Paducah & Louisville Railway
 | |
 The rail line crossing the Tennessee River | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Paducah, Kentucky |
| Reporting mark | PAL |
| Locale | Kentucky |
| Dates of operation | 1986– |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Electrification | none |
| Other | |
| Website | www |
The Paducah & Louisville Railway (reporting mark PAL) is a Class II railroad that operates freight service between Paducah and Louisville, Kentucky. The line is located entirely within the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
The 270-mile (430 km) line was purchased from Illinois Central Gulf Railroad in August, 1986. The 223-mile (359 km) main route runs between Paducah and Louisville with branch lines from Paducah to Kevil and Mayfield, Kentucky and another from Cecilia to Elizabethtown, Kentucky. The PAL interchanges with Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) and Canadian National (CN), formerly Illinois Central Railroad, in Paducah. In Madisonville, the line interchanges with CSX Transportation (CSXT).
In Louisville, the line interchanges with the Indiana Rail Road (INRD), CSX Transportation (CSXT) and Norfolk Southern (NS). Class III line connections are at Princeton with the Fredonia Valley Railroad (FVRR) and at Louisville with the Louisville and Indiana Railroad (LIRC). The line today carries over 200,000 carloads of traffic on a CTC-controlled mainline with welded rail and even a section of multiple main track nearly 20 miles (32 km) long between Paducah and just east of Calvert City. This is a huge improvement from the little amount of traffic and poor condition the line was in by the time the ICG had sold it.
Today it is a big regional class II railroad connecting with four class I railroads (listed above), as well as the three shortline connections it makes which are also listed above. It has 270 route-miles of track, of which 233 miles (375 km) are its mainline running between its namesake towns of Paducah and Louisville, as well as branch lines to Mayfield, Kevil, and Elizabethtown. The railroad serves "many chemical plants and other manufacturing companies, several coal mines, numerous clay and stone quarries, lumber and propane distributors, farm [including a few large grain elevators] and mine equipment suppliers, warehouses, transloads, bulk terminals, riverports, and one military base."
The parent company of the PAL, P&L Transportation, also operates the Evansville Western Railway and the Appalachian and Ohio Railroad.
Current and former equipment
| Model | Quantity | Acquired | Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|
| EMD GP7U | ? | 2002 & 8201 | |
| EMD GP10 | ? | 1798(UofL), 1978(UK), 8075, 8286, 8302–8303, 8305, 8314–8315, 8317, 8319, 8321–8322, 8333, 8336, 8344 & 8390 | |
| EMD GP35 | ? | 635 | |
| EMD GP38-2 | 17 | 1998(UK), 3800, 3801(UofL), 3803–3812, 3817 & 3831 | |
| EMD GP39-2 | 1 | 8507 | |
| EMD GP40-2 | 5 | 2123, 2125, 2127, 2129 & 2131 | |
| EMD GP40-3 | 11 | 2101, 2103, 2105, 2107, 2109, 2111, 2113, 2115, 2117, 2119 & 2121 | |
| EMD RDSLUG/RDMATE (ex-GP35) | 11 | 2100, 2102, 2104, 2106, 2108, 2110, 2112, 2114, 2116, 2118, 2120 & 2122 | |
| EMD SD40 | ? | 3053 | |
| EMD SD45 | ? | 6683 | |
| EMD SD70MAC | 9 | 2013 | 2012(UK), 2013(UofL), 4503, 4504, 4512, 4516, 4518, 4522(UK), 4523 |
| EMD SW9 | ? | 1236 | |
| EMD SW13 | ? | 1302–1303, 1305-1306 & 1308 | |
| EMD SW14 | ? | 1425 | |