These Farmers Bought Their Own Railroad

These farmers bought their own railroad AG WORLD Ag World 17-3-19 The last thing most members of the Cisco Cooperative Grain Company in Cisco, IIL, thought they'd ever do is run a railroad. But 13 years after the Illinois Central Gulf Rail-road decided to bypass their town, that's exactly what the farmer group is doing. "Back in 1980 when regular railroad service ended, farmers thought they would never see a train in here again," says Bill Sago, manager of the Cisco Co-op, noting that without the railroad, farmers would have had to depend solely on trucks and could have expected shipping bottlenecks since the co-op ships some 2 million bushels of grain yearly. When the mainline cut service in 1980 it was because the track was deteriorating and the amount of business did not justify re-building it. Soon after, farmers at the Cisco Co-op began investigating a farmer take-over. They started buying track and right of way bark in 1983. First they had to upgrade the trams This included laying 5 miles of track with heavier rails. The old 75 lb. rails were replaced with 90 lb. rails. Also, they had to install 12,500 new ties, haul in additional rock, and rebuild several crossings. To do the work, they got the help of a railroad contractor. Legal entanglements delayed progress, too. Eventually the Co-op engaged the help of Indiana Hi-Rail Corporation of Connersville, Ind., to provide engines and rail cars to run the train between the elevator and Decatur where cars are picked up by the Illinois Central Gulf line. The co-op spent $425,000 to purchase the track and they put in another $1 million for refurbishing it. Part of the cost was defrayed by a grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation. The Co-op ships out some 600 rail cars a year andcan load out 30 cars in 3 hrs. There are times when that's what keeps harvest going in the area It often results in a few more cents per bushel for co-op members. "When the mainline closed, we had to do something. We knew the line would never be rebuilt. As we looked 25 years into the future, we saw no alternative to buying and running the railroad. It was a tough decision but it has worked out," Sago says. Contact FARM SHOW Followup, Cisco Co-op Grain Company, Cisco, Ill. 61830 (ph 217 669-2141).

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