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Iowa Interstate's First Subdivision stretches the 221 miles between Blue Island, IL, to the yards in Iowa City, IA. Along the way, it runs on trackage rights over Metra trackage for the first 25 miles between Blue Island and Joliet, and then over CSX territory for the next 75 miles into Bureau, IL. From Bureau to the west, IAIS is on home rails. The entire First Sub is the very root from which the entire Chicago, Rock Island, & Pacific system grew, and was some of the earliest railroad built in Illinois and Iowa. The route stayed core to the road until its bankruptcy and dismemberment in mid-1980, and by 1984 was part of the Iowa Interstate's main line. For more on the building and history of this line, see the First Sub History page.
Today's First Sub is the hub of much of Iowa Interstate's daylight activity. In addition to hosting both main trains - CBBI and BICB - during daylight hours, the line also has three major yards, one of IAIS's two engine service facilities, connects to the Second Sub at Bureau and the Milan Branch at Rock Island, interchanges with the IC&E at Davenport, and hosts several locals and other trains such as unit coal and grain trains off the Second Sub and locals between Rock Island and Iowa City. (For more detailed information, please see the Operations page.) First Sub operations are a bit difficult to describe, but once you understand them, they run regular as clockwork. BICB departs Blue Island in the late hours of the night, and meets its counterpart from the previous day (CBBI) somewhere east of Rock Island. That CBBI departed Iowa City in the mid-evening hours the previous day. Exactly where the meet occurs depends on how early or late the trains are running. By sunrise, CBBI is well on its way into the Chicagoland area, and BICB is usually working the RI yard, or just arriving. Sometimes as early as 0700h and as late as 1100h, BICB completes its work and heads west into Iowa City, arriving in late morning or around noon, typically taking about 2-2.5 hours to traverse the distance. Meanwhile, between CBBI's departure from Iowa City the previous day and BICB's departure from Rock Island back towards Iowa City, a turn runs from IC out to RI and back, known appropriately enough as ICRI/RIIC. This train essentially picks up cars destined for either customers west of Davenport or headed up to the interchange at Cedar Rapids. Sorting is done at Rock Island, since the IC yard is very poorly suited to train-building due to the numerous grade crossings surrounding it. The ICRI/RIIC are intended to shuttle these blocks of cars from the sort location (RI) back and forth from Iowa City. In addition, they also stop to switch customers, such as Cenpeco in Walcott and North Star Steel in Wilton, along the way. Any cars making it to Iowa City on a returning RIIC are typically then just forwarded onto the day's ICCR/CRIC trains, and likewise much of the CRIC freight is forwarded onto the night's ICCR. It's a relay race between these pairs of trains. The Milan branch shoots out to the southwest of Rock Island. Where the mainline turns to cross the Government Bridge at the west end of the Rock Island yard, BNSF and IAIS share trackage out to the point where BNSF diverges to cross the Crescent Bridge (just south/west of the Centennial Bridge). From this divergence point, IAIS continues out to the end of track in Milan. There are a number of customers on this line, and it's serviced by the 5 day/week Rock Island Switcher (RISW). For more on the Milan Branch, see the Milan Branch page. Prior to 4-Feb-2006, CSXT controlled the trackage between Joliet and Bureau, and then down to Henry, IL, on the Second Subdivision, as their New Rock Subdivision. On that date, a lease went into effect that gave IAIS control of everything west of Utica and down to Henry, restricting CSXT to Joliet-Utica.
Timetable Legend:
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 All images on this site are copyrighted by their respective creators, and used with permission.All Iowa Interstate logos and trademarks are property of Iowa Interstate Railroad, Ltd. and Railroad Development Corporation. Questions? Comments? Please email us at contact@iaisrailfans.org |
Last modified on December 04, 2010, at 10:19 PM Edit Page | Page History |
