The Dakota Southern Railway is a railroad that until late May 2021 ran between
Kadoka, South Dakota
Kadoka is a city in, and the county seat of, Jackson County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 543 at the 2020 census. The town occupies about 2.3 square miles.
History
Kadoka got its start in 1906 when the Chicago, Milwaukee, S ...
, and
Mitchell, South Dakota
Mitchell is a city in and the county seat of Davison County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 15,660 at the 2020 census making it the sixth most populous city in South Dakota.
Mitchell is the principal city of the Mitchell Micr ...
, and which continues to service the approximately of remaining active track of the
Napa Junction–Platte Line in southern South Dakota. It connects with the
BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...
in
Mitchell
Mitchell may refer to:
People
*Mitchell (surname)
*Mitchell (given name)
Places Australia
* Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate
* Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst
* Mitchell, Northern Territo ...
and Napa Junction respectively.
History
The
Mitchell
Mitchell may refer to:
People
*Mitchell (surname)
*Mitchell (given name)
Places Australia
* Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate
* Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst
* Mitchell, Northern Territo ...
–
Kadoka line is part of a former
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986.
The company experience ...
(CMStP&P) secondary built between
Marquette, Iowa
Marquette is a city in Clayton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 429 at the time of the 2020 census, up from 421 in 2000. The city, which is located on the Mississippi River, is named after Jesuit missionary Jacques Marquette, who al ...
and
Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...
during the period of 1880 and 1907.
The line lost profitability and was embargoed in 1980 and subsequently bought by the
South Dakota Department of Transportation
The South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) is a state government organization in charge of maintaining public roadways of the U.S. state of South Dakota. South Dakota has 82,447 miles of highways, roads and streets, as well as 5,905 br ...
, which still owns the tracks. The purchase was orchestrated by Governor
Bill Janklow.
Dakota Southern also operated a line from Napa Junction to
Platte, South Dakota
Platte is a city in Charles Mix County, South Dakota, Charles Mix County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,311 at the 2022 United States Census, 2022 census. The community is named after the Platte Creek, a tributary of the Misso ...
, which was also constructed and owned by the
Chicago, Milwakuee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. The operation lasted from 1985 to 1989 before Dakota Southern stopped operating the line.
Dakota Southern has since reinstated operations on this line as far as
Tabor
Tabor may refer to:
Places
Czech Republic
* Tábor, a town in the South Bohemian Region
** Tábor District, the surrounding district
* Tábor, a village and part of Velké Heraltice in the Moravian-Silesian Region
Israel
* Mount Tabor, Galilee ...
, almost 30 years after the last train left the line.
The railway originally hauled large amounts of
grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...
, but this business became unprofitable in the late 1990s. Between 2000 and 2007, the railway had just one customer—a box factory in Mitchell, and thus no trains passed that point. In 2005, however, the railway obtained a
haulage agreement with
BNSF
BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...
to allow it to operate to
Sioux City
Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...
, where it could interchange with the
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
and the
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN i ...
, making grain service profitable again. After track repairs, service briefly resumed as far as
Presho, South Dakota
Presho is a small city in Lyman County, South Dakota, Lyman County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 472 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census.
History
Presho was laid out in 1905, and named in honor of J. S. Presho, a cat ...
in fall 2007. While the line still officially operates all the way to
Kadoka, as the
Kadoka-
Rapid City
Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...
portion was rail-banked in 1996, a grade crossing in
Vivian is currently paved over, as well as one in
Belvidere.
New ownership and revitalization of the line
On October 1, 2009, new owners Mike Williams and Stan Patterson took over the day-to-day operations of the railroad. They both own other rail lines in the country. Mike Williams owns the
Bountiful Grain and Craig Mountain Railroad
The BG&CM Railroad or Bountiful Grain and Craig Mountain Railroad is a Class III shortline railroad located in North Central Idaho.
Summary
The BG&CM operated a line between Spalding and Cottonwood, along the former Second Subdivision of the ...
,
Ozark Valley Railroad
The Ozark Valley Railroad is a 27-mile shortline railroad connecting Mexico, Missouri, and Fulton, Missouri.
Connection
The Kansas City Southern Railway links to the Ozark Valley Railroad at Mexico, Missouri.
Motive Power
* EMD GP7
The E ...
and the
Iowa River Railroad
The Iowa River Railroad (IARR) operates freight service from Ackley, Iowa to end of track 1.4 miles south of U.S. Highway 20, north of Steamboat Rock, Iowa, for a distance of about 9 miles. With its office located in Steamboat Rock, Iowa, IARR car ...
. Stan Patterson operates the
Washington and Idaho Railway
The Washington and Idaho Railway was a shortline railroad that operated in the area south of Spokane, Washington, connecting the BNSF Railway at Marshall to Palouse, Washington, Harvard, Idaho, and Moscow, Idaho. It began operations in 2006 on ...
