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Justin Franz published an excellent online article about the QJ runs over at Railway Preservation News. The article hit the website in early November, so I’d like to apologize for being a bit behind in posting the news. You can read it for yourself [here]. – NDH

On Wednesday, 6-Sep-2006, QJ 6988 was placed on the front of IAIS’s westbound Blue Island – Council Bluffs train as it departed Iowa City. The steamer lead the train as far west as the wye at Yocum Connection, just beyond Homestead. At that point, it was cut off and returned light to the Iowa City…

On Thursday, 24-Aug-2006, Jerry Berwald announced on the Iowa Interstate list that not only had the two QJs been loaded with coal, but 7081 was actually fired up. Two days later, on Saturday, 26-Aug-2006, he spotted the two out near First Avenue in Iowa City under their own power. We’re getting closer to actual test…

More sites have now popped up concerning the September 2006 QJ trips since the first one Michael posted. You can find the official Quad City Convention & Visitors Bureau site [here], detailing the full schedule, as well as prices and tie-in events. A quick check this afternoon shows that all of the classes for all…

For anyone interested in riding behind or photographing the two Chinese QJ’s, excursions are planned for September 14-16th. For more details, see the Friends of the 261 website. Please remember to be courteous and responsible while railfanning! If anyone has pictures they would like to contribute, please contact us. – MDP

One of the more interesting developments lately is the coming of two Chinese QJ Class 2-10-2 steam locomotives (7081 and 6988) to Iowa Interstate. Railroad Development Corporation, IAIS’s parent company, purchased these two and options for three more several months back. The pair have now arrived in the United States, having been offloaded at the…

One of the feature articles in Railway Track & Structures this month (April 2006) is on Iowa Interstate’s two recent RRIF loans and the improvements being made to the property as a result. The article is available online [here] at RT&S’s website. Thanks to Chad Lambi of IAIS for pointing this article out to the…

(From the official press release): Iowa Interstate Railroad (IAIS) and Great Western Railway of Iowa, LLC (“GWRIA”) are announcing the sale of GWRIA. The acquisition will enable Iowa Interstate Railroad to expand its intermodal operation and create greater capacity in their Council Bluffs terminal. “We hope to close the transaction in June pending STB approval”,…

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…