P&L and Evansville Western (EVWR)

[MoPac_Eagle]

The first and last photo were taken in Nashville Illinois the middle photos were taken in Paducah Kentucky.

 

[Bob]

Nice photos, thanks for sharing.

I saw in another thread that you mentioned the Evansville Western (EVWR). How does the P&L fit in? There's obviously a family connection there, the paint schemes match. Kind of like the G&W does things, but I don't think it's G&W since it's not blaze orange. How are they connected and who's the parent railroad?

 

[MoPac_Eagle]

Sit back for the saga of the P&L and family.
The Paducah & Louisville (PAL) is a Class II railroad.

The 270-mile line was purchased from Illinois Central Gulf in August, 1986. The 223-mile main route runs between Paducah and Louisville with branch lines from Paducah to Kevil and Mayfield, Kentucky and another from Cecilia to Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

Today it is a fairly big regional class II railroad connecting with four class I railroads, as well as the three shortline connections it makes which are also listed above. It has 270 route-miles of track, of which 233 miles (375 km) are its mainline running between its namesake towns of Paducah and Louisville, as well as branch lines to Mayfield, Kevil, and Elizabethtown. The railroad serves many chemical plants and other manufacturing companies, several coal mines, numerous clay and stone quarries, lumber and propane distributors, grain elevators

and mine equipment suppliers, warehouses, transloads, bulk terminals, riverports, and one military base."

Evansville Western (EVWR) is a class III railroad.
EVWR started operations on January 1, 2006, when P&L Transportation, the parent company of both the Evansville Western and Paducah & Louisville railroads, leased 124.5 miles of mainline track, ties and track equipment between CSX's Howell Yard in Evansville, Indiana and the end-of-track at Okawville, Illinois from CSX. This line was once part of the Louisville & Nashville's former Saint Louis Subdivision route that previously terminated in the metro-area of East St. Louis, Illinois. (It has been shortened to just passed Okawville) CSX Transportation retains title to the real estate comprising the right of way on which the railroad operates, but has leased it to EVWR for an initial period of 20 years. EVWR owns the rail, ties, ballast, spikes, tie plates, and retainers but not the ground it all sits on. CSX owns 51% of the P&L and EVWR so they control everything that happens.

Most of the railroad's revenue freight services come from rail-barge transfer facilities, merchandise freight from bulk terminals, unit coal trains from coal mines & a riverside coal terminal, and grain & agriculture products from numerous grain elevator shippers.

P&L recently gave the EVWR new Geeps in the 21 series, with LED headlights, pictured above with an EVWR in the 38 series. The Appalachian and Ohio is another subsidy of the P&L but I don't know much about them. I was talking to one of the area supervisers one day and he said the EVWR Makes the most out of all the railroads in the P&L family even more than the P&L itself.

This is the company website which has maps http://www.palrr.biz/

I will post more pictures in the future. If anyone has anymore questions just ask.

Luke Welte

 

[Bill Anderson]

I remember seeing a New York Central switcher in Paducah when I was a kid living in SE Missouri (pronounced "Misery") in the late 50's-early 60's.

 

[Bob]

Sit back for the saga of the P&L and family.
The Paducah & Louisville (PAL) is a Class II railroad.
Evansville Western (EVWR) is a class III railroad.

Thanks for the info, much appreciate it! Sounds like an interesting place to railfan.