The Iowa Interstate Railroad is a Class II

regional railroad In the United States, a Class II railroad, sometimes referred to as a regional railroad, is a railroad company that is not Class I, but still has a substantial amount of traffic or trackage (and is thus not a short line). The Association of Ame ...

operating in the central

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The railroad is owned by Railroad Development Corporation of

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

History

The railroad was formed on November 2, 1984, using former Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad tracks between

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, and

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Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, four years after the Rock Island folded. It was in partnership with real estate firm Heartland Rail Corporation that the IAIS was able to operate. Heartland purchased the right-of-way and infrastructure for $31 million (of which, $15 million was a loan from the Iowa Railway Finance Authority), and then leased it to IAIS for operations. The IAIS and the railroad infrastructure were purchased from Heartland by Railroad Development Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 2003. In recognition of the railroad's Rock Island Railroad heritage, the IAIS logo uses a shape similar to the original railroad's logo and has also painted two of its General Electric ES44AC locomotives (513 and 516) in Rock Island inspired paint schemes.

Operations

The company operates over 580 miles of track. The railroad's mainline is roughly a straight line between

Council Bluffs, Iowa Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The population was 62,799 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, te ...

, and

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, with a

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

connecting

Bureau Bureau ( ) may refer to: Agencies and organizations *Government agency *Public administration * News bureau, an office for gathering or distributing news, generally for a given geographical location * Bureau (European Parliament), the administra ...

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

. The mainline is separated into 4 Subdivisions: *Council Bluffs Subdivision (Council Bluffs to Des Moines, Iowa) *Newton Subdivision (East Des Moines to South Amana, Iowa) *Iowa City Subdivision (South Amana to Silvis, Illinois) *Blue Island Subdivision (Silvis to Bureau Junction, Illinois) The railroad also includes the: *Peoria Subdivision (Bureau Junction to Peoria, Illinois) *Cedar Rapids Subdivision (South Amana to Cedar Rapids, Iowa). This line is owned by the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railroad, but dispatched and operated by the Iowa Interstate. The Iowa Interstate operates from Bureau to Chicago over the former Rock Island tracks controlled by

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

and

Metra Metra is the primary commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 243 train station, stati ...

. In Chicago the IAIS owns two yard facilities, Burr Oak Yard and Evans Yard (the site of former rail car builder Evans), both in

Blue Island, Illinois Blue Island is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, south of Chicago Loop, Chicago's Loop. Blue Island is adjacent to the city of Chicago and shares its northern boundary with that city's Morgan Park, Chicago, Morgan Park neighborho ...

. Trains are dispatched from the company's HQ in

Cedar Rapids Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in u ...

, Iowa, where a new dispatching office was completed in 2016. IAIS uses

Wabtec Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, commonly known as Wabtec, is an American company formed by the merger of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) and MotivePower in 1999. It is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Wab ...

's Train Management and Dispatching System (TMDS), the same dispatching software used by several Class I railroads, including the BNSF and KCS. When the IAIS took control of the track, the former Rock Island signal system was already damaged beyond repair due to sitting dormant for several years. Operations on the railroad are primarily controlled by track warrants rather than

signals A signal is both the process and the result of Signal transmission, transmission of data over some transmission media, media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processin ...

as a result. The Iowa Interstate is unique in that it is the only Class II railroad in the US that has connections to every Class I railroad, affording its customers a reach not offered by other regional railroads. The railroad also maintains two intermodal operations at either end of its line in Chicago and Council Bluffs. The operation in Council Bluffs is also used by the Union Pacific, with IAIS crews interchanging with UP several times a day. IAIS subsidiary Rail Traffic Control formerly provided consulting services for dispatching and operating small- to medium-sized railroads worldwide. In 2004, IAIS was awarded the E. H. Harriman Award for its safe operational record.

Amtrak

Beginning in the mid-1990s, the IAIS mainline has been identified as a potential route for high speed

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...

service between

Wyanet, Illinois Wyanet is a village in Bureau County, Illinois, United States. The population was 886 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Ottawa Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Wyanet's history dates back to 1821; it was officially plated in 1854 and ...

(where the IAIS could be connected to the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

), the

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of five cities (originally Tri-Cities, later four, see #History, History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport, Iowa, Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, Bettendorf (the fifth to be included) in southeaster ...

and

Iowa City Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's fifth-most populous city. The Iowa City metropolitan area, which enc ...

, as part of the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative (MRRI). The ultimate goal of the MRRI is to establish passenger train routes in a hub-and-spoke formation with Chicago as the hub that allow for speeds up to and above 110 mph (177 km/h). In July 2019, a new transportation bill was passed by the Illinois state legislature, supported by Governor J.B. Pritzker, $225M was appropriated to begin

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

service from Chicago to Moline, IL. A rail connector (junction) will be built between BNSF and IAIS to permit the Quad Cities service to use BNSF mainline from Wyanet to

Chicago Union Station Chicago Union Station is an Inter-city rail, intercity and commuter rail terminal station, terminal located in the West Loop neighborhood of the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side of Chicago. Amtrak's flagship station in the Midwest, Uni ...

