Indiana Northeastern Railroad - Chasing a Classic Midwest Short Line

On July 15th, 2024, my friends Don, Sheldon and I embarked on an incredible one weeklong road trip from Pennsylvania out to the Midwest, with intentions of hanging out with our very good friend Danny out in Illinois for a few days. We made out way out to Ohio on the 15th and started our day out in Indiana the next day. Our agenda for Tuesday July 16th was to see what was going on on the Indiana Northeastern Railroad. The INER, which was formed in 1992 and operates over former Wabash, Penn Central and N&W rails in Northeast Indiana, Northwest Ohio and Southern Michigan, with an interchange with Norfolk Southern in Montpelier, OH. The railroad is independently owned and employees some great people, handles various commodities to various customers and from a buff standpoint, rosters some classic EMD power running through some cool Midwest scenery. We would fine the day's INER crew starting their work out in Hamilton, IN. With IN GP30 2230, a former PRR locomotive and GP9H 5903, a former NYC unit paired up, the crew would begin to shuffle their train together before heading out. We'd chase the INER crew a good distance, catching them in Pleasant Lake and Angola before they would stop in Fremont to work Berry Plastics. From there, they would continue north into Michigan, with a parting shot of the train passing a long derelict Wabash station before we would hit the road. With great weather and company along with a cool train and a very cool crew onboard, this was a very pleasurable and memorable chase. Enjoy the video! 00:00 - Intro 00:12 - Hamilton, IN 08:53 - Pleasant Lake, IN 11:07 - Angola, IN 13:05 - Depot Street - Fremont, IN 18:40 - Toledo Street - Fremont, IN 25:19 - Montgomery, MI Thanks for watching!