The Baltimore and Ohio and Chicago Railroad (B&O&C) was a subsidiary of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) that owned the line from Willard, Ohio to Chicago, Illinois.
In 1869 the B&O leased the Sandusky, Mansfield and Newark Railroad (SM&N), which stretched north from Newark on the Central Ohio Railroad to Sandusky on Lake Erie. Desiring to extend its system to Chicago, the B&O incorporated the Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Chicago Railway as separate companies in Ohio and Indiana on March 13 and March 14, 1872, respectively; a third company with the same name was incorporated in Illinois on February 27, 1873. Surveying began immediately, and a line was soon located and constructed from a point on the SM&N named Chicago Junction (later renamed Willard after B&O president Daniel Willard) to Chicago. Operations began on November 23, 1874 under lease to the B&O, which initially obtained trackage rights over the Illinois Central Railroad (IC) north of the new line's terminus in Brookdale, Chicago (now located at the start of the Metra Electric District's South Chicago branch). [1] On December 27, 1876, the Ohio and Indiana companies were consolidated to form the Baltimore and Ohio and Chicago Railroad, and simultaneously the Illinois company was renamed to match. [2]
On August 1, 1891, the Akron and Chicago Junction Railroad was opened, under lease to the B&O&C, which subleased it to the B&O. This extended the line east from Chicago Junction to Akron, where it met newly acquired B&O subsidiary Pittsburgh and Western Railway, forming a through line between Chicago and Pittsburgh and thence to Baltimore via the Pittsburgh and Connellsville Railroad and B&O proper. The Baltimore and Ohio Connecting Railroad was completed on October 8, 1892, improving the B&O's Chicago terminal arrangements in conjunction with trackage rights over the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway from South Chicago to Brainerd, where the B&O Connecting began, and the Chicago and Northern Pacific Railroad from the B&O Connecting's other end into downtown Chicago. [3] The B&O&C was subsequently[ when? ] disconnected from the IC, though a connection remained at the crossing of the IC's South Chicago Railroad.[ citation needed ] The B&O&C of Illinois was absorbed by the B&O&C of Ohio and Indiana at some time,[ when? ] and in 1949 the B&O acquired the properties of the B&O&C. [4]
The line between Brookdale and a point southeast of the Calumet River in South Chicago has since been abandoned, and operation near the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal is via trackage rights over the Norfolk Southern Railway's Chicago Line, but the line east of Pine Junction in Gary remains a main line of B&O successor CSX Transportation, which calls the old B&O&C the Willard Subdivision (Willard-Deshler), Garrett Subdivision (Deshler-Willow Creek), Barr Subdivision (Willow Creek-Pine Junction), and Lake Subdivision (Pine Junction-South Chicago). [5] [6]
The Pere Marquette Railway operated in the Great Lakes region of the United States and southern parts of Ontario in Canada. It had trackage in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and the Canadian province of Ontario. Its primary connections included Buffalo; Toledo; and Chicago. The company was named after Père Jacques Marquette S.J. (1637–1675), a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste Marie.
The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, established in 1833 and sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, New York, to Chicago, Illinois, primarily along the south shore of Lake Erie and across northern Indiana. The line's trackage remains a major rail transportation corridor used by Amtrak passenger trains and several freight lines; in 1998, its ownership was split at Cleveland between CSX to the east and Norfolk Southern in the west.
The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad (1852–1983) which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation.
The Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway is a Class II regional railroad that provides freight service, mainly in the areas of Northern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. It took its name from the former Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway, most of which it bought from the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1990.
The Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad is a terminal railroad in the Chicago area, formerly giving various other companies access to (Chicago's) Grand Central Station. It also served to connect those railroads for freight transfers, and is now controlled by CSX Corporation, the successor to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
The Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway was a major part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system, extending the PRR west from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, via Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Chicago, Illinois. It included the current Norfolk Southern-owned Fort Wayne Line east of Crestline, Ohio, to Pittsburgh, and the Fort Wayne Secondary, owned by CSX, from Crestline west to Tolleston in Gary, Indiana. CSX leased its entire portion in 2004 to the Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad (CFE). The remaining portion of the line from Tolleston into Chicago is now part of the Norfolk Southern's Chicago District, with a small portion of the original PFW&C trackage abandoned in favor of the parallel lines of former competitors which are now part of the modern NS system.
The Porter Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the Chicago, Illinois, area. Formerly a part of the main line of the Michigan Central Railroad, it now connects CSX's former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad line and the Chicago Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad from the east with the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad towards Blue Island, Illinois.
