Stretching their legs on Metra territory, west- bound train BICB is just out of Burr Oak Yard nearing Tinley Park and is making quite the racket with its eclectic mix of motive power on August 2, 2009.


Tazewell & Peoria terminal railroad. These moves are random and unpre- dictable, but will normally be forward- ed up to Bureau by a BUSW local crew and operated to Cedar Rapids as a PECR coal load. Coal empties out of Cedar Rapids usually head east com- bined with the day’s turn to Iowa City, where it will then be separated and run to Peoria as CRPE.


Motive Power Many major motive power changes


have taken place within the last decade on the Iowa Interstate. It started in 2004 and 2005 with the addition of 22 former Penn Central GP38-2s, rebuilt by Union Pacific while under its owner- ship. IAIS acquired the 22 EMD’s from Locomotive Leasing Partners (LLPX) to replace its badly aging fleet of first generation rebuilt four-axle Geeps. With the more modern second genera- tion four-axles also came eight former Reserve Mining SD38-2s. These were primarily acquired for use on the re- cently (at the time) acquired Crandic trackage to Cedar Rapids. Progress and growth brought a major


motive power change in April 2008, this time in the form of a dozen modern GE Evolution Series (GEVO) ES44AC’s. An additional two ES44AC’s were delivered just over a year later. The final unit, No. 513, was painted in a special commemorative Rock Island freight livery. Around this same time, two mother slug sets were created us- ing old GP10 hulks for slugs, and a GP38/GP38-2 for mothers, based at ei-


30 JUNE 2012 • RAILFAN.COM


ther ends of system in Council Bluffs and Blue Island. With the addition of the futuristic


GE’s, IAIS placed into storage almost a dozen of their EMD’s in favor of the more fuel-efficient GEVO’s. The Iowa can now operate much longer trains and utilize distributed power technolo- gy, using one or even two motors re- motely linked to the head end, but dis- tributed either in the train or on the rear. Distributed Power Units (DPUs) can be seen on almost any Iowa Inter- state train, but are most commonly used in a 2x1 format on the ICCR and CRIC turns, and 1x1 configurations on loaded ethanol trains. Aside from all of these changes, IAIS chairman Henry Posner III also pur- chased and imported two 2-10-2 QJ-type Chinese steam locomotives for use on excursions across the system. IAIS 6988 and 7081 have both made numerous appearances since their ar- rival in 2006 on passenger and freight trains, along with fundraising events across central Iowa. These two steam- ers, along with a modest passenger fleet, reside at the yard in Newton.


Railfanning Iowa Interstate


Even though the IAIS only operates roughly 475 miles of main line railroad, chasing its trains can be quite a chal- lenge at times. Between a lack of fre- quent radio communication and overnight operations, you definitely need to know where to go to find mov- ing trains. Daylight running can be pri- marily seen on the railroad’s busiest


stretches of trackage between the Yocum Connection and Rock Island. We will go from west to east, starting


out at Newton where the east train CB- BI usually goes on duty before sunrise. As detailed and useful as track war- rants can be, unless you catch it being transmitted, radio communications are very infrequent at best. If you’re plan- ning on finding a train already out of its terminal, a good idea is utilizing the EOT/FRED frequency in your scanner. Other than that, chasing this train is fairly straightforward, using either I-80 or U.S. Route 6. Most of the main line trackage is rated at Class 3 speeds, making it 40 m.p.h. for freight, and 60 m.p.h. for passenger moves. There is a chunk of IAIS-maintained (leased from CSX) rail from Bureau east to Utica as well as all of Sub 2 that is all 25 m.p.h. stick rail from the Rock Island days. It’s probably wise to pick and choose your locations before diving into a chase. On an average day, CBBI will get in-


to Iowa City early morning, do whatev- er work is required, maybe swap some power, and continue east to its next major terminal at Silvis. Also on the move in the early morning is the CRIC turn, usually out of Fairfax around daybreak or earlier. On average, the turn will follow CBBI into Iowa City from Yocum and wait just west of town for CBBI to do its work before proceed- ing into the yard. While CBBI is doing its work in Iowa


City, West train BICB should be work- ing its way west out of Rock Island.


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