The Indiana Rail Road’s 35th annual Santa Train will visit 11 Indiana and Illinois towns during the weekend of Dec. 5-7.
Children and their parents will be able to board the train to visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus as well as to mail a letter to Santa to remind him what they have asked for.
On Friday, Dec. 5, the train will stop in Morgantown, 4:30-6 p.m.; and Helmsburg, 7:15-8:15 p.m.
On Saturday, Dec. 6, stops will be made in Solsberry, 8:15-10:15 a.m.; Bloomfield, 11:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; Linton, 1:30-3:30 p.m; Dugger, 4:45-6 p.m.; and Jasonville, 7:30-8:45 p.m.
On Sunday, Dec. 7 the train will stop in Illinois at Newton, 8:30-9:30 a.m.; Oblong, 10:30-11:45 a.m.; and Palestine, Ill., 1-2:15 p.m. It also will stop in Sullivan, Indiana, 4-5:30 p.m.
More information is available on the Indiana Rail Road Facebook page.
Ursula and I traveled to Indiana in mid-September to visit Craig Sanders and his wife, Mary Ann Whitley, in Indianapolis.
The first leg of our trip was to Marion, Ohio, where we spent Sunday night. On Monday morning we went to Marion Union Station to catch some CSX and Norfolk Southern action.
We saw three NS trains, three CSX trains, and an NS power movement.
The images above show CSX trains on the Mt. Victory and Columbus Subdivisions. The images were made from the steps of AC Tower.
On Tuesday, Craig and I drove to Hamilton County, Indiana, to catch the Nickel Plate Express, which operates between Noblesville and Atlanta,
On this day the tourist railroad was running specials for school children oriented toward railroad safety.
NKP Express trains run with former NKP GP7 No. 426 on the north end of the train and former Erie Mining F9A No. 4214 on the south end.
The passenger cars are ex-Santa Fe Hi-Level cars along with an ex-Monon caboose. The trains run on a former NKP branch (Lake Erie & Western) that at one time extended from Indianapolis to Michigan City, Indiana.
The station in Noblesville is a former LE&W depot moved from Hobbs, Indiana. It is in Forest Park at the site of the now defunct Indiana Transportation Museum.
Then it was on to Franklin south of Indianapolis to catch Louisville & Indiana train Z550 heading south. On the point is GP39-2 No. 2301.
The L&I uses a former Pennsylvania Railroad line between Indianapolis and Louisville that once hosted the fabled South Wind. CSX has trackage rights on the L&I. To the right of the image is the football stadium for Franklin College.
After than we motored over to Bargersville to catch Indiana Rail Road train SAHW, the daily except Saturday train from Senate Avenue Yard in Indy to Hiawatha Yard in Jasonville. Leading the SAHW was SD70M No. 7004.
INRD uses a former Illinois Central line that once extended from Indianapolis to Effingham, Illinois.
Indiana Rail Road has promoted Brian Jonaitis to vice president of business development.
He has 18 years of business development experience with INRD.
In a news release, the regional railroad said Jonatis has expertise in attracting industries to build or expand operations along the railroad’s network, developing rail-served industrial sites and promoting economic growth in the communities served by the railroad has positioned INRD for strategic growth.
Indiana Rail Road said this week that Brian Jonaitis has returned to the company as director of business and industrial development.
In a news release, INRD said Jonaitis will focus on opportunities to expand the railroad’s network, developing rail-served industrial sites and promoting economic growth in the communities served by INRD.
He has more than 18 years of business development experience with INRD. Most recently, Jonaitis was director of railroad services at Absolute Logistics, a consulting company.
Indiana Rail Road has hired Jason Blakeman as director of safety and training.
He will oversee all safety and craft training programs and ensure compliance with federal, state and local safety regulations, as well as fostering a culture of safety commitment, the railroad said in a news release.
Blakeman has more than 20 years of experience in the railroad industry, including roles at BNSF and Norfolk Southern. Most recently, he was customer operations manager at Trinity Rail.
Joseph Gioe has been named the new president and chief executive officer of the Indiana Railroad Road.
The appointment is effective Aug. 12. Gioe will replace Dewayne Swindall, who left the company on May 31.
Gioe has been an executive at two Class I carriers but primarily spent his time at BNSF where he was twice named employee of the year for intermodal-train execution and delivery of major infrastructure projects. He also served as vice president of transportation at Norfolk Southern.
Gioe began his railroad career as a locomotive engineer before getting into management.
Two short line railroads that operate in Indiana have been honored by the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association for innovative practices in business-building initiatives.
Lauded were the Indiana Rail Road, and the Indiana & Ohio Railway.
In a news release, ASLRRA said the two carriers reflected the practice of short line railroads of building relationships with shippers one carload at a time while helping them to solve their shipping needs.
ASLRRA also honored short line holding company Watco with the 2024 Veterans Engagement Award for its efforts to hire and retain employees who are veterans of any U.S. branch of military service, including spouses and family members.
The awards were presented on Monday at the ASLRRA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Indiana Rail Road will operate its Santa Train on Dec. 1-3. It will be the 33rd year that the train has operated.
It will leave Indianapolis on Friday and make 12 stops during its three-day journey in Indiana and Illinois.
Santa and Mrs. Claus will be aboard and accompanied by costumed characters played by volunteers from the railroad and their families.
During the scheduled stops coats, hats and gloves to will be given to children in need.
Scheduled stops include the Indiana towns of Bargersville, Morgantown, Helmsburg, Solsberry, Bloomfield, Linton, Dugger, Jasonville and Sullivan. Illinois stops include Oblong, Newton and Palestine.
Visitors will be able to board the train to see Santa at all stops except Bargersville, where Santa will receive visitors at the town hall.
The Indiana Rail Road has contracted with Cathcart Rail to handle the regional’s interchange inspection and repair needs.
In a news release, INRD said Cathcart, which is based in Columbus, Ohio, will provide the services in compliance with Federal Railroad Administration and Association of American Railroads standards at INRD terminals in Jasonville, Indianapolis and Terre Haute, Indiana, and Palestine, Illinois.
Cathcart began operations in May with 15 carmen and site and regional management personnel.
Regional and short line railroads operating in Pennsylvania and Indiana were recently honored during the American Short Line and Regional Railroads Association convention.
Pennsylvania-based regional railroad Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern received a Business Development Award for “demonstrating innovative and successful business-building initiatives that will lead to significant increases in shipping volume and additional benefits for the customer and commodity.”
Also known as the Reading & Northern, the carrier was honored for developing a transload facility in Tunkhannock Township.
Construction began in August 2021 and the facility began full operation in early 2022. The facility has a capacity of 34 car spots and areas for trucking and transloading and offices.
Another Pennsylvania railroad, the Strasburg Rail Road, was recognized for opening this year a a new six-track freight yard in Paradise that can handle almost 500 cars a year, up from 10, and is poised to grow its freight business “dramatically” in the coming years.
Austin Milton of the Indiana Rail Road was recognized with a Safety Person and Safety Professional of the Year Award.
Milton is INRD’s director of safety and training. The citation issued by ASLRRA noted that he was en route to visit INRD’s car department when he spotted, from more than 200 feet away, an employee making a critical safety error.
He stopped to talk with the worker for more than 20 minutes with the individual about the matter.
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