Spotlight
Managing growth
Illinois Railway adjusts to handle fast influx of shale-related business
Increased shale activity has meant growth on the Illinois Railway . The Class III shortline , based in the “ Sand Capitol of the World ”, has experienced firsthand the shift in the sand industry . — Courtesy Illinois Railway
S and is no stranger to the Illinois Railway ( IR ). Embedded in the “ Sand Capitol of the World ,” the Class III shortline has steadily provided hauling services of silica sand from the central Illinois region at a moderate pace for years . However , the recent boom in the oil and gas industries means the face of the sand industry has changed . Demand for fracking sand needed in the rich oil and gas deposits in the Bakken and Eagle Ford shales transformed the OmniTRAX-owned IR into a big little shortline .
General Manager Johnnie DeClue , a native of Ottawa , Ill ., has never seen the pace of the railroad move so quickly with the railroad . More than a decade ago , he began his railroad career working track maintenance and witnessed first-hand its transformation while ascending through the ranks into management . He recalls that a big train to the Eola , Ill ., terminal in his days as a conductor and engineer was 40 cars . Today , normal manifest trains average over 100 cars .
“ The growth that we ’ ve had over the last two years and looking at what
6 we ’ re going to be doing over this year and next year is definitely more than we ’ ve ever had before ,” DeClue said . “ When I started 13 years ago , it was all sand , not just fracking sand . We ’ ve got a significant amount of sand coming out of here and going to Texas and North Dakota .”
IR also transports sand bound for the Great Western Industrial Park in Windsor , Colo . The sand terminal , built in partnership with Halliburton , is served by IR affiliate Great Western Railway and is an example of Omni- TRAX ’ s real estate-based approach to the rail business .
An improved turnaround time on the IR has cut the time it takes for sand cars to make the loop from 45 days to 14 . Recently , BNSF and IR initiated unit train service to attain a 14-day cycle time . This improvement
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