“Spike and Shovel” Commencement Ceremony
2012 expansion of the City of Rochelle Railroad
ROCHELLE, IL…If you build it they will come……In 1986 the City of Rochelle made a decision to build their own railroad system interconnecting the then Chicago & Northwestern and the Burlington Northern Railroads with the hope it would spur industrial growth. Twenty six years later the City of Rochelle Railroad (CIR) has spurred phenomenal industrial growth and today it just got better. Hosting a groundbreaking event promoted as a “Spike and Shovel” Commencement Ceremony for the 2012 expansion of the City of Rochelle Railroad the City Officials boasted about their economic development progress. David Plyman, Rochelle City Manager said “Rochelle has become a very attractive location for industrial clients, especially those that require rail service. We were blessed to have the support of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) and IDOT’s Bureau of Railroads on this project”
The nearly $5,000,000.00 project expands the city’s rail switching and railcar storage capacity, giving the CIR the ability to switch unit trains (100 railcars or more) in and out of Rochelle via the Union Pacific and BNSF Class I Railroads. On hand for the ceremony was the EDA’s Region 5 Director Jeanette Tamayo who said “EDA investments catalyze bottom-up, regionally focused strategies that leverage regional assets in order to create jobs and economic growth. We are proud of the strong partnership with Rochelle; a relationship that has worked to attract major employers like Coated Sand Solutions, LLC and Nippon Sharyo to the region.”
The first phase of the CIR’s expansion will provide rail service to Rochelle’s newest industrial business, Coated Sand Solutions (CSS) which is under construction and is scheduled to begin operations in September 2012. CSS is a resin coated sand supplier. Joe Ebens, Coated Sand Solutions Plant Manager stated during the ceremony “The extension of the City of Rochelle Railroad to our site is a great advantage to us. The city’s ability to switch our rail cars to both the Union Pacific and BNSF railroads allows us to move our product to a variety of markets.”
Jason Anderson, Economic Development Director for the City of Rochelle added, “Increased rail access will also now be available to over 400 acres of industrial sites, with the potential of the City of Rochelle rail system to rail serve up to 2000 additional acres”. It is true……….. If you build it, they will come. The City of Rochelle certainly believes it.”