Our Future

Over the past 11 years (1999-2010), RVPR has gone from being a sixty-eight mile railroad, suitable only for empty car storage and facing $4,000,000 in deferred maintenance, to a seventy-two mile, well-maintained railroad with greatly expanded railcar services and a property development company. By utilizing the last remaining 2,000 acre, contiguous rail served and industrial rail zoned property in Northwest Illinois, RVPR has created an unparalleled industrial rail hub at the Savanna Dept Park.

Rescar Employee at Work Preparing for Inspection

In the next ten years, (2010 to 2019), working in cooperation with the LRA, RVPR intends to fully upgrade and expand all the utilities at Savanna Depot Park to bring all its properties to industrial standards. It has hired and is working with internationally recognized Hanson Professional Services to effect the multimillion dollar infrastructure improvements.

The improvements will permit construction and operation of a railcar mall that can provide any service a railcar may require during its useful life through to its demise as scrap, as well as utilization of the property for any business that can profitably exploit both the location and RVPR’s extensive rail services.

While improving and strengthening the infrastructure, in the next ten years RVPR will seek to fully develop its property. For industrial/business purposes in the Midwest, the property is essentially unique. The location is removed from the problems encountered in urban areas, but access is convenient.

Riverport transloading steel coils for Sterling Steel

There is natural beauty, yet necessary power, abundant water and sewage treatment services are readily available. The LRA (the governmental authority for the Depot) understands the needs of business. The area has a reliable labor pool. Working with its property development company, RVPR is both ready and able to customize rail services to suit the specific needs of a business or industry. RVPR’s ability to handle railcars of all types, including placarded railcars, means that the range of potential business utilization can be very wide.

RVPR and the property development company will especially pursue sound businesses that recognize the value of the property for storage and transloading of a broad range of materials and commodities.

Riverport transloading Dried Distiller's Grain (DDG)

The property easily lends itself to such uses in ways that make solid business sense. RVPR and the property development company have the capacity to store and transload construction material, raw materials, petroleum-based products, plastics and plastic pellets, agricultural products, and food products, both solid and liquid, plus such large items such as wind and communication array towers.