Illinois transload facility in midst of much-needed expansion
9/8/2025
By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor
The Rochelle Intermodal Transload Center (RITC) has been a roaring success since it opened several years ago in Rochelle, Illinois.
Developed by the city of Rochelle and Greater Rochelle Economic Development Corp., the facility can accommodate 60 rail cars on two tracks and handle a number of commodities, including dry bulk and liquid bulk products, dimensional and oversize equipment, various machinery, metals and wood materials.
The RITC is served by the City of Rochelle Railroad (CIR), which is owned by the city, operated by the Burlington Junction Railway (BJRY), and connected to BNSF Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad lines. The 12-mile CIR manages three interchange rail yards and two transload yards, and handles unit trains.
Located about 80 miles from Chicago, near interstates 88 and 39, and served by two Class Is, the RITC continues to lure shippers. Over the past few years, more than 1,000 rail cars have been transloaded there and a dozen customers have used the center as a staging area for hundreds of containers.
The Burlington Junction Railway operates the City of Rochelle Railroad, which serves the RITC and interchanges with BNSF Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad. Burlington Junction RailwayDemand for transloading and third-party logistics services in the Rochelle area continue to escalate, says BJRY Director of Economic Development Eric Pitcher.
“Demand has increased to the point where the RITC had to turn away projects in 2024 and early 2025 due to a lack of track, transload capacity or ground storage space,” he says.
It became clear shortly after it opened that the center needed more space. So, the city, local economic development agency and other partners spent a number of months planning an expansion project, then marked the start of construction in mid-August.
The project calls for excavating 28,000 cubic yards of soil; extending two tracks at the east by 1,600 feet (800 feet each track), resulting in total clear track lengths of 2,300 feet for each track; paving 22,000 square yards of concrete for additional transload operations; and constructing a new 170-foot-long, 6-foot precast box culvert for drainage through the yard limits.
McCarthy Improvement Co. from Davenport, Iowa, is the contractor and work is slated for completion by mid-November.
To help fund the work, the city worked with the Illinois Department of Transportation to obtain a grant through the state’s freight-rail program.
In November 2022, local officials marked the groundbreaking for the RITC, which generated high demand for transloading and third-party logistics services shortly after opening.City of RochelleAfter the project is completed, the RITC will feature 4,600 feet of transloading track, a concrete surface transload pad stretching 5.9 acres, an additional 5.5 acres of compressed aggregate storage areas and 30,000 feet of nearby track for staging or assembling unit trains.
The expansion’s design also will enable the partners to extend track and add more transload and storage areas in the future, says Pitcher.
This expansion comes at a good time for the city, he stresses. Rochelle leaders believe the area needs a hub where industries of all sizes can thrive and that the project will help ensure the RITC serves as a critical logistics and transportation center in the Midwest.
The potential for freight traffic growth in Rochelle is exciting, and BJRY’s customers and Class I partners are essential to that growth, says Peter Hoth, BJRY’s principal-corporate development.
“We are dedicated to continuing to provide our 'white glove' rail switching services to our customers and transload partners through the City of Rochelle Railroad,” he says.
