Hoosier Southern Railroad

The Perry County  Port Authority d/b/a the Hoosier Southern Railroad (HOS) was created by a resolution of the Perry County, Indiana, Board of Commissioners in 1991 to purchase Norfolk Southern's (NS) 19.8 miles rail line from Santa Claus to Cannelton, Indiana. This line had been out of service for over 4 years and was a candidate for abandonment. The county leaders knew that for the area to attract major industries, rail transportation had to be preserved. In 1996 the Port Authority acquired an additional 2.4 miles of railroad from the NS from Santa Claus to Lincoln City. The 22 miles of rail line operates in Perry and Spencer counties and interchanges rail traffic with the NS at Lincoln City.

The Port Authority is governed by a Board of Directors who are appointed to the position by the Perry County Commissioners to four-year terms. With the growth of the Port Authority, the Directors appointed a Chief Executive Officer in 1999 who is responsible for the management of the combined entities of the railroad and the port.

The first revenue car moved in 1995. The vision of the the Perry County leaders soon paid dividends to the area with the announcement by Waupaca Foundry in 1995 that they would build a new facility in the Perry County Industrial Park, located near Tell City. Rail transportation was vital to their decision to build at this site. A river off loading site was required by the company in order for them to receive material shipped from New Orleans by water. With the City of Tell City working closely with the Port Authority, the parties were able to establish a port operation at Tell City. So, even though the Port Authority was formed to operate a railroad, we were finally in the Port business. The combined entity provides the shippers of Perry and Spencer counties multi modal transportation services for a 22-mile railroad. In fact, with our excellent relationship with NS and as a NS handling line carrier, our port and rail line serves as an extension for NS customers as well.

On site weighing services are now available for our customers whether they ship by rail or by truck.

The HOS operates two crews per day, generally Monday through Friday.  Weekend schedules are operated as required by the customer. Three GP-7 locomotives, six gondola and three open top hopper rail cars are employed to handle material moving from the Port to various industries on the HOS and rail traffic is interchanged to/from NS at Lincoln City. A team track is available in Tell City should a non-rail served customer require rail facilities for the loading or unloading of products. 

Safety and Customer Service are # 1 priorities. We have been recognized for our efforts by four "Jake Jacobson" safety awards, presented annually to short line railroads with a ZERO injury performance in the preceding year.