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| Viral Media posted Vintage 1946 IHB Map The Indiana Harbor Belt was formed in 1907 through several smaller systems operating around Chicago. The IHB's earliest predecessor was the East Chicago Belt Railroad, which began operations in 1896 serving the Indiana state line and Grasselli. Today, the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad is the largest switch carrier in the U.S. with 54 miles of mainline track. The IHB provides a wide variety of services, including industrial switching with 160 customers, generating 170,000 carloads of business annually. The IHB interchanges daily with 16 other rail carriers in Chicago. A growing fleet of approximately 1,400 freight cars is geared predominately to the steel industry. The mergers, bankruptcies, and acquisitions which followed the 1960s lead to the current ownership of IHB; the Canadian Pacific picked up Milwaukee's 49% share through subsidiary Soo Line's acquisition of that road in 1985 while the 1999 buyout of Conrail brought in CSX and Norfolk Southern, giving each a 25.5% stake. The IHB is one of the three terminal lines that serve greater Chicago; IHB and the Belt Railway of Chicago are owned by major railroads, while CSX wholly-owns the Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (BOCT). In the late 19th century there were numerous railroads that built lines to Chicago. The development of terminal railroads in Chicago facilitated efficient interchange of traffic amongst the many railroads. In addition to interchange and industrial switching, the IHB serves as a Chicago bypass and earns revenue from other railroads exercising trackage rights on the IHB mainline. Richard Fiedler shared railroad_journal posted Indiana Harbor Belt The Indiana Harbor Belt is one of the important belt lines in the Chicago area. IHB is jointly owned by Conrail Shared Assets Operations (51%) and CPKC (49%). Main lines The IHB main line extends 39.4 miles from Ivanhoe on the west side of Gary, Indiana, to Franklin Park, Illinois, near O’Hare Airport. It runs west from Ivanhoe through Gibson (Hammond, Indiana) to Blue Island, Illinois. There, it heads northwest and then north through Chicago’s near western suburbs. The IHB main line is mostly double track. From Calumet Park, just on the Illinois side of the IL-IN state line, to Blue Island, the track is owned outright by the Harbor. The same is true of the trackage between McCook and Franklin Park. From Blue Island to a point near McCook, Illinois, the infrastructure is leased to the IHB but is owned and maintained by the Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal, now a CSX subsidiary. In addition, the 7.1 miles of main line from Ivanhoe to Calumet Park, Illinois, is operated on a long-term lease agreement. IHB has another major route known as the Kankakee Line. It extends south from the lakefront at Indiana Harbor (East Chicago, Indiana) to a point near the crossing of the now-abandoned Erie Lackawanna Railroad, a distance of about seven miles. The IHB’s main line and Kankakee line cross at Gibson in Hammond, Indiana, where the IHB headquarters and shops are located. Yards The railroad’s largest yard is Blue Island located in Riverdale, Illinois. The Gibson Yard, located in Hammond, Indiana, is arguably the largest automobile traffic switching operation in the United States. Other yards include Burnham, Calumet City, Alsip, Argo, LaGrange, Rose, Norpaul, Whiting, Michigan Avenue, and Lakefront. |
Two of the seven photos posted by Mike Breski with a comment copied from dhke.
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Also from BarrysBest:
When the West Towns diamonds were removed they made a change in the lead at the West end of the La Grange Yard. The Eastbound crossover between the Eastward track and the East Pass was removed when they depressed three of the tracks under the CB&Q bridge.
How much of the CJ did the IHB at one time operate over? I was told long ago that they once delivered to the CB&Q at Western Avenue.
During the late 50's and through the 60's did deliveries to the AT&SF from Gibson go via Elsdon or deliver at McCook?
When did they shut down the Eastward hump at Gibson? What is the track ownership pattern between Blue Island Jct. and Rose? Between Blue Island and Superior, the owner is B&OCT (CSX).
Superior is about midway between CP McCook and CP LaGrange. Between Superior and CP Rose, the owner is IHB.For answers,
A post that has so much information I saved it in a raw format as two screenshots.
(new window) Precision Scheduling Railroading practiced before the phrase was even invented. This is what PSR should be rather than being just an excuse to quit servicing carload traffic.
The Extent of the Indiana Harbor Belt
The West pass began at the Reynolds switch, right? When did they remove it between Superior and a rather undefined point North of 47th Street?When the West Towns diamonds were removed they made a change in the lead at the West end of the La Grange Yard. The Eastbound crossover between the Eastward track and the East Pass was removed when they depressed three of the tracks under the CB&Q bridge.
How much of the CJ did the IHB at one time operate over? I was told long ago that they once delivered to the CB&Q at Western Avenue.
During the late 50's and through the 60's did deliveries to the AT&SF from Gibson go via Elsdon or deliver at McCook?
When did they shut down the Eastward hump at Gibson? What is the track ownership pattern between Blue Island Jct. and Rose? Between Blue Island and Superior, the owner is B&OCT (CSX).
Superior is about midway between CP McCook and CP LaGrange. Between Superior and CP Rose, the owner is IHB.For answers,
A post that has so much information I saved it in a raw format as two screenshots.
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(new window) Precision Scheduling Railroading practiced before the phrase was even invented. This is what PSR should be rather than being just an excuse to quit servicing carload traffic.
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