Evansville Western Railway summary
Evansville Western Railway (EVWR) is a Class III short line railroad that operates in Illinois and Indiana. The line is owned by CSX Transportation with an operating agreement to P&L Transportation Incorporated, a holding firm in partnership with Paducah and Louisville Railway officers and the Class I railroad. Headquartered out of Mt. Vernon, Ind., the railroad operates 124.5 miles of standard-gauge track between Evansville, Ind., and Okawville, Ill.
History
The Evansville Western Railway was once part of the eastern segment of the former Louisville and Nashville Railroad’s main line to St. Louis. By the mid-2000s, the ex-L&N successor, CSX was looking to lease out what was then called the St. Louis Subdivision to free up resources. On January 6, 2006, the Evansville Western was organized under Four Rivers Transportation Incorporated to take over operations of the line. The holding company was renamed in 2012 to P&L Transportation Inc.
Operations
The Evansville Western Railway is strategically located in the heart of the nation’s highway and inland waterway system of the Ohio River. A rail-barge transfer facility is located at the Port of Indiana in Mt. Vernon to serve the agricultural, energy, and manufacturing industries in the region. From the port, the railroad works with over 30 on-line customers in freight haulage including coal, grain, chemicals, and lumber. Coal facilities and grain elevators are set up along the line, transferring the commodities to the Class I railroad interchanges or barges on the Ohio River. Transloading and warehouse facilities are also provided on the EVWR system, including the Mt. Vernon port.
The diesel locomotive fleet on the Evansville Western comes from P&L Transportation’s roster pool ranging from EMD GP38-2s to the larger SD70MACs.
Interchange is made at Mt. Vernon with the Union Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern; Woodland, Ill., with the BNSF Railway; and Evansville with CSX.
Read more about the Evansville Western Railway in Trains’ November 2005 issue.
