Indiana Rail Road: Regional with its eye on the big picture

Written by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor
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Indiana Rail Road takes a serious approach to its capital investment strategy in order to plan for growth.

 

{besps}September13_INDR{/besps} {besps_c}0|1INRD.jpg| A two-year project to replace INRD’s White River Bridge began in July.{/besps_c} {besps_c}0|2INRD.jpg| A crossing rehab project.{/besps_c} {besps_c}0|3INRD.jpg| Installation of ribbon rail.{/besps_c} {besps_c}0|4INRD.jpg| Bridge testing taking place.{/besps_c}

 

Indiana Rail Road takes a serious approach to its capital investment strategy in order to plan for growth.

Time can change a lot on a railroad, for better or worse. Years of neglect left a 109-mile section of track between Indianapolis and Sullivan, Ind., which would eventually become part of the Indiana Rail Road (INRD), in a state that had been described as “moribund.” However, nearly three decades and $180 million in infrastructure investments later, INRD has turned its original waning line into a thriving, 500-mile route, which earned the honor of being named Regional Railroad of the Year by Railway Age in 2012.

INRD’s evolution from near abandonment to vital heavy-haul road took committed leadership and a belief that reinvesting in the company is good business sense.

“In the earliest days, INRD was a dilapidated branch line, downsized by Illinois Central Gulf (ICG). Just to handle existing business, we needed significant resources to renew ties and rail,” said Tom Hoback, INRD founder, president and CEO. “Twenty-five miles of the original mainline was embargoed in 1977 due to several critical defects, for which ICG was cited by the Federal Railroad Administration. ICG was having serious derailments and the railroad was out of service for 1.5 years. The ICG tried to abandon the line but the [Interstate Commerce Commission] denied the application.

“INRD purchased 109 miles (Indianapolis to Sullivan, Ind.) from ICG in 1986 and the first priority was to stabilize the infrastructure. Second was to upgrade and add capacity for new business, which started in earnest in the late 1980s and has continued to this day. INRD has invested more than $180 million in track, bridges, locomotives, facilities and technologies that help us provide superior service.”

The investments

INRD has not shied away from asset investment over its course of existence and its most recent effort is a five-year, $65-million capital plan the railroad began in 2011 as part of its 25th anniversary. The plan focused on bridge renewal and replacements, as well as rail installation. But as railroads of all sizes can attest, when it comes to infrastructure investment, the job is never done.

“We’re still recovering from decades of neglect under Illinois Central and ICG ownership. There is a lot of fouled ballast; we undercut several thousand feet each year to renew ballast and increase drainage. After 28 years of this, we’re still not where we need to be,” said Hoback. “Other challenges are subgrade degradation due to the heavy-axle-loading of unit coal and intermodal trains, which requires a robust and sustained undercutting program. We have a total of 189 bridges on the railroad, and timber bridges in particular require constant monitoring and inspection, and a well-designed replacement program.”

INRD in-house forces are being put to use for the maintenance work, but Hoback says the railroad relies on contractors for large capital construction projects, such as bridge renewal and repair, rail and tie installation and undercutting.
While the original five-year plan called for a $65-million investment, the railroad is spending closer to $80 million once all slated work has been complete. INRD already spent $43.6 million on the program and has an additional $36.8 million in work on deck in 2014 and 2015.

Work completed between 2011 and 2013 includes three bridge rebuilds; 24 miles of installed continuous welded rail (cwr); undercutting along 56,000 track feet and 91,600 crossties installed among other projects.

One highlight of work performed during the first part of the current five-year plan was a new $7.6-million locomotive maintenance facility at INRD’s Hiawatha Yard. The facility, which replaced a building from the steam locomotive era, includes a large parts warehouse and overhead cranes that allow INRD’s mechanical force to perform work ranging from routine maintenance to heavy overhauls on up to four of the railroad’s 4,300-horsepower heavy-haul locomotives at one time.

Work in 2014 has focused on the Indianapolis Subdivision with a cut and slide project along 5.5 miles; 20,000 track feet of undercutting; 41,000 crossties, rebuilt 10 crossings and installed 4.5 miles of cwr. These projects have allowed INRD to increase speeds to 30 mph in Indianapolis and 40 mph further south.

