TheEllis and Eastern Company (reporting markEE) is a railroad owned and operated bySweetman Construction Company.[1][2]
 Ellis & Eastern locomotives in Sioux Falls | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Ellis, South Dakota |
| Reporting mark | EE |
| Locale | South Dakota,Minnesota |
| Dates of operation | 1989–present |
| Predecessor | Chicago and North Western Transportation Company |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge |
Operating on formerChicago and Northwestern (CNW) trackage,[1] it was formed to shipSioux Quartzite and other materials such as sand and gravel from a large quarry inSioux Falls, South Dakota, for Sweetman Construction Company, which uses the railroad primarily to ship materials from the quarry it operates to a concrete plant nearby.[1] Over time, the Ellis and Eastern has shipped more diverse products such as lumber, chemicals, machinery, scrapmetals, and grain to other customers.[1]
The Ellis and Eastern Company operates betweenBrandon andEllis, South Dakota on formerChicago and Northwestern trackage.[1][2] This line was originally constructed by theChicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway (Omaha Road), which stretched fromOrg, Minnesota, toMitchell, South Dakota.[3] The portion between Mitchell and Ellis was abandoned in the 1980s, by theChicago and North Western Railway, the successor of theChicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway.[3] Since the current western terminus of the railroad is at Ellis due to the abandonment of the line westward to Mitchell,[3] the Ellis and Eastern only operates east of that point, hence the name, Ellis and Eastern Company.[1]
In 2017, the Ellis and Eastern Company announced that it had purchased theMinnesota Southern Railway, which ran fromManley toWorthington, Minnesota.[4][2] The Minnesota Southern Railway owned a line which was former Chicago and Northwestern trackage, which was a segment of theChicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway which was originally built from Org, MN to Mitchell, SD. It connected Manley toBrandon, which the Ellis and Eastern had attempted to purchase for years for the opportunity to connect with theUnion Pacific in Worthington.[2] The Minnesota Southern Railway had declined all attempts by the EE to purchase it, so it sat disputed between the two competitors.[2] That stretch of track had not operated since 1994, and sat dormant until the EE’s acquisition of the MSR’s system.[4] In 2017, the Minnesota Southern Railway officially was purchased by the EE, allowing the EE to assume control of the line to Worthington.The Ellis and Eastern has set out to rehabilitate the stretch between Manley and Brandon to connect with the Union Pacific Railroad in Worthington, Minnesota.[5][2] The rehabilitation is expected to take up to three years.[2]The railroad was awarded nearly $14.5 million in a Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation in March 2020. The grant dollars will be combined with a $19.4 million commitment from Ellis & Eastern to make improvements to the shortline railroad that stretches from Sioux Falls, South Dakota to near the unincorporated community of Org, southwest of Worthington.[6]