History of the Augsburg & Concord Railroad

         In 1982, the Chicago & Illinois Midland Railroad filed an abandonment notice with the Illinois Commerce Commission. As part of a bankruptcy court decision, the C & IM would cease operations on January 1, 1983, unless a buyer could be found to take over the railroad.
         Citizens in Augsburg, Concord and Wittenberg faced the loss of rail connections if the C&IM ceased operations. They banded together and attempted to put together a package to purchase the railroad. Unfortunately, they could not adequately finance the deal and it looked as if these towns would lose their rail link.
         At the last moment, the C&IM offered to sell a portion of the line to the investor group headed by Jeff Shearier. So, on January 1, 1983, the Augsburg and Concord Railroad Company came into being. They purchased the 73-mile main line from Augsburg to Concord. At the time of the purchase, the C&IM turned over the engine house, switch tower and passenger depot/office at Augsburg, No rolling stock or locomotives were included in the deal.
        The ownership group, headed by Shearier decided to reflect their Lutheran heritage in selecting the company herald, “Luther’s Rose” and slogan, “The Confessional Line.” A decision was made to purchase second hand locomotives as they became available. The C&NW, who has an interchange connection with the new railroad, donated an RS-3. Seeing that the line had a rather steep (4%) grade from Augsburg to Wittenberg, 2 6-axel EMD SD-35’s were purchased. Also, an SW1200 was obtained from Conrail.
         The original plan called for a gray and red color scheme. The RS-3, passenger depot and switch tower were redone immediately. When the SD-35s were purchased, they were delivered in Brunswick Green of the old Pennsylvania Railroad. The shop was pleased with the new colors and recommended the scheme be changed to this color. So in spring of 1984, the Augsburg and Concord Board of Directors authorized the change in color scheme to be Brunswick Green, with Yellow trim.  After some time, the railroad changed to the present Green and Yellow, reflecting influence from the Chicago & North Western.

     Providing rail service to the businesses of Augsburg was an important aspect of the ACRR. Customers include MeGee Storage and Transfer, Beka Toys, Coleman Supplies, Kraft Foods and Augsburg Publishing Company. These are all located in the newly renovated Augsburg Industrial Park.  The Olsen Feed Grain Elevator and City Box Company are located just west of  downtown Augsburg.

     South of Augsburg sits the Red Wing Milling Company and Central Hobby Supply.  
         Because of the need of the population, there are four passenger runs run daily. Two run from Augsburg to Concord, and two returning from Concord. Currently, the ACRR uses leased equipment from Amtrak to provide this service.
         The management of the ACRR is looking for ways to expand southward, hoping to acquire track or track rights enabling them to offer service to Springfield. This would generate more freight traffic, as well as possible expanded passenger opportunities.