In 2014, an additional 21,000 crossties will be installed; including 5,000 on the Midland Sub and 2,500 at Hiawatha Yard. INRD will also perform work on a trio of bridges including a renewal of a 53-foot bridge at milepost 153.3, renewal of the Tulip Viaduct and stabilization of the south wall and begin the replacement of the White River Bridge.

Work to replace the more than a century old White River Bridge began in July. The existing bridge piers will remain but undergo major rehabilitation work, while the existing structure will be replaced with a steel plate girder bridge. Once work is complete in October 2015, the span will be capable of carrying heavier loads at faster speeds.

The two-year, $14-million project is being partially funded by an $8-million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant that was awarded to the Indiana Department of Transportation in 2013.

Safety initiatives

While INRD has made newsworthy strides in the realm of capital investment, it gained national attention this summer when it released a video taken from a locomotive front-facing surveillance camera of a nearly fatal incident involving two female trespassers walking on a bridge.

“After careful consideration, we decided to use an unfortunate experience as a tool to not only educate the public on the dangers of trespassing, but to remind law enforcement along our route of the need for violators to be cited,” said Hoback.
The two women involved in the incident, who narrowly escaped with their lives, are charged with trespassing and could face jail time.

“We routinely weave in grade-crossing safety to our communications with the public and public agencies; we’ve worked with law enforcement for years to create greater awareness for grade-crossing safety and we’re active with Operation Lifesaver,” said Hoback. “We also have an ongoing and diligent program to close public and private crossings. At the end of the day, we want the public to be safe and think wisely and we absolutely want to show our employees that INRD is working to protect them and INRD’s assets.”

The railroad has also developed an active and extensive internal safety program for its employees.

“We conduct annual training programs for our bridge and track workers, on welded rail maintenance training, environmental and FRA track inspection training, plus, we send our employees to off-site bridge inspection training,” said Hoback. “Other key ways we’ve developed a culture of safety and wellness are through daily job briefings, a stretching program, quarterly departmental safety meetings, employee safety audit teams, management monthly efficiency testing, a comprehensive employee wellness program and an annual upgrade of MOW hand tools.”

An eye to the future

“This company has always looked ahead, not only with an eye on investing for future growth, but identifying technologies that make us safer and more efficient. We take ideas from our own people and fill needs that we recognize out there. One example of this is a joint venture with L.B. Foster on top-of-rail friction modifiers and top-of-rail oil applications on our Indianapolis Subdivision, which could help tremendously with extending rail and wheel life.”

Another technology INRD is looking into is upcycling of used railroad ties. The railroad awarded a grant to the Coalition for Sustainable Rail, which is initiating research on conversion of used ties into an advanced biofuel.

Using a biomass processing technique known as torrefaction, researchers will seek to convert the structure of used ties, primarily made from hardwood species, into a clean, renewable, homogenous and densifiable biofuel. The final result is anticipated to be a pelletized biofuel that can be used in power plants.

“INRD was looking for ways to extend the life of coal electric utilities, where some had to either retrofit with technology to reduce emissions or close plants. We felt it was a way to keep the plants open by blending coal with a carbon-neutral fuel that would reduce carbon emissions,” said Hoback.

Supplier partnerships and research initiatives aside, Hoback also recognizes the significance legislation, such as the shortline tax credit, has on the railroad’s future.

“The difference 45G makes for us is approximately $1 million per year of added infrastructure investment, which in practical terms means an additional seven to eight percent of track infrastructure renewal – specifically rail, tie and bridge renewal – which we would have to otherwise give up. It would put us behind the curve on maintenance,” said Hoback.

That is not a place he wants to see INRD, he continued, “We’re still making up for years of deferred maintenance before INRD was founded and our challenge, or goal, is to create a railroad capable of handling 286K cars at 40 mph. We’re also challenged to continue adding capacity for anticipated growth, while we also have some significant bridge renewals ahead of us.”

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