Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad
 | |
 IHB number 3801 and 3802, both EMD GP38-2s | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Hammond, Indiana |
| Reporting mark | IHB |
| Locale | northwest Indiana, suburbs of Chicago, Illinois |
| Dates of operation | 1896–present |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Other | |
| Website | www |
The Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad (reporting mark IHB) is a Class III railroad[1] in the United States.
Ownership
The IHB is an independent railroad which is jointly owned by Conrail Shared Assets Operations (51%) and Canadian Pacific Railway (49%). These shareholders trace their ownership stake in IHB to previous mergers and acquisitions in the railroad industry. Conrail's ownership is traced back to the Penn Central Transportation Company and prior to that, the New York Central Railroad and Pennsylvania Railroad. Canadian Pacific's ownership is through its subsidiary, the Soo Line, which inherited it from the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (also known as the "Milwaukee Road").
Route and facilities
The line comprises 320 miles (510 km) of track—30 miles of single mainline track, 24 miles (39 km) of double-main track and 266 miles (428 km) of additional yard and side track—starting northwest of Chicago in Franklin Park, Illinois, traveling southeast around the city to its headquarters in Hammond, Indiana.[2]
The line's largest yard, Blue Island, is located in Riverdale, Illinois.[2] Other yard in Illinois are Burnham, Calumet City, Alsip, Argo, LaGrange, Rose and Franklin Park. In Indiana, IHBR has yards named Whiting, Hammond, Michigan Ave, and Lake Front, the last in the town of East Chicago. The Gibson Yard, located in Hammond, Indiana, is arguably the largest auto-switching operation in the United States.
From the 1970s and 1990s to the present, Indiana Harbor Belt operated an extensive interlocking tower system including: East End, Osbourne, Calumet, State Line, Gibson, Stewart Avenue, Graselli, 55th Street and Argo towers with switch tenders at North Harvey and Columbia Avenue in Hammond. They later took over State Line tower from the Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad.
See also
- Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Co. v. American Cyanamid Co., a landmark torts case which involved the railroad.
References
- ^ Surface Transportation Board, The Belt Railway Company of Chicago -- Trackage Rights Exemption -- Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Company, January 9, 2002
- ^ a b "About The Indiana Harbor Belt Rail Road". Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
External links
- Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad
- RAILChicago - Chicago RAILExperts
- Indiana Harbor Belt Archive (railfan site)
- Shortlines of Chicago Historical Society IHB History
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