. This Amtrak route will use the IAIS main line between Wyanet and Moline, IL. Upgrades to IAIS rail crossings, track, and signaling for Amtrak's 79-mph requirements will be performed.

Motive power

Slug-rebuilt-from-emd-gp8--iowa-interstate-railroad-651--2019-11-09-in-rock-island-illinois

IAIS uses 42 locomotives and two slugs to power its trains: * 4 EMD SD38-2 (Numbered 150-153) * 20 GE ES44AC (Numbered 500-519); unit 513 is painted in a Rock Island commemorative scheme; unit 516 is painted in a Rock Island inspired 30th anniversary paint scheme. * 1 EMD GP38 (Numbered 601) * 17

EMD GP38-2 The EMD GP38-2 is an American four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors, Electro-Motive Division. Part of the EMD Dash 2 line, the GP38-2 was an upgraded version of the earlier EMD GP38, GP38. Power is provided by an EMD 645E 1 ...

(Numbered 700-703; 705; 707-708; 710-716; 718-719; 721) 720 was sold/leased to ADM in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

in 2017. * 2

Slugs Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a sma ...

(Numbered 650 and 651) 601 and 650 are semi-permanently mated, as are 721 and 651 In 2006, IAIS also purchased two ex- China Railways QJ 2-10-2 steam locomotives, numbered 6988 and 7081 for special excursion trains and

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

events. 6988 has been "Americanized", with a paint scheme inspired by Iowa Interstate's ES44AC locomotives. 7081 retains its original China Railways paint with Iowa Interstate badges. Both were later donated to Central States Steam Preservation Association. Since 2018, the 6988 has made several excursion trips to raise money for local volunteer fire departments and promote awareness of Operation Lifesaver. As of 2022, both 6988 and 7081 are out of service pending overhaul; the former is currently located at the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America in Silvis,

Pop-Up Metro

The Railroad Development Corporation has ordered at least one 2-car -variant of the

Vivarail D-Train The Vivarail D-Train is a family of multiple units Remanufacturing, remanufactured by Vivarail for the British rail network. They are converted from London Underground D78 Stock, originally manufactured between 1978 and 1981 by Metro-Cammell. Tw ...

to operate on the Iowa Interstate Railroad in 2021 as a "pop-up" metro service. As of July 2024,

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, fifth-most populous c ...

is planning to use the Pop-Up Metro equipment to open a

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

line along the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway. This service is scheduled to open in 2025.

Company officers

Officers : * Joe Parsons, President and CEO * Carrie Evans, Vice President Sales & Marketing * Allen Polfer, CFO * Al Satunas, COO * Greg Wilson, Director- Operating Systems * Bryan Pierce, Director of Information Technology * Tom Meierhoff, Director of Compliance and Dispatch * Adam Sutherland, Director of Safety and Security * Mike Stuver- Chief Transportation Officer * Chad Lambi, Chief Engineer * Andrew Reid, Chief Mechanical Officer * Bobbi Allen, Director of Human Resources Former Presidents of the Iowa Interstate Railroad: * Frederic W. Yocum Jr. * Doug Christy * Jon R. Roy * Dennis H. Miller * Jerome Lipka

References

* Association of American Railroads (February 2005),
Iowa Interstate Railroad is the February Featured Railroad
'. Retrieved May 23, 2005. General overview. * Bi-State Regional Rail Commission (2003),
Midwest Rail Initiative
'. Retrieved May 23, 2005. Details of the passenger rail studies. * Iowa Department of Transportation,

'. Retrieved May 4, 2009. Estimate of capital costs to improve line for passenger rail service. * Botting, Laura, Moline Dispatch Publishing Co. (1999),
Iowa Interstate picks up pieces
''. Retrieved May 23, 2005. Details of the purchase from Rock Island and Miller's predecessor as president. * Iowa Department of Rail,
Railroad Profiles - Iowa Interstate Railroad Ltd. (IAIS)
'. Retrieved May 23, 2005. Overview of the railroad, mention of RDC purchase year. * Iowa Interstate Railroad,

'. Retrieved May 23, 2005. General overview. * Iowa Interstate Railroad (July 15, 2004),
Iowa Interstate Announces Executive Appointment
'' (

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

). Retrieved May 23, 2005. Announced Miller's presidency. * Iowa Interstate Railroad (June 20, 2002),
Iowa Interstate Announces Senior Management Changes
'' (

). Retrieved May 23, 2005. Announced Roy's retirement from the presidency. *
IAIS Railfan's Guide
'. Retrieved May 23, 2005. Details the current operations of the railroad.

External links

*
Unofficial Iowa Interstate Photo Archive and Railfan Guide
{{authority control Illinois railroads Iowa railroads Nebraska railroads Railway companies established in 1984 Regional railroads in the United States