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Logo of the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railwaypng
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CIC
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Iowa
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1904
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present
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The , also known as the '''Crandic''' is a
Class III Railroad operating in the
US state of
Iowa .
The Crandic began operations in
1904 , providing
Interurban service between
Cedar Rapids, Iowa , and
Iowa City, Iowa . In
1914 , a line extending to
Lisbon, Iowa , was completed, but abandoned in
1928 . In 1939, the Crandic purchased six high-speed interurban cars, leading to the popular saying "Swing and Sway the Crandic Way.", referring to the motion caused by the high-speed running. In
1953 , the railroad ran its last
Passenger Train , a charter by
Railfan s.
While freight was important to the Crandic in the early years, it was better known for its passenger interurban operations. After passenger operations were discontinued, freight became the primary source of traffic for the Crandic. Eventually, the electric-powered locomotives were replaced with
Diesel-electric models, starting in
1953 . The customer base in Cedar Rapids continued to expand with the population in the area. In
1980 , with the demise of the
Milwaukee Road , Crandic purchased the Cedar Rapids to
Homestead, Iowa , portion of the Milwaukee. Also in that year, an Iowa City to
Hills, Iowa portion of the former
Rock Island Railroad was acquired by the Crandic. In 1996, a large new locomotive and car shop was built in the southwest side of Cedar Rapids as a replacement for the original Rockford Road facility.
In late
2004 , the Crandic chose to concentrate on its major focus, switching customers along its rail lines. A daily road freight between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City previously operated by the Crandic was turned over to the
Iowa Interstate Railroad in August 2004. In
2005 , ''
Railway Age '' magazine named the Crandic its
Short Line Railroad Of The Year . Also in 2005, Crandic opened its third shop complex. The newest shops are located on the site of the original Crandic shops. The previous shops complex was sold to
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) for use as a railcar cleaning and repair shop for ADM's large fleet of
Rolling Stock .
The Crandic currently operates 60 miles of main line and 40+ miles of yard trackage in four east central Iowa counties. The Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway employs 90 individuals. 90,000 car loads of traffic are handled each year on the Crandic. The largest customers include Alliant Energy,
Archer Daniels Midland ,
Cargill ,
Weyerhaeuser's Cedar River Paper, and Penford Products.
