Central Indiana and Western Railroad summary
The Central Indiana and Western Railroad (CEIW) is a Class III short line railroad that operates in Indiana. It’s privately owned by the Browns family. With ten miles of standard-gauge track, the railroad is a straight shot west from Anderson to Lapel.
History
The Central Indiana and Western Railroad was initially chartered as the Anderson, Lebanon & St. Louis Railroad in 1875. The ambitious goal of connecting the three namesake cities would never be met as financial difficulties and ownership changes plagued the line. At its peak, the tracks traveled from Muncie to Brazil through Anderson and Lebanon. By 1986, Conrail had ownership of the surviving Lapel-Anderson section with plans to sell it.
The line was acquired by Ronald Brown, who at the time owned ANNEX Railroad Builders, along with his son Mark and business partner Jim Lawyer. Specializing in railroad track builds and repairs, ANNEX rehabilitated the line in an efficient matter and had the Central Indiana and Western ready for operation. The Browns bought out their partner in 1998, followed by Mark becoming sole owner of the railroad in 2001. His son, Wiley joined in 2011, marking three generations of railroaders owning the Central Indiana and Western.
Operations
Freight traffic on the Central Indiana and Western centers around a consistent customer, O-I Glass Incorporated in Lapel. Inbound freight includes silica sand, recycled glass, soda ash, and nepheline. In 2020, a transload facility was built on the site of Recycle Polymer Solutions in Anderson to expand the railroad’s business beyond the glass industry. The unused portion of the site is leased to the CEIW for transloading, while RPS relies on rail service for its own growing business.
The Central Indiana and Western rosters four EMD diesel locomotives. A recently acquired SD40-2 from Norfolk Southern serves as the railroad’s main motive power. The remaining fleet consists of a GP7, GP10, and GP38.
Interchange is made with CSX Transportation in Anderson.
Read more about the Central Indiana and Western Railroad in Trains’ February 2023 issue.