. Initially they planned to rehabilitate the line as far as
Murdo, 140 miles west of
Mitchell
Mitchell may refer to:
People
*Mitchell (surname)
*Mitchell (given name)
Places Australia
* Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate
* Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst
* Mitchell, Northern Territo ...
, over three years. The first year was to be from
Mitchell
Mitchell may refer to:
People
*Mitchell (surname)
*Mitchell (given name)
Places Australia
* Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate
* Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst
* Mitchell, Northern Territo ...
to
White Lake, the second year to
Chamberlain
Chamberlain may refer to:
Profession
*Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure
People
*Chamberlain (surname)
**Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...
and in the third year rehabilitation would be carried out to
Murdo.
In spring 2011 a 16-million-dollar federal Tiger grant was secured to help finance the 28-million-dollar rebuild of 61.6 miles of the line between
Mitchell
Mitchell may refer to:
People
*Mitchell (surname)
*Mitchell (given name)
Places Australia
* Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate
* Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst
* Mitchell, Northern Territo ...
and
Chamberlain
Chamberlain may refer to:
Profession
*Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure
People
*Chamberlain (surname)
**Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...
. Work began in late May 2011. According to former railroad owner Alex Huff, the 65-pound rail was to be replaced with 136, 132 and 115-pound rail. As a result of the rebuilding, two competing companies proposed building 110-car shuttle loading facilities near
Kimball, South Dakota
Kimball is a city in Brule County, South Dakota, Brule County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 572 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census.
History
Kimball was first known as Stake 48 on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul ...
. In mid-September 2012 the first regularly scheduled service west of Mitchell since the late 1990s began with twice weekly unit trains of inbound fertilizer and outbound grain to the newly built Liberty Grain elevator east of Kimball.
In fall 2014 Dakota Southern received a Federal Tiger grant to help fund rebuilding an additional 42 miles of the line from Chamberlain to one mile west of
Presho. South Dakota Wheat Growers started construction on an agronomy services and shuttle loader facility in the fall of 2014 in
Kennebec. The reconstructed line opened and the first 115-car shuttle train arrived and was loaded in Kennebec in October 2016.
Before being rehabilitated the line carried 687 cars in 2010, 3,049 cars in 2013 after rehabilitation between Mitchell and Chamberlain and 9,580 in 2017 after rehabilitation to Presho.
In 2018, Dakota Southern had expressed interest in rehabilitating the line to
Murdo, and possibly beyond all the way to
Kadoka.
Platte Line operator
In September 2015, 27 years after Dakota Southern stopped operating the line, Dakota Southern was chosen by the State Railway Board to again operate the long out-of-service Napa Junction –
Platte line in southern
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
. In November 2016, the South Dakota Railway Board agreed with terms on a 10-year contract with Dakota Southern to lease and restore service between Napa Junction and
Ravinia. Plans were made to replace 2,000 ties so that the railroad could operate the first 10 miles of track, as far as
Tabor
Tabor may refer to:
Places
Czech Republic
* Tábor, a town in the South Bohemian Region
** Tábor District, the surrounding district
* Tábor, a village and part of Velké Heraltice in the Moravian-Silesian Region
Israel
* Mount Tabor, Galilee ...
, within 30 days. As of November 2021 Google Maps showed that tanker cars were stored on the line as far west as the Tabor elevator. Grade crossings in Tabor were paved over. In addition a 40-million-dollar Dakota Plains Ag Center grain facility opened in 2017 at Napa Junction.
In June 2020 the South Dakota Railway Board agreed to ask the federal Surface Transportation Board to railbank 33 miles of the Platte Line between
Tyndall
Tyndall (the original spelling, also Tyndale, "Tindol", Tyndal, Tindoll, Tindall, Tindal, Tindale, Tindle, Tindell, Tindill, and Tindel) is the name of an English family taken from the land they held as tenants in chief of the Kings of Engla ...
and Ravinia. The remainder of the line beyond Ravinia to Platte had already been railbanked. If approved the ties and rails would be removed and salvaged and Dakota Southern Railway's lease amended to end at Tyndall.
The South Dakota DOT had previously authorized sale of the Platte Line to investors in a proposed ethanol plant in
Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
in 2006, but the sale fell through and the authorization was withdrawn in 2011.
Sale of the Mitchell - Kadoka line to Watco
On February 17, 2021 the South Dakota State Railway Board authorized the South Dakota Department of Transportation to sell the Mitchell - Kadoka line to
Watco
Watco Companies, L.L.C. (Watco) is a transportation company based in Pittsburg, Kansas, formed in 1983 by Charles R. Webb. Watco was composed of four divisions: transportation, mechanical, terminal and port services, and compliance. Watco is th ...
