Progressive Rail Inc. is a
shortline railroad and owner of several other shortlines. PGR is directly operating several separate branches in Minnesota including the Airlake Terminal Railway. Progressive Rail also acquired the
Wisconsin Northern Division in
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and operates as a separately-named division. They also own the Chicago Junction Railroad, Clackamas Valley Railway, the
Iowa Traction Railway
The Iowa Traction Railway Company , formerly the Iowa Traction Railroad Company, is a shortline railroad operating in the United States as a common carrier. It was originally founded in 1896 as the Mason City and Clear Lake Railway, a passenger c ...
and Iowa Southern Railway in Iowa, the
Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad in Illinois, the St. Paul & Pacific Northwest Railroad, and the
Wisconsin Northern Railroad.
Progressive Rail is also known as the Cannon Valley Railroad .
The PGR branches are listed as follows:
* Transload Industrial Park (
Airlake Terminal Railway
The Airlake Terminal Railway , a subsidiary of Progressive Rail, is a short line railroad operating approximately of track in a large industrial park in Lakeville, Minnesota. Typical traffic includes various bulk commodities and cargo for trans-sh ...
) - Lakeville, Minnesota
* The "High Line" (a.k.a.
Dan Patch Line
The Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway was an long American shortline railroad connecting Minneapolis and Northfield, Minnesota. It was incorporated in 1918 to take over the trackage of the former Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester and ...
) -
Bloomington, Minnesota
Bloomington is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, on the north bank of the Minnesota River, above its confluence with the Mississippi River, south of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 89,987, ma ...
,
Richfield, Minnesota, and
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
. Service begins at Auto Club Yard in Bloomington and serves a variety of industries
* The "Jesse James Line" -
Northfield to Lakeville, leased
CP Rail trackage
*
Northfield to
Faribault, Minnesota via leased
Union Pacific trackage
* Northfield to
Cannon Falls, Minnesota, with service to the Great Western Industrial Park in
Randolph, Minnesota
Randolph is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 436 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census.
History
A post office called Randolph has been in operation since 1886. The city took i ...
.
* Eagandale Industrial line (
Eagan, Minnesota) via leased
CP Rail trackage (former
Milwaukee Road
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 Midwestern United States, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, Northwest of the United States fr ...
)
*
Santa Cruz Branch Line
The Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Railroad (SCMB), or Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line (SCBRL), is a historic railway running through Santa Cruz County, California. It once ran operationally from Davenport to the Watsonville Junction where it connected t ...
-
Davenport
Davenport may refer to:
Places Australia
*Davenport, Northern Territory, a locality
* Hundred of Davenport, cadastral unit in South Australia
**Davenport, South Australia, suburb of Port Augusta
**District Council of Davenport, former local govern ...
to
Watsonville, California (operating with the
Santa Cruz, Big Trees, and Pacific Railway as a
subcontractor)
History
Headquartered in
Lakeville, Minnesota (a southern suburb of
Minneapolis-St. Paul), Progressive Rail, Inc. was established in 1996 to initially serve the Airlake Industrial Park. In 2001, they leased the former
Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway "High Line" in Bloomington and Richfield and started restoring trackage. The company's philosophy has been to provide service that a large railway chooses not to provide. They have also focused on economic development, including finding new customers, and working on regaining former rail customers along their lines. This strategy has paid off in an increase in traffic, from 600 carloads in their first year of operation to more than 5000 carloads in 2003.
Major commodities include resins, chemicals, fuels, lumber, gypsum board, cement, fly-ash, metals, paper, machinery, food and kindred products, scrap material, and consumer products.
Progressive Rail, Inc. also operates wholly owned subsidiary Progressive Rail Specialized Logistics, which provides rail logistics services for machinery and over-dimensional freight shippers.
Locomotive roster
References
External links
Progressive Rail, Inc. official siteProgressive Rail Specialized Logistics official siteUnion Pacific shortline customer description
{{DEFAULTSORT:Progressive Rail Inc.
Minnesota railroads
Railway companies established in 1996
Switching and terminal railroads