D&I Railroad
{{Short description|Class III shortline railroad in South Dakota}}
{{Infobox rail
|gauge={{Track gauge|ussg|allk=on}}
|railroad_name=D&I Railroad
|marks=DAIR
|image=D-i-railroad--dair--dakota-and-iowa--diesel-locomotives-3028-3030-and-2511--renner-south-dakota--2020-09-24.jpg
|locale=South Dakota, Iowa
|predecessor_line=Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, Chicago and North Western Transportation Company
|start_year=1985
|end_year=present
|hq_city=Dell Rapids, South Dakota
|website=https://www.lgeverist.com/dirailroad/}}
The D&I Railroad (DAIR) (also nicknamed the Dakota and Iowa Railroad){{Cite web|title=and then there's the more obscure flare|url=https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,3620818|access-date=2018-04-29|website=Trainorders.com Discussion}}{{Better source needed|date=May 2018}} is a Class III shortline railroad which is a wholly owned subsidiary of L. G. Everist, Inc. The line hauls ethanol, dried distillers grains (DDG), corn oil,{{Cite web|title=Hudson, SD - POET|url=https://poet.com/hudson|access-date=2021-08-08|website=poet.com|language=en}} plastic pellets, cement, sand, gravel, and Sioux Quartzite, which is mined from two large quarries in Dell Rapids.{{Cite web|title=L. G. Everist, Inc - Our Companies|url=https://www.lgeverist.com/companies.php|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-08|website=www.lgeverist.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921113725/https://www.lgeverist.com/companies.php |archive-date=2020-09-21 }}
The D&I has a trackage rights agreement with BNSF that allows it to travel on three BNSF subdivisions to deliver and sell products, as they must use BNSF’s system to reach their southern half of their trackage. The D&I operates on both former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad and Chicago and Northwestern Railroad trackage, which were handed over to the state of South Dakota in 1980-1981 after the Milwaukee Road’s bankruptcy and subsequent abandonment of unprofitable lines.{{cite book|author1=H. Roger Grant|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lv8SAQAAMAAJ|title=Iowa's railroads: an album|author2=Donovan L. Hofsommer|date=May 2009|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-31425-3}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I5E1AQAAMAAJ&pg=SA3-PA7|title=I-29 Improvements in Sioux City, Woodbury County: Environmental Impact Statement|year=2009|pages=3–}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YYuEVtbYzwkC|title=Addressing Surface Transportation Needs in Rural America: Field Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, First Session, August 10, 2009|date=1 January 2010|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office}}{{cite book|author=Edward A. Lewis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3i6K_Nf9e2EC&pg=PA116|title=American Shortline Railway Guide|publisher=Kalmbach Publishing, Co.|year=1996|isbn=978-0-89024-290-2|pages=116–}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9EcyAQAAIAAJ|title=Transportation Practitioners Journal|publisher=Association of Transportation Practitioners|year=1990}}
Name
The railroad is known as the Dakota and Iowa Railroad or D&I. The reporting mark for the road is DAIR. However, the railcars are under private ownership of the parent company, L. G. Everist Inc., operating under reporting mark LGEX.
Trackage
The D&I operates from Dell Rapids, SD to Sioux City, IA via company-owned trackage and via trackage rights with BNSF Railway.{{Cite web|title=L. G. Everist, Inc - D&I Railroad|url=https://www.lgeverist.com/dirailroad/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-09|website=www.lgeverist.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921130036/https://www.lgeverist.com/dirailroad/ |archive-date=2020-09-21 }}
The D&I operates company-owned trackage from Dell Rapids to Sioux Falls, where it connects with the BNSF Madison Subdivision. Heading south via trackage rights on BNSF’s Madison Subdivision and Canton Subdivision, It connects to trackage from Canton, South Dakota to Elk Point, South Dakota that is owned by the State of South Dakota and operated by D&I. Along this trackage is a siding servicing a POET biorefinery near Hudson, SD that produces ethanol, DDG, and corn oil. Otherwise, D&I uses this trackage primarily to haul products down to Sioux City, Iowa via a connection with BNSF's Aberdeen Subdivision in Elk Point. Most of these products are loaded onto barges alongside the Missouri River (typically at or near Big Soo Terminal). At Sioux City, The D&I is able to connect to the BNSF Railway, the Canadian National Railway, and the Union Pacific Railroad due to a trackage agreement for BNSF's Aberdeen Subdivision.{{Cite web|title=Dakota and Iowa Railroad DAIR #211|url=https://www.up.com/customers/shortline/profiles_d-k/dair/index.htm|access-date=2021-08-09|website=www.up.com|language=en}}
The D&I also operates a former Chicago and Northwestern branch line from Hawarden, Iowa to Beresford, South Dakota, which is also owned by the State of South Dakota.
Roster
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.lgeverist.com/dirailroad/ Official Website]
- [https://www.bnsf.com/ship-with-bnsf/ways-of-shipping/shortline-services/directory-map-files/shortline-directory-only.html#/code/dair BNSF Railway Website with D&I Details]
- [https://www.up.com/customers/shortline/profiles_d-k/dair/index.htm Union Pacific Website with D&I Details]
{{South Dakota railroads}}
{{Iowa railroads}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:DandI Railroad}}