Rail Loading 101
Jul 28, 2025
Jarod Lemper
Grain Division Manager
RECENTLY, WE INVITED a photographer to capture some images that tell the story of how the Key Cooperative team loads a train in Nevada. The photos turned out amazing! I thought I would take the opportunity to share some of them with you, as well as a quick overview of our rail loadout process.
Our Nevada facility sits on the Union Pacific Railroad between Ames and Nevada. We have the capacity to load 110-car shuttles. These shuttles are required to be loaded in 15 hours or less, regardless of when they arrive. That means literally any time of the day or night, any day of the week (note the night photos)! The 110-car shuttles contain 430,000 bushels of corn or 400,000 bushels of soybeans.
We share ownership of 10 cars with Lincolnway Energy to move corn from our elevator to their facility. This is a convenient way to get grain from Key to LWE without adding extra trucks to the receiving line. We can operate the locomotive remotely, but we do not utilize this ability for the shuttles.
Once a shuttle arrives in Nevada, it’s required to be loaded in 15 hours or less. The task falls to a team of six Key employees.
On average, Key Cooperative loads approximately 25 shuttles per year out of Nevada. Of those 25, roughly 5 are loaded with soybeans and 20 are loaded with corn. Most of the soybeans we put on cars ends up in Mexico, and about a third of the corn does as well. The remaining corn trains are destined for the feed markets in either Arizona or California.
The Nevada facility loads at a rate of 60,000–70,000 bushels per hour, but it can load at up to 90,000 bushels per hour. A 110-car train can be loaded in about 10 hours. Eight of those hours are spent actually loading, while the other two are for switching cars. Surprisingly, a normal loading crew at Nevada consists of just six people: two people in the loading shed, one engineer, one person in the elevator and two people to open and close lids.
Key Cooperative also has a rail facility in Newton. This location sits on the Iowa Interstate Railroad and has the capacity to load up to 50 cars. In Newton, we typically sell in 25-car quantities to both our corn and soybean destinations. These 25 cars typically hold about 95,000 bushels of corn or 90,000 bushels of soybeans. The Newton facility has been consistently loading 250–300 cars per month. Most of this corn goes to ADM in Cedar Rapids, but we have moved corn to several ethanol plants in other parts of the state. Soybeans loaded in Newton are bound for a crush facility in either Council Bluffs, IA, or Gilman, IL. ADM in Des Moines has also been a soybean destination for us in the past.
Key Cooperative’s Nevada facility is situated on the Union Pacific Railroad. The 110-car shuttles coming out of this facility can carry 430,000 bushels of corn or 400,000 bushels of soybeans.
Both rail facilities are an asset to Key Cooperative and our member-owners. They give us the ability to ship large amounts of grain with less labor than trucking. Though the grain is still moved by truck from our other locations to the rail terminals, there is usually less wait time to get the grain unloaded than at the local processors, which makes the truck transport much more efficient and effective.
Grain Division Manager
RECENTLY, WE INVITED a photographer to capture some images that tell the story of how the Key Cooperative team loads a train in Nevada. The photos turned out amazing! I thought I would take the opportunity to share some of them with you, as well as a quick overview of our rail loadout process.
Our Nevada facility sits on the Union Pacific Railroad between Ames and Nevada. We have the capacity to load 110-car shuttles. These shuttles are required to be loaded in 15 hours or less, regardless of when they arrive. That means literally any time of the day or night, any day of the week (note the night photos)! The 110-car shuttles contain 430,000 bushels of corn or 400,000 bushels of soybeans.
We share ownership of 10 cars with Lincolnway Energy to move corn from our elevator to their facility. This is a convenient way to get grain from Key to LWE without adding extra trucks to the receiving line. We can operate the locomotive remotely, but we do not utilize this ability for the shuttles.
Once a shuttle arrives in Nevada, it’s required to be loaded in 15 hours or less. The task falls to a team of six Key employees.
On average, Key Cooperative loads approximately 25 shuttles per year out of Nevada. Of those 25, roughly 5 are loaded with soybeans and 20 are loaded with corn. Most of the soybeans we put on cars ends up in Mexico, and about a third of the corn does as well. The remaining corn trains are destined for the feed markets in either Arizona or California.
The Nevada facility loads at a rate of 60,000–70,000 bushels per hour, but it can load at up to 90,000 bushels per hour. A 110-car train can be loaded in about 10 hours. Eight of those hours are spent actually loading, while the other two are for switching cars. Surprisingly, a normal loading crew at Nevada consists of just six people: two people in the loading shed, one engineer, one person in the elevator and two people to open and close lids.
Key Cooperative also has a rail facility in Newton. This location sits on the Iowa Interstate Railroad and has the capacity to load up to 50 cars. In Newton, we typically sell in 25-car quantities to both our corn and soybean destinations. These 25 cars typically hold about 95,000 bushels of corn or 90,000 bushels of soybeans. The Newton facility has been consistently loading 250–300 cars per month. Most of this corn goes to ADM in Cedar Rapids, but we have moved corn to several ethanol plants in other parts of the state. Soybeans loaded in Newton are bound for a crush facility in either Council Bluffs, IA, or Gilman, IL. ADM in Des Moines has also been a soybean destination for us in the past.
Key Cooperative’s Nevada facility is situated on the Union Pacific Railroad. The 110-car shuttles coming out of this facility can carry 430,000 bushels of corn or 400,000 bushels of soybeans.
Both rail facilities are an asset to Key Cooperative and our member-owners. They give us the ability to ship large amounts of grain with less labor than trucking. Though the grain is still moved by truck from our other locations to the rail terminals, there is usually less wait time to get the grain unloaded than at the local processors, which makes the truck transport much more efficient and effective.