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Last month, the Indiana Rail Road Co. (INRD) began construction on a $6 million locomotive maintenance facility at Hiawatha Yard near Jasonville, Ind.

Slated for completion in July 2013, the 20,000-square-foot facility will feature 12,000 square feet of locomotive shop space, 7,500 square feet of parts storage space, offices and an environmental controls system.

An old engine house INRD inherited in 2006 when it purchased the Chicago Subdivision from Canadian Pacific has shallow inspection pits, no air conditioning and can't adequately accommodate the regional's 80-foot-long SD9043MAC locomotives, said INRD officials in an item included in the railroad's fall newsletter.

The new facility will enable shop crews to work on four of the 4,300-horsepower, 200-ton locomotives at a time.

"The difference in the resources and working environment for our employees will be night and day," said INRD President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Hoback. "The expanded on-site parts inventory, overhead cranes and climate-controlled shop will allow for everything from routine inspections to heavy maintenance at far less cost and greater efficiency than ever before."

INRD also recently obtained 17 undeveloped acres in Odon, Ind., that will serve as the site for a transload facility. The land is near a future Interstate 69/State Road 58 interchange.

INRD has partnered with transload services firm Arrow Reload Systems Inc. to operate and co-market the new facility. The railroad and Arrow previously partnered to manage the Senate Avenue Terminal in downtown Indianapolis.

"With the anticipated opening of 70 miles of Interstate 69 from Odon to Evansville in late 2012, our transload [facility] can be a boon to companies across the region" said Hoback.