Year: 2005

Last summer, IAIS leased four LLPX SD38-2s to handle the Cedar Rapids job taken over from the CRANDIC. Earlier this year, along with the news that IAIS would be keeping the CR job, it was announced that they would also be keeping the four SD38-2s. These units would be cycled through Mid-America Car in Kansas…

Being an N scaler myself, I normally don’t watch HO scale announcements, but today on the IAIS list, someone pointed out something worth mentioning. Atlas has announced HO scale models of IAIS GP38s 603 and 604, to be available around January 2006. See the announcement and artwork on Atlas’ site here. Finally, IAIS modelers make…

The Ski Train will once again be returning to Iowa to serve as the Hawkeye Express – a passenger shuttle between Coralville and University of Iowa football games. However, citing losses last year, ticket prices will double this year to $10 round trip. See the article in today’s Iowa City Press-Citizen. For handy reference, this…

On 7-Jul-2005, IAIS announced that it had been approved for a 32.7 million dollar loan from the FRA’s Railroad Infrastructure Fund (RRIF). From IAIS’s press release: "The funds will be used to upgrade and rehabilitate approximately 300 miles of track between Atlantic, Iowa and Bureau, Illinois. The end result will be a railroad capable of…

The M420Rs (800 – 802) have begun their final trek across the IAIS system. They are on CBBI19 and left Council Bluffs with 5 other units: 709-718-702-714-703-801-802-800. Joe Atkinson provided this picture of the line-up, prior to departure in Council Bluffs. Update (20-Apr-2005): CBBI19 was out of Iowa City, IA, at 1705h. – MDP

For those who aren’t familiar with the name, Mr. Henry Posner III is the chairman of Railroad Development Corporation, Iowa Interstate’s parent company. The Pittsburg Post-Gazette ran a short article on him today – you can read it online here. For those that have never read anything about him, or more significantly a few of…

The word on the IAIS list is that the M420Rs (800 – 802) have been sold off, and as such will be leaving the railroad soon. No idea when they’ll be leaving exactly, but for anyone wanting to see them one more time, all three are stored at Council Bluffs. Thanks to Dave (DDA) for…

Joe A. has posted that IAIS has signed a ten year lease withn an option to buy for the LLPX SD38-2 units that run the Rock Island-Iowa City-Cedar Rapids trains. One by one, they’ll be sent down to Mid-America Car in Kansas City to receive SmartStart units (same as the new 700s) and to be…