Officials show off $1.43 million in railroad improvements

Don Reid, Coldwater Daily Reporter
·4 min read

BRANCH COUNTY — Coldwater business and community leaders boarded an Indiana Northeastern train Thursday morning at the old city deport for a ride on the 10.1 miles right-of-way owned by the Rail Users Association.

The trip showed off $1.43 million in improvement completed last year.

“Look out the window and see the results. The railroad handles the heavy rail cars now, not just the light rail cars," said Gale Schultz, INE railroad president.

Indiana Northeastern Railroad President Gale Schultz talked about the rail Thursday during an inspection ride for Coldwater and Quincy rail users.
Indiana Northeastern Railroad President Gale Schultz talked about the rail Thursday during an inspection ride for Coldwater and Quincy rail users.

Because of the poor condition of the local line, businesses from east of Quincy to Coldwater faced a car load limit of 268,000 pounds. National rail lines use rail cars with a 286,000 pounds per car load limit. The RUA section was the last portion of the Indiana Northeastern line with the lower load and speed limit.

The railroad spread 5,000 tons of new stone for ballast under the rails. Contractors replaced over 8,600 wood ties under the track. Bridges were reinforced, and switches upgraded, among other improvements.

The speed limit was 10 mph. Now a Class 2 line, trains run at 20 mph on the RUA stretch of rails. The ride is much smoother.

The rebuilt ties and rock ballast along the 10.1 miles from Coldwater to Quincy brought that section of track up to the same standards as the rest of the Indiana Northeastern rail line.
The rebuilt ties and rock ballast along the 10.1 miles from Coldwater to Quincy brought that section of track up to the same standards as the rest of the Indiana Northeastern rail line.

Schultz said rail traffic is not up.

“This should set the stage to grow the traffic now we have a stable solid railroad. That’s why we’ve invested in the project," he said. “On average we move about 60 cars a month. Now the size and weight of the cars are heavier. That adds an efficiency for local industry to ship more with fewer cars, to ship product at a lesser cost.”

Schultz said on long hauls, rail transportation is cheaper than truck. A rail car hauls three to four times the capacity of a truck trailer.

Prior story City to invest in $1.2 million in railroad project

The private family-owned South Milford, Indiana railroad invested $312,500 in the improvement project. The city of Coldwater matched that. The state of Michigan invested $625,000 in state rail transportation funds.

Indiana Northeastern put in an additional $233,503 to cover cost overruns, labor, equipment, and inventory.

Schultz credits Coldwater City Manager Keith Baker for spearheading the project. Baker said numbers of companies from Voltek, Ceres Solutions, Darling International, Star of the West Milling, and Sungrow of Quincy use the service.

Some of the 8,600 new ties replaced on the 10.1 miles of track during the track upgrade.
Some of the 8,600 new ties replaced on the 10.1 miles of track during the track upgrade.

The Vanderbilt family constructed the line in 1858 to connect New York and Chicago.

In 1978 the United States created ConRail to operate the bankrupt New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads. ConRail abandoned the line between Sturgis and Quincy.

The state of Michigan intended to purchase the line but declined because of trackside pollution issues in Bronson.

The city of Coldwater, Voltek, Panel Processing, and Star of the West Milling formed RUA to purchase the rails between Quincy and Sturgis in 1988 to maintain rail service. Indiana Northeastern joined RUA with the 2021 reconstruction.

In 1985 the Schultz family, four brothers, and a sister purchased the 14 miles from their LaGrange County, South Milford grain elevators to the Norfolk and Southern connection in Montpelier, Ohio, to handle 200-grain cars a year. 

In 1992 the Schultz railroad took over the Hillsdale County Railroad in Indiana and Michigan. INE owns the railroads in Indiana and Ohio but has an operating agreement with Michigan’s state-owned lines.

Electric diesel engines haul freight between Montpelier, Ohio and Coldwater.
Electric diesel engines haul freight between Montpelier, Ohio and Coldwater.

With nine miles of track in Ohio, 45 in Indiana, and 50 in Michigan, INE connects with a Norfolk Southern main yard in Montpelier.

With a small fleet of electric diesel engines, 13 employees, “following many years of red ink,” the Schultz family reports, “the equipment, main tracks, and bridges are in good shape, derailments are rare, and the company is financially solid.”

With the improvement by the RUA, “It’s going to be here for another 50 years now. It was questionable if we didn’t do some major upgrades.”

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Schultz said. “As fuel gets more expensive and labor and truck driver shortages grow, I think we’re setting the stage for rail to have a lot of growth. Heavy freight will find its way onto the rails over time.”

---Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DReidTDR

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Officials show off $1.43 million in railroad improvements