Intro
Quick Route Facts:
Route length: ~100 Miles, Era: 2029, Region: Delmarva Peninsula, State: Delaware, Railroads Operated: Indian River Railroad, Norfolk Southern, Delmarva Central Railroad, and Amtrak, Operations: Freight and Passenger
The Indian River Railroad (Reporting mark IRR) is named after the natural body of water, the Indian River, that is located in eastern Sussex County, Delaware. At about 15 miles long the Indian River was named after a Native American reservation that was located on it’s upper reaches. It flows starting southwest of Georgetown and flowing through Millsboro, then opening into the Indian River Bay until it empties meeting at the Indian River Inlet with Atlantic Ocean located south of Dewey Beach. A lot of recreational boating, fishing, and many popular homes and eateries such as Pot Nets, and Paradise Grill, tuck up against the Indian River and it’s edge.
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Indian River Railroad Quick Facts:
Reporting Mark: IRR, Locomotives Owned: 20, Trackage Owned: ~30 Miles, Headquarters: Lewes, DE
This railroad primarily operates in Eastern Sussex County, Delaware, hence why the founding name was chosen when the company became official. However, the IRR has trackage rights with Delmarva Central Railroad from Ellendale to Porter and with Norfolk Southern from Porter to Newark. This is mainly due to it’s passenger service the IRR operates from Newark to the popular summer tourist destinations such as Rehoboth Beach.
The Indian River Railroad logo was inspired by the Indian River Inlet Bridge, a 2,500FT cable stayed bridge that was completed in 2012 to replace six previous bridges that was damaged by costal erosion. It serves as a photo hot spot and has sidewalks for pedestrians and bicycles, and carries traffic on the four lane roadway known as Coastal Highway, or simply state Route 1.
IRR does own its own trackage, a ~30 mile single and double track railroad that branches off the Delmarva Central Indian River Secondary starting north of Ellendale and ending at the Rehoboth Beach/Tanger Outlet station North of Rehoboth Beach. While freight trains do operate here and has several customers to be rail served, this line is passenger dominant with the average track speed of 75MPH. There are multiple sidings along its Right-of-Way (ROW) long enough where freight trains can move out the way. Passenger trains have #1 priority here over freight trains.