, doing business as
Ringneck and Western Railroad, LLC, for $13,000,000. The railroad committed to spending $2,000,000 yearly on maintenance for 10 years and to complete a passing siding near Kimball. The sale agreement also included a repurchase agreement in the event of abandonment or discontinuance of service.
Locomotive roster
* Dakota Southern 37, an
EMD SD38 ex-
McCloud Railway
The McCloud Railway was a class III railroad operated around Mount Shasta, California. It began operations on July 1, 1992, when it took over operations from the McCloud River Railroad. The MCR was incorporated on April 21, 1992.
The MCR pro ...
, non-operational following severe electrical damage in early 2019
* Dakota Southern 75, a
GE 70-ton switcher
The GE 70-ton switcher is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Electric between about 1942 and 1955. It is classified as a B-B type locomotive. The first series of "70 tonners" were a group of seven center-cab locomotives built for ...
ex-
Sisseton Southern, stored with two other unnumbered 70-tonners
* Dakota Southern 103, an
ALCO S3 stored
* Dakota Southern 213, an
ALCO Century 420
The ALCO Century 420 is a four-axle, diesel-electric locomotive. 131 were built between June 1963 and August 1968. Cataloged as a part of ALCO's "Century" line of locomotives, the C420 was intended to replace the earlier RS-32 model.
Original ...
needs traction motor; sold to A&M in 2022
* Dakota Southern 506, an
EMD SD9
An SD9 is a 6-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1954 and June 1959. An EMD 567C 16-cylinder engine generated . Externally similar to its predecessor, the SD7, the SD9 was built with the improv ...
stored
* Dakota Southern 512, an
EMD SD7
An SD7 is a 6-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between May 1951 and November 1953. It had an EMD 567B 16-cylinder engine producing for its six traction motors. 188 were built for United States railroads. ...
operational
* Dakota Southern 522, an
EMD SD7
An SD7 is a 6-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between May 1951 and November 1953. It had an EMD 567B 16-cylinder engine producing for its six traction motors. 188 were built for United States railroads. ...
scrapped
* Dakota Southern 4427, an
EMD SD9
An SD9 is a 6-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1954 and June 1959. An EMD 567C 16-cylinder engine generated . Externally similar to its predecessor, the SD7, the SD9 was built with the improv ...
E operational
* Dakota Southern 719, an
EMD GP30
The EMD GP30 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois between July 1961 and November 1963. A total of 948 units were built for railroads in the United States and Canada ( ...
used for parts. Ex-
Wisconsin Central nee-
Soo Line
* Dakota Southern 3000, an
EMD SD40-2
The EMD SD40-2 is a C-C diesel-electric locomotive built by EMD from 1972 to 1989.
The SD40-2 was introduced in January 1972 as part of EMD's '' Dash 2'' series, competing against the GE U30C and the ALCO Century 630. Although higher-horsepowe ...
ex-
Western Rail Inc, nee-
Union Pacific
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
* Union Pacific 6925, an
EMD DDA40X
The EMD DDA40X is a 6,600 hp (4,943 kW) D-D locomotive, built by EMD from 1969 to 1971 exclusively for the Union Pacific Railroad. It is the most powerful diesel-electric locomotive model ever built on a single frame, having two 16 ...
, inoperable and stored in Chamberlain. Since sold to a private owner.
Controversy
In December 2017, Dakota Southern Railway was found to have stored rail cars full of liquid natural gas, more commonly known as
butane
Butane () or ''n''-butane is an alkane with the formula C4H10. Butane is a gas at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Butane is a highly flammable, colorless, easily liquefied gas that quickly vaporizes at room temperature. The name but ...
, on a siding at the
South Dakota Wheat Growers facility in
Kennebec. A federal inspection found that they had been sitting there far too long, and cited 11 counts of
hazardous material
Dangerous goods, abbreviated DG, are substances that when transported are a risk to health, safety, property or the environment. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials ( syllabi ...
violations.
Further investigation found that
Mike Willams, one of the co-owners of Dakota Southern, had signed a contract giving away 1.4 miles of siding to
Bruce Terminaling LLC, a company that Mike Willams also owns. This contract was not presented to the
South Dakota State Rail Board, and due to this, a discussion about terminating the lease of Dakota Southern on the
Rapid City
Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...
–
Mitchell
Mitchell may refer to:
People
*Mitchell (surname)
*Mitchell (given name)
Places Australia
* Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate
* Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst
* Mitchell, Northern Territo ...
(MRC) line came about, but this never came to fruition.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dakota Southern Railway
South Dakota railroads
Switching and terminal railroads
">Spin-offs of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad