Cedar Rapids, IA – Iowa Interstate Railroad, LLC (IAIS) today announced that it joined the SmartWay^® Transport Partnership, an innovative collaboration between U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and industry that provides a framework to assess the environmental and energy efficiency of goods movement supply chains.

IAIS will contribute to the Partnership’s savings of 312 million barrels of oil, $41.8 billion on fuel costs,133 metric tons of CO2, 2.6 million tons of NOx and 109 million tons of PM. This is equivalent to eliminating annual energy use in over 20 million homes. By joining SmartWay Transport Partnership, IAIS demonstrates its strong environmental leadership and corporate responsibility.

“Iowa Interstate Railroad is proud to partner with the U.S. EPA by joining the SmartWay^® Transport Partnership.  Our participation, along with our continued investments in energy management technologies, reaffirms our commitment to recognizing environmental issues and continuing to reduce our carbon footprint.”, said Joe Parsons, IAIS President / CEO.

Developed jointly in early 2003 by EPA and Charter Partners represented by industry stakeholders, environmental groups, American Trucking Associations, and Business for Social Responsibility, this innovative program was launched in 2004. Partners rely upon SmartWay tools and approaches to track and reduce emissions and fuel use from goods movement.

The Partnership currently has over 3,000 Partners including shipper, logistics companies, truck, rail, barge, and multimodal carriers.

Founded in 1984, Iowa Interstate Railroad is a Cedar Rapids, IA based class-II freight railway company operating in the Midwestern region of the USA between Chicago, Peoria and Omaha.  

For more information about IAIS, please visit www.iaisrr.com.

For information about the SmartWay Transport Partnership visit www.epa.gov/smartway.

June 30^th, 2021

The Iowa Interstate Railroad (IAIS) today celebrated the 100th birthday of its founding Chairman Dr. Paul H Banner with a reminder to the railroad community of his numerous contributions to the industry. This was commemorated with the naming of its most recently purchased locomotive, Wabtec ES44AC #519, the “Paul H Banner” upon its delivery in December of 2019.

IAIS Chairman Henry Posner III commented, “I have been honored to follow in Paul Banner’s footsteps, and am proud that we are in a position to commemorate his contributions to the industry in such a manner. It is easy to forget the audacity of the formation of our company from the abandoned main line of the Rock Island in 1984: the fact that new locomotives are being bought by a railroad that began under such dire circumstances is testament to many things, including the remarkable story of railroad deregulation. But on this day we focus on the vision and tenacity of its founders, Paul Banner being the first among equals, and celebrate the fact that he is alive and well in retirement.”

Dr. Banner’s service to the industry prior to IAIS includes leadership roles at Southern Railway and the Rock Island.

IAIS President Joe Parsons added, “The Iowa Interstate Railroad survives today as a critical part of the nation’s freight rail network because of a few key railroaders who saw something in our footprint that many others did not.  Dr. Banner is one of those visionaries.”

The Iowa Interstate Railroad is a Cedar Rapids, IA based freight railway company operating in the Midwestern region of the USA between Chicago, Peoria and Omaha. Further information is available at: www.iaisrr.com.

Booneville, Iowa – The Iowa Interstate Railroad, LTD (IAIS) opened the new William J. Duggan Bridge in Booneville, IA to freight rail traffic on June 30, 2020. This new, state-of-the-art structure crosses the Raccoon River west of Des Moines, IA and replaces a 119-year-old through truss bridge. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) funded half of the project costs through a Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant of $3.5 million. The project was completed in record-setting time and under budget.
“The William J. Duggan Bridge will ensure safe and efficient freight connections between IAIS customers and rail destinations across North America and around the world,” said IAIS President Joe Parsons. “Completion of this project is yet another step in our unending drive at IAIS to prioritize safety, resiliency, and reliability in everything we do.”
“This bridge is a fitting tribute to Bill Duggan’s ongoing lifetime of service to the industry in this country and around the world which continues to this day” said Henry Posner III, chairman of IAIS. “After the bankruptcy of our predecessor the Rock Island in 1980, the IAIS route was deemed unnecessary and nearly liquidated: in fact, parts of the railroad stood idle until 1984. Bill came to the Iowa Interstate from the Illinois Central in 1989, and was tasked with keeping the railroad running with very limited traffic and funding. The early years were tough, but we have evolved into today’s strong, stable, resilient route connecting Iowa and Illinois to the world because of the foundation-both physical and cultural- laid by Bill. It is especially appropriate that this bridge carry his name as our West End has historically been our lowest-density segment and was at one point a re-abandonment candidate.”
Bill Duggan served as IAIS’ VP-Engineering, then VP-Operations, from 1989 to 1999, and has since served as VP-Operations of IAIS’ parent Railroad Development Corp. (RDC), where his roles have included service as President of Ferrovias Guatemala and responsibility for passenger businesses in Germany.
IAIS, FRA, and US DOT successfully completed construction in under 17 months from the date of award. Fifty percent of funding for the William J. Duggan Bridge was awarded by FRA on February 8, 2019 with IAIS funding the remaining 50%. The William J. Duggan Bridge is 661′-6″ long and consists of eight 75′ steel beam spans set on nine cast-in-place concrete piers with two concrete bents supporting a pre-stressed concrete box beam. Unlike the antiquated predecessor structure, the William J. Duggan Bridge will support sustained 40-mph train speeds with modern 286,000-pound freight rail cars and no dimensional load limitations.
Project engineering was led by HDR, Inc. of Omaha, NE. Bridge general contractor was A.M. Cohron & Son, Inc. of Atlantic, IA. IAIS Chief Engineer Chad Lambi, PE and Assistant Chief Engineer Greg D. Mitchell, PE oversaw project construction for IAIS.

Operation Lifesaver Inc. (OLI) has received renewed grant funding for its rail safety education efforts in 2020 from the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh, the rail safety group announced earlier this week.
The grant will continue and expand the support of rail safety projects and initiatives that the Posner Foundation helped to fund in 2019.
“The 2020 grant will allow us to expand our work at the national level and support our state programs across the country,” OLI Executive Director Rachel Maleh said in a press release, which did not mention the 2020 grant’s dollar amount.
Specifically, the 2020 funds will support the expanded distribution of an public service announcement (PSA) campaign aimed at reducing near-miss incidents with pedestrians near railroad tracks; supplement funding for state programs; and create a new discretionary fund to assist state programs with purchasing educational and promotional materials for their outreach efforts.
In 2019, the Posner Foundation donated $100,000 to OLI. The funds helped support the creation of media-related resources and distribution of a PSA about emergency notification system signs, as well as supplemented funding for state programs and provided support for national volunteer efforts.

For Immediate Release

Twin State Environmental has opened Raptor® Tank Cleaning Services, a Railcar Cleaning facility for tank cars and hopper cars located in Durant, Iowa on the Iowa Interstate Railroad (IAIS) with connections to all US Class 1 carriers.  This new operation features the Raptor® Tank Cleaning System eliminating human confined space tank entry by incorporating automation and robotics to guarantee a superior clean.

Founder and Chief Technology Officer Scott Tinsman III stated, “the Raptor® was developed and engineered based on years of industry experience. It utilizes robotics and automation to ensure the complete removal of heel and build-up from hopper and tanker railcars.  This safe, economical and unique cleaning technology removes the need for anyone to enter a tank while it contains product. The Raptor® handles liquids, solids and sludge in all types of hazardous, non-hazardous and feed-stock materials including acid, asphalt, crude oil, vegetable oil, animal fats and tallow.”

With the ability to offer Kosher washes, Raptor® is strategically located in the Mid-West to service numerous customers including those following Kosher practices. Carrie Evans, vice president of sales and marketing for Iowa Interstate Railroad welcomes Twin State Environmental’s Raptor® Tank Cleaning Service cleaning operation to its diverse portfolio of existing customers on its line.  “This is a valuable service to many customers in the tank car industry and we are excited to have this ideally located option available,” said Evans.  

The Raptor® system can handle any amount of heel, even in excess of 10,000 pounds.  This new, safe and very efficient system minimizes cleaning time, maximizes shipment volume and reduces freight costs, changing railcar cleaning economics from a “have to” to a “want to” for many customers. 

“Our Raptor® Tank Cleaning System typically cleans a tank in hours allowing a railcar to return to service in days, not weeks,” stated Charles (Chip) Lee, Jr., Twin State Environmental President. 

Twin State Environmental also sells and installs Raptor® Tank Cleaning Systems and railcar cleaning equipment and engineered systems.  For more information, visit www.raptortank.com .

For additional information, contact Charles (Chip) Lee, Jr. at Clee@tsenv.com or 563-359-3624