A goofy move that has gone on for years at Waterloo is the hand off of potash trains from the UP to the Iowa Northern. At UP's Linden Yard, the UP local crew will pull the train by the outbound potash train power so they are able to reverse directions on it and head north. The trains are moved between Waterloo and Manly by the IANR as bridge traffic for the UP. Lots of time the IANR will use the potash train's run thru power, but with both units facing the wrong direction, IANR brought an engine over to help out today. These trains are unloaded in northeast Waterloo at a Watco bulk terminal near Armour on the UP Waterloo Industrial Lead.
Once the Chicago Great Western mainline from Oelwein to Kansas City, the UP keeps this Job 7 local here at Waterloo to work the 6 miles left the UP still owns between the Cedar River Bridge in downtown Waterloo and Dewar. The UP is land locked here, so IANR handles the UP traffic out of Waterloo to Cedar Rapids or Manly to give it back to the UP. The railroad east of Dewar is owned by Transco Railcar and operates as the D&W Railroad to Oelwein still.