The Indiana Rail Road is a United States Class II railroad, originally operating over former Illinois Central Railroad trackage from Newton, Illinois, to Indianapolis, Indiana, a distance of 155 miles (249 km). This line, now known as the Indiana Rail Road's Indianapolis Subdivision, comprises most of the former IC/ICG line from Indianapolis to Effingham, Illinois; Illinois Central successor Canadian National Railway retains the portion from Newton to Effingham. INRD also owns a former Milwaukee Road line from Terre Haute, Indiana, to Burns City, Indiana, with trackage rights extending to Chicago, Illinois. INRD no longer serves Louisville, Kentucky, and the Port of Indiana on the Ohio River at Jeffersonville, Indiana, through a haulage agreement with the Louisville & Indiana Railroad (LIRC).
The Keystone Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Maryland and Pennsylvania. The line runs from Cumberland, Maryland, west to McKeesport, Pennsylvania, along a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) line. The line includes the well-known Sand Patch Grade over the Allegheny Mountains.
The Willard Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of Ohio. The line runs from Willard west to Deshler along a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) line. At its east end, at Daniels Road west of Willard, the line becomes the Willard Terminal Subdivision. Its west end is at the east end of the Garrett Subdivision, just east of Deshler and the Toledo Subdivision. The line is split at Fostoria by the Fostoria Subdivision, which includes the junction with the Columbus Subdivision, and at Galatea the line intersects the Toledo Branch Subdivision. This was once Amtrak's Three rivers line.
The Garrett Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Ohio and Indiana. The line runs from Deshler, Ohio, west to Willow Creek, Indiana, along a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) line. At its east end, just east of Deshler, the Garrett Subdivision becomes the Willard Subdivision. The line crosses the Toledo Subdivision at Deshler and ends at the junction with the Porter Subdivision and Barr Subdivision at Willow Creek.
The P&W Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation, the Allegheny Valley Railroad (AVR), and the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad (BPRR) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The line runs from Rankin north through Pittsburgh to West Pittsburg along a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad line, once the Pittsburgh and Western Railroad.
The Barr Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Indiana and Illinois. The line runs from Willow Creek, west to Blue Island, Illinois, along a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) line. At its east end, it junctions with the Porter Subdivision and Garrett Subdivision; its west end is at the south end of the Blue Island Subdivision, with access to the New Rock Subdivision via trackage rights over the Metra Rock Island District and access to the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad. Junctions exist with the Lake Subdivision at Pine Junction in Gary, Indiana and with the Chicago Heights Subdivision at Harvey Junction.
The Pittsburgh Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The line runs from McKeesport northwest through Pittsburgh to West Pittsburg along a former Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad line. Its east end is at Sinns, across the Youghiogheny River from McKeesport at Liberty, at the west end of the Keystone Subdivision. It junctions with the Mon Subdivision at McKeesport and the P&W Subdivision in Rankin; at its west end it becomes the New Castle Terminal Subdivision.
The Fort Wayne Line and Fort Wayne Secondary is a rail line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad (CFE), and CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. The line runs from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, west via Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Gary, Indiana, along what was once the Pennsylvania Railroad's Pittsburgh to Chicago main line.
The Pittsburgh to St. Louis Main Line was a rail line owned and operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The line ran from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania west via Steubenville, Ohio, Columbus, Ohio, Dayton, Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana, Terre Haute, Indiana, and Vandalia, Illinois to East St. Louis, Illinois. In addition to its east end in downtown Pittsburgh, where it met the Main Line and Pittsburgh to Chicago Main Line, junctions included the Columbus to Chicago Main Line at Columbus, the C&X Branch at Xenia, the Columbus to Indianapolis Main Line via Bradford at New Paris, the Richmond Branch and Fort Wayne Branch at Richmond, the Louisville Branch and I&F Branch at Indianapolis, and the Peoria Branch at Farrington, Illinois.
The Hocking Valley Railway was a railroad in the U.S. state of Ohio, with a main line from Toledo to Athens and Pomeroy via Columbus. It also had several branches to the coal mines of the Hocking Valley near Athens. The company became part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway system in 1910, and the line between Toledo and Columbus continues to see trains as CSX Transportation's Columbus Subdivision. Portions of the main line south of Columbus are now operated by the Indiana and Ohio Railway and Hocking Valley Scenic Railway.
The Indiana Eastern Railroad is a short-line railroad in the U.S. states of Indiana and Ohio, operating a former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway line between Richmond, Indiana and Fernald, Ohio under lease from CSX Transportation. It began operations in 2005 as a subsidiary of the Respondek Railroad, and interchanges freight with CSX at Cottage Grove. Its business headquarters is in Edwardsville, Illinois with its operations headquarters in Liberty, Indiana
The following is a brief history of the North American rail system, mainly through major changes to Class I railroads, the largest class by operating revenue.
The Akron & Chicago Junction Railroad was a railroad incorporated in the state of Ohio on February 17, 1890. It ran from Akron to the town of Chicago Junction, Ohio, renamed Willard in 1917. Construction was completed the following year, and the first train ran on August 15, 1891.