Progressive Rail Inc. is a

shortline railroad A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. The term is used primarily in the United States and Canada. In the former, railroads are ...

and owner of several other shortlines. PGR is directly operating several separate branches in Minnesota including the Airlake Terminal Railway. Progressive Rail also acquired the Wisconsin Northern Division in

Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin Chippewa Falls () is a city located on the Chippewa River (Wisconsin), Chippewa River in Chippewa County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 14,731 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Incorporated as a city in 1869, it is the ...

and operates as a separately-named division. They also own the Chicago Junction Railroad, Clackamas Valley Railway, the

Iowa Traction Railway The Iowa Traction Railway Company , formerly the Iowa Traction Railroad Company, is a class III shortline railroad operating in the United States as a common carrier. It was originally founded in 1896 as the Mason City and Clear Lake Railway, a p ...

and Iowa Southern Railway in Iowa, the

Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad The Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railway (formerly American Rail Heritage, Ltd. d/b/a Crab Orchard, and Egyptian Railroad Company) is a Class III common carrier shortline railroad that operates in the cities of Marion and Herrin in the Southern Il ...

in Illinois, the St. Paul & Pacific Northwest Railroad, and the Wisconsin Northern Railroad. Progressive Rail is also known as the Cannon Valley Railroad . The PGR branches are listed as follows: * Transload Industrial Park ( Airlake Terminal Railway) - Lakeville, Minnesota * The "High Line" (a.k.a.

Dan Patch Line The Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway was an long American shortline railroad connecting Minneapolis and Northfield, Minnesota. It was incorporated in 1918 to take over the trackage of the former Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester and ...

) -

Bloomington, Minnesota Bloomington is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. It is located on the north bank of the Minnesota River above its confluence with the Mississippi River, south of downtown Minneapolis and just south of the Interstate 494/Inter ...

Richfield, Minnesota Richfield is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota. An inner-ring suburb of Minneapolis, Richfield is bordered by Minneapolis to the north, Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport and Fort Snelling to the east, Bloomington to the south, ...

, and

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. Service begins at Auto Club Yard in Bloomington and serves a variety of industries * The "Jesse James Line" - Northfield to Lakeville, leased

CP Rail The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, known unt ...

trackage * Northfield to

Faribault, Minnesota Faribault ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Rice County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 24,453 at the 2020 census. Faribault is approximately south of Minneapolis–Saint Paul. Interstate 35 and Minnesota State Highwa ...

via leased

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

and CP Rail trackage * Northfield to

Cannon Falls, Minnesota Cannon Falls is a city in Goodhue County, Minnesota, Goodhue County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,083 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Located along U.S. Route 52 in Minnesota, U.S. Route 52, southeast of the Min ...

, with service to the Great Western Industrial Park in

Randolph, Minnesota Randolph is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 436 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History A post office called Randolph has been in operation since 1886. The city took ...

. * Eagandale Industrial line (

Eagan, Minnesota Eagan ( ) is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. It is south of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul and lies on the south bank of the Minnesota River, upstream from its confluence with the Mississippi River. Eagan and the other near ...

) via leased

trackage (former

Milwaukee Road The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), better known as the Milwaukee Road , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, Northwest of the United States from 1847 ...

) *

Santa Cruz Branch Line The Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Railroad (SCMB), or Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line (SCBRL), is a historic railway running through Santa Cruz County, California. It once ran operationally from Davenport to the Watsonville Junction where it connect ...

Davenport Davenport may refer to: Places Australia *Davenport, Northern Territory, a locality *Hundred of Davenport, cadastral unit in South Australia **Davenport, South Australia, suburb of Port Augusta **District Council of Davenport, former local govern ...

Watsonville Watsonville is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, in the Monterey Bay Area of the Central Coast of California. The population was 52,590 at the 2020 census. Predominantly Latino and Democratic, Watsonville is a self-designated sanctua ...

, California (operating with the Santa Cruz, Big Trees, and Pacific Railway as a

subcontractor A subcontractor is a person or business which undertakes to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract, and a subcontract is a contract which assigns part of an existing contract to a subcontractor. A general contractor, prime ...

)

History

Headquartered in

Lakeville, Minnesota Lakeville is an exurb of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, and the largest city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. It is about south of both downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul along Interstate 35 in Minnesota, Interstate 35. Lakeville w ...

(a southern suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul), Progressive Rail, Inc. was established in 1996 to initially serve the Airlake Industrial Park. In 2001, they leased the former

Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway The Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway was an long American shortline railroad connecting Minneapolis and Northfield, Minnesota. It was incorporated in 1918 to take over the trackage of the former Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester and ...

"High Line" in Bloomington and Richfield and started restoring trackage. The company's philosophy has been to provide service that a large railway chooses not to provide. They have also focused on economic development, including finding new customers, and working on regaining former rail customers along their lines. This strategy has paid off in an increase in traffic, from 600 carloads in their first year of operation to more than 5000 carloads in 2003. Major commodities include resins, chemicals, fuels, lumber, gypsum board, cement, fly-ash, metals, paper, machinery, food and kindred products, scrap material, and consumer products. Progressive Rail, Inc. also operates wholly owned subsidiary Progressive Rail Specialized Logistics, which provides rail logistics services for machinery and over-dimensional freight shippers.

Locomotive roster

References

External links

Progressive Rail, Inc. official site

Progressive Rail Specialized Logistics official site

Union Pacific shortline customer description

{{DEFAULTSORT:Progressive Rail Inc. Minnesota railroads Railway companies established in 1996 Switching and terminal railroads