Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad

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Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern Railroad
Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad logo.png
Overview
Headquarters Fort Wayne, Indiana
Reporting mark CFE
Locale Indiana, Ohio
Dates of operation2004–
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length279 miles (449 km)
Operating speed40 mph (64 km/h) [1]
Other
Website https://www.gwrr.com/cfe/

The Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern Railroad( reporting mark CFE) is a short line railroad offering service from Tolleston, Indiana to Crestline, Ohio, United States over the former Fort Wayne Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Operations commenced in 2004 as a division of the Central Railroad of Indianapolis (CERA), under the overall corporate ownership of RailAmerica. CFE operates 279 miles (449 km) of rail leased from CSX. [2] [3]

Contents

History

Conrail acquired the line in 1976, and later sold some of it to the Norfolk Southern Railway to relieve that company's ex-Nickel Plate Road main line. CSX Transportation acquired the entire line in the 1999 breakup of Conrail, and began to make improvements, including new crossing signals, paving crossings, and weed-whacking the railroad. After this was complete, signs were posted at each crossing notifying motorists of an increase in train traffic.

In 2004, operations under the Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern Railroad name began; from the beginning of operations, the railroad has been owned by RailAmerica. [4] In 2011, Joseph (Joe) Parsons, a former Norfolk Southern supervisor, was named General Manager of the Chicago, Fort Wayne, & Eastern Railroad, headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

On July 23, 2012, Genesee & Wyoming Inc. announced that it intended to purchase RailAmerica in a deal valued at $1.39 billion. [5] [6] Approval of the purchase was granted by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board on December 19, 2012, [7] and ownership of the Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern was transferred to the G&W.

As of 2023, there are many interchanges in CFE:

BNSF (Chicago, Illinois); Belt Railway of Chicago (Chicago); Canadian National (Chicago); CPKC (Chicago); Chicago Rail Link (Chicago); Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad (Chicago); CSX (Crestline, Ohio and Lima, Ohio); Gary Railway (Chicago); Iowa Interstate Railroad (Chicago); Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad (Chicago); Indiana & Ohio Railway (Lima); Manufacturers' Junction Railway (Chicago); Norfolk Southern (Fort Wayne, Indiana and Lima); South Chicago and Indiana Harbor Railway (Chicago); Union Pacific (Chicago); Wisconsin and Southern Railroad (Chicago). [3]

Traffic

As of 2023, CFE owns 323 total miles, 184 in Indiana, and 139 in Ohio and Illinois. CFE has a capacity of 286,000. [3]

References

  1. ↑ Nunez, Jenifer (January 26, 2015). "CFE takes on track project to improve freight congestion". Railway Track and Structures . Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  2. ↑ "Chicago Fort Wayne and Eastern". Shortlines of Chicago Historical Society. Archived from the original on September 23, 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 "Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern Railroad – A Genesee & Wyoming Company".
  4. ↑ "RailAmerica's Empire". Trains Magazine. Kalmbach Publishing. June 2010.
  5. ↑ "Genesee & Wyoming Pay $1.39B for RailAmerica". Manufacturing.net. Associated Press. July 23, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Genesee & Wyoming to buy RailAmerica for $1.4 billion". Reuters . July 23, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Decision, Case No. 42772". Surface Transportation Board . Archived from the original on 2013-04-29.


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