Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern Railroad

Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern Railroad

Freshly-painted EMD SD40-2 No. 3423 in Rapid City in 2014
Overview
Headquarters	Rapid City, South Dakota
Reporting mark	RCPE
Locale	Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming
Dates of operation	2014 (2014)–Present
Predecessor	Canadian Pacific Railway
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Other
Website	Official website

Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern Railroad (reporting mark RCPE) is a Class II railroad operating across South Dakota and southern Minnesota in the northern plains of the United States. Portions of the railroad also extend into Wyoming and Nebraska. It is owned and operated by Genesee & Wyoming.

History

The Genesee & Wyoming, a holding company of mostly shortline railroads, formed the Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern to acquire the western end of the former Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad (DM&E) rail line from the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). The acquisition was completed on May 30, 2014, for $210 million. Most of its employees came over from the DM&E.

Route

The Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern owns 670 miles (1,078 km) of track. The main line runs between Tracy, Minnesota, and Rapid City, South Dakota, with branches north to Colony, Wyoming, and south to Dakota Junction, Nebraska. Much of the main line parallels U.S. Route 14. There are three short branches as well:

• Blunt, South Dakota–Onida, South Dakota
• Huron, South Dakota–Yale, South Dakota
• Redfield, South Dakota–Mansfield, South Dakota

The RCPE also has trackage rights over the BNSF Railway between Yale, SD to Watertown, South Dakota, and Wolsey, South Dakota to Aberdeen, South Dakota.

Operations

Customers on the line ship approximately 64,000 carloads annually of grain, bentonite clay, ethanol, fertilizer and other products.

See also

• Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad

External links

• Official site
• Diesel roster