degree of maintenance and light repairs to the North Judson/LaCrosse branch of the railroad, which HVRM intends to begin utilizing in the coming year for tourist train operations.

Submitted by:
Mark Knebel, Sec.
Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum Inc.
North Judson Railroad Advisory Committee

Chesapeake & Indiana News

The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum "Membership Special" ran on November 19th, 2005 from North Judson to LaCrosse and return on the C&I. They rode aboard a restored 4 caboose and gondola train.

March 2005, HVRM volunteer track crew installs 7-new railroad ties into the C&I passing track in North Judson.
Later that afternoon, the HVRM track crew makes repairs to the C&I right-of-way, east of LaCrosse. ATV 4-wheelers eroded the ballast from the track and new ballast and fill was reinstalled to secure the track structure.
May 21, 2005, HVRM volunteer crews make repairs to the wood plank walkway on the C&I railroad bridge at English Lake. HVRM volunteers contributed time and materials to this task, lending assistance the C&I maintenance chores along the railroad.
Wade Cabin - MilePost 223.5 Telegraph offices on most railroads where train movements were monitored and governed, were known as "towers". The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) referred to them as "cabins". Wade was built in 1948 just west of LaCrosse on the Chicago Division as "QN Cabin", later known as Wade, replacing an older two story wooden structure at the interlocking of the C&O and Monon railroads. The interchange track was in the northeast quadrant of the crossing, behind the cabin. Wade was one of three cabins of a new and late design on the C&O replacing two-story type structures with a single sturdy building, having a bay window or in an L-shape design, giving the operator a 3-sided view of the track or railroad yard. Wade is an L-shape design, yellow brick structure. Earlier photos of Wade and the orginal QN Tower in future updates.

The Great Lakes Railcars group operated on the Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad during the 2005 North Judson Mint Festival in mid-June. Visitors to Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum were able to take a caboose ride on the Erie Division or ride a motor car on the Chesapeake Division that weekend.

Many visitors enjoyed the motor cars and riding on smooth welded rail. Just another way of learning about railroads, how they were built, improved, and maintained by men on motor cars years ago. The entire 33-mile railroad line is a historic railroad corridor, ownership held by the Town of North Judson and operated by C&I Railroad. Federal Highway Administration funding was a major part of the preservation funds for this railroad line, serving 3 counties.

During September 2005, Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum contributed 456 linear feet of rail and track parts to help build a 200' spur, just south of Union Mills/Wellsboro. Using HVRM flat cars, Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad (CKIN) hauled the materials for the job to the site. The spur construction was a component in a larger project of railroad rehab undertaken during 2005, utilizing grant funds awarded to CKIN through the Indiana Industrial RailService Fund. TRANCO of Burns Harbor, Indiana constructed the switch/spur for CKIN.

The spur will aid CKIN with its freight operations and will eventually be lengthened to connect to the existing load-out track at the LaPorte County Farm Bureau's fertilizer/grain facility. This future project will enable the loading of unit grain trains at the Union Mills facility.

For the present time, the new spur, using a relocated switch from the old LaCrosse, Indiana, Pere Marquette yard, will provide a more efficient way of handling trains near the CSX interchange point. The new spur will also be an aid to HVRM for any inbound or outbound movement, where temp storage may be needed to keep a railroad car or locomotive clear of the C&I main track

C&I crosses the former PRR FtWayne-Chicago line, now under control of Chicago FtWayne & Eastern Railroad.	C&I GP-20 #2003 rounds the bend up on the Union Mills segment of the line, the former Pere Marquette line.	LaPorte County Farm Bureau Co-op's Malden facility at the west end of the C&I line near highway 49.
HVRM 2005 Open house train on the C&I at North Judson.	Federal Highway Administration funds helped to preserve this railroad corridor via the Indiana Dept of Transportation in the year 2004.
One odd signal up on the former Pere Marquette side of the railroad, north of the NS crossing at Thomaston.	LaPorte County Farm Bureau Co-op's Union Mills facility at the north end of the C&I line near the CSX interchange.	North Judson at the east end of the C&I line, formerly C&O Rwy between Cincinnati and Chicago. The C&I line in North Judson is double track with a long passing track and interchange with Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum. The Incorporated Town of North Judson is the legal entity, which owns the 33-mile railroad, preserved by the efforts of many in the counties of LaPorte, Porter and Starke.

Learn More About Short Line Railroading

American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association

Indiana Railroad Transportation Group

National Academy of Railroad Sciences

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