Shortline Profile: Kendallville Terminal
The Kendallville Terminal Railway Company is owned by Pioneer Railcorp of Peoria, Illinois. The line operates a half mile of trackage in its namesake town in northern Indiana. The line was originally built as the Grand Rapids & Indiana (GR&I) which later came under control of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The line became Penn Central in 1968 and was conveyed to Conrail upon its creation in 1976. Being of secondary importance to the new railroad portions of it were abandoned over the years with this segment in town being seperated from the rest of the line. The KTRy was formed in the late 1990s when the industrial trackage in the city was purchased from Conrail by the operators of the nearby Michigan Southern and became known as the Kendallville Divison of that road. Eventually the Michigan Southern system was purchased by Pioneer and the line was granted its own operational autonomy.
The line's only long-time customer is Kraft Foods, who recieves granular sugar and corn syrup for the manufacture of marshmallows. Kraft recieves cars every day, usually three or four cars of corn syrup and one or two of sugar. Recently an unidentified industry in town began recieving bulk shipments of salt by rail, usually two or three a week. This if offloaded at a small facility recently built on the passing track just south of Rush Street.
The Kendallville Terminal Railway Company is owned by Pioneer Railcorp of Peoria, Illinois. The line operates a half mile of trackage in its namesake town in northern Indiana. The line was originally built as the Grand Rapids & Indiana (GR&I) which later came under control of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The line became Penn Central in 1968 and was conveyed to Conrail upon its creation in 1976. Being of secondary importance to the new railroad portions of it were abandoned over the years with this segment in town being seperated from the rest of the line. The KTRy was formed in the late 1990s when the industrial trackage in the city was purchased from Conrail by the operators of the nearby Michigan Southern and became known as the Kendallville Divison of that road. Eventually the Michigan Southern system was purchased by Pioneer and the line was granted its own operational autonomy.
The line's only long-time customer is Kraft Foods, who recieves granular sugar and corn syrup for the manufacture of marshmallows. Kraft recieves cars every day, usually three or four cars of corn syrup and one or two of sugar. Recently an unidentified industry in town began recieving bulk shipments of salt by rail, usually two or three a week. This if offloaded at a small facility recently built on the passing track just south of Rush Street.