From Railway Age Magazine, the following shortline & regional railroads have been announced as the best in their respective fields. RRVW named area Railway of the Year February 10 2005 Railway Age magazine has named Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway Co. (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) as 2005 Short Line Railroad of the Year, and Red River Valley & Western Railroad Co. at Wahpeton as 2005 Regional Railroad of the Year. The awards will be presented at the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association's annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif., on April 4. "This year's winners were selected from a pool of 34 strong finalists -- a Railway Age record," said Robert P. DeMarco, senior vice president and group publisher of the magazine's parent company, Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp. "Their dedication and tenacity -- never accepting 'no' for an answer --helped make them standouts. They maximized growth opportunities wherever possible to increase customer business volumes." Both railroads have been recognized previously in the Railway Age competition. Cedar Rapids and Iowa City (CRANDIC) received an Award of Merit in 1995 for consistent excellence. Red River Valley & Western (RRVW) secured the Regional Railroad of the Year Award in 1997 for solid business growth in the years following its establishment in 1987. "These outstanding performers wowed us again, and deserve top honors," DeMarco said. The 517-mile Red River Valley & Western (RRVW) is being recognized by Railway Age for outstanding business achievements through Class I partnership, marketing and customer service efforts. William F. Drusch, RRVW's President and CEO, submitted the winning entry. In the late 1990s, the grain industry began a trend toward 110-car unit trains loaded solely at shuttle facilities, and RRVW's primary connection, BNSF, maintained a policy of locating such facilities only along its main lines. Facing an uncertain future, RRVW undertook a bold program in 1999 that reversed the potential loss of its largest commodity and the likely demise of many small online elevators in North Dakota. It took more than a year, but the regional and its local shippers convinced BNSF to establish a joint shuttle network, locating or expanding five large shuttle elevators along RRVW lines together with a collector program to transport grain from small elevators to RRVW-served shuttle facilities. RRVW and its customers spent more than $20 million on facilities and track upgrades to accommodate 286,000-pound gross rail load cars. The regional also invested in a fleet of 105 covered hopper cars to handle grain locally. In 2004, 12,237 carloads> -> or 45% of RRVW's total grain shipments--were handled in BNSF shuttle trains. Of this, 3,156 came from small elevators. Without RRVW's determination to keep pace with grain transportation changes and ability to earn BNSF's confidence, much of this traffic would have been lost to trucks or other rail competitors. The project has kept more than 10,000 trucks off rural highways to the benefit of the North Dakota Department of Transportation. "RRVW has demonstrated exemplary handling of our shuttle trains," said R. Mark Schmidt, assistant vice president-short line development for BNSF. "As a result of hard work and aggressive marketing, RRVW's grain volume tendered to BNSF has risen significantly." "RRVW rose to the challenge," added Sonia Meehl, owner/manager of country grain elevator Crete Grain, which opened a new elevator along the regional's lines last year. "We could not and would not have done it without the help we received from the RRVW." CRANDIC is being honored for its exceptional achievements in productivity, safety, and customer service. The winning entry was submitted by CRANDIC President Paul Treangen. Celebrating 100 years of service in 2004, the former high speed electric interurban is now one of the nation's premier short lines, maintaining more than 100 miles of track and providing more than $18 million in annual revenue to its parent company, Alliant Energy. The awards will be announced in the March issue of Railway Age.
They've certainly gone about this quietly! You just don't hear anything about their operation, from the fan community! Excepting an article in recent years, by (?) Railfan & RR Magazine, there isn't much mention of what they're doing. Maybe somebody needs to stop by during the coming summer. While enroute to chase the MRL or BNSF? Anyone planning to be in that area? Boxcab E50
For those interesting in learning more about the CRANDIC (Cedar Rapids & Iowa City), a 100-year-old railroad that started out as an interurban, go here . Looks like they use GP38s, decked out in gray & yellow much like Borgrail but with better looking logos.
And here is RRVW's website. This road uses Caterpillar-powered GP20Cs as motive power, and was named as 1997,s Regional of the Year as well. Seeing as how it's in North Dakota, folks may well ignore it on the way to shoot MRL and BNSF in the Rockies, but speaking as a native Midwesterner, those "flatlander" roads can be just as interesting.
Got any pictures you could share? Mention was made of CAT powered units. And I was just thinking- Aren't there several companies in that vicinity with these units? If I'm not mistaken, RRV&W, DMV&W, TC&W? Isn't there a family relation amongst these outfits? Boxcab E50
