Episode 35: Progressive Rail

Phillip Smailes, Director of Marketing for Progressive Rail Incorporated joins the podcast to talk about the Chicago Junction Railroad and the Chicago, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad.  These two short lines service the Centex Industrial Park in Elk Grove Village and the Bensenville Industrial Park.  Progressive Rail has a national reach operating 13 short lines in 8 states and locally services a diverse group of industries on their 20 miles of track and yards with the ability to interchange with other Class 1 railroads.

2:35:  Progressive Rail is heavily concentrated in the Midwest and got their start in Minnesota by taking over an abandoned rail line.

8:40: Short line railroads provide detailed local switching service which compliments precision scheduled railroading (PSR).

10:36: Mention of some of the various industrial customers served.

12:10: JLL’s introduction to PGR while working with 3W Plastics and reactivating rail service in their new Elk Grove Village facility.

17:35: Transloading offers customers the ability to take advantage of the efficiencies of rail.

18:08: One covered hopper railcar can carry the equivalent of approximately four truckloads of product. 

22:30: Plans to expand their transloading capacity in Elk Grove Village.

29:05:  Striving to maximize customer output by turning cars more frequently to meet their needs for moving inbound raw materials and outbound finished product.

33:45: The Village of Elk Grove has been very supportive and views the rail line as a critical asset to their industrial park.