Railroad traffic in Franklin, Whiteland curtailed by flood damage

By Joseph S. Pete, Daily Journal of Johnson County staff writer

Floodwaters washed out gravel from underneath railroad tracks in Whiteland, and trains won't run until repairs are made.

Flooding has affected service on both north-south lines through Johnson County, the Louisville & Indiana and The Indiana Rail Road Co.

Service has been suspended on the Louisville & Indiana Railroad while employees check track conditions for safety and make repairs, transportation manager Gary Heid said.

He said the railroad, which sends four trains through Whiteland a day, hauls commercial freight, including plastics and grain.

Whiteland Town Manager Dennis Capozzi notified the railroad's dispatcher about the safety conditions Saturday and later was in contact with a field operative about the damage.

Engineers are inspecting the track, including a bridge near Seymour that suffered flood damage. The Jeffersonville-based company hopes to have trains running again this week, Capozzi said.

The Indiana Railroad reduced service while workers dumped crushed rock to stabilize the track bed in several spots between Bloomington and Indianapolis, spokesman Chris Rund said.

The railroad, which normally sends four to six trains daily through Johnson County, scaled back service while employees deal with extensive damage in southwest Indiana and southeast Illinois.

Tracks are submerged in southeast Illinois near the city of Newton, and a large section of roadbed was washed out in Sullivan County south of Terre Haute.

Coal was delivered through Johnson County to Indianapolis Power & Light over the weekend, Rund said. Utilities keep stockpiles of coal for emergencies like this one, so power should be unaffected while the tracks are out of use.