, 1887]]
system map]]
The was a
Class I Railroad that operated in the mid-central
United States . It served a large area, including trackage in the states of
Ohio ,
Indiana ,
Illinois ,
Iowa ,
Michigan ,
Missouri and
Ontario . Its primary connections included
Chicago, Illinois ,
Kansas City, Missouri ,
Detroit, Michigan ,
Buffalo, New York ,
St. Louis, Missouri , and
Toledo, Ohio . The Wabash's major freight traffic advantage was the direct line from Kansas City to Detroit, without going through St. Louis or Chicago.
The was chartered
April 20 ,
1853 in
Ohio to build from
Toledo on
Lake Erie west to the
Indiana state line. The '''Lake Erie, Wabash and St. Louis Railroad''' was chartered in Indiana on
August 19 to continue the line west through
Wabash into
Illinois towards
St. Louis, Missouri , and the two companies merged
August 4 ,
1856 to form the '''Toledo, Wabash and Western Railroad'''.
The company soon went
Bankrupt and was sold at
Foreclosure . The was chartered
October 7 ,
1858 and acquired the Ohio portion
October 8 . The '''Wabash and Western Railroad''' was chartered on
September 27 and acquired the Indiana portion on
October 5 . On
December 15 , the two companies merged as the '''Toledo and Wabash Railway'''.
Later mergers and reorganizations formed the on
July 1 ,
1865 , '''Wabash Railway''' in January
1877 , '''Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway''' on
November 7 ,
1879 , and '''Wabash Railroad''' on
August 1 ,
1889 .
In
1904 , the
Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railway was formed and acquired control of the
Wheeling And Lake Erie Railroad , giving the Wabash access to
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as the final step in an attempt to break the near-
Monopoly of the
Pennsylvania Railroad and
New York Central Railroad for traffic to the east. However, the Wabash had overextended itself, and the WPT went
Bankrupt in
1908 ; it would later become part of the
Pittsburgh And West Virginia Railway . The Wabash Railroad itself was sold at
Foreclosure July 21 ,
1915 and reorganized
October 22 as the .
The
Pennsylvania Railroad acquired loose control of the Wabash in
1927 by buying stock through its
Pennsylvania Company . In
1929 the
Interstate Commerce Commission charged the PRR with violating the
Clayton Antitrust Act . The ruling was appealed, and in
1933 the
Circuit Court ruled that the control was for investment only and did not violate the act.
system map]]
The Wabash Railway again entered
Receivership on
December 1 ,
1931 . The , controlled by the PRR, was organized in July,
1941 and bought the Wabash Railway on
December 1 .
In
Fall of
1960 , the PRR agreed to a lease of the Wabash by the
Norfolk And Western Railway . The PRR's
Detroit, Toledo And Ironton Railroad assumed control of the Wabash on
December 31 ,
1962 . On
October 16 ,
1964 the
New York, Chicago And St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate Road) merged into the
Norfolk And Western Railway , and the N&W leased the Wabash and
Pittsburgh And West Virginia Railway . On
March 31 ,
1970 the
Pennsylvania Company exchanged its last Wabash shares for N&W common stock; that stock was later divested as a condition of the
1968 merger into
Penn Central Transportation . The profitable N&W was itself combined with the
Southern Railway to form the
Norfolk Southern Railway in
1982 . The Wabash Railroad Company continued to exist as a legal entity until it was absorbed into the
Norfolk Southern Corporation in late
1991 .
- Norfolk Southern Railway (1982)
- ---Norfolk and Western Railway (1960)
--Wabash Railroad (1941)
-Wabash Railway (1931)
Wabash Railroad (1889)
---Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railway (1904 - 1908) later Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway
--Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad
---Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway (1879)
-- Council Bluffs And St. Louis Railway (1877)
The track between
Council Bluffs ,
Iowa and St. Louis was constructed in 1877 by the Council Bluffs and St. Louis Railway. In 1879 that railway became part of the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway. Today, most of the line is abandoned (222.4 miles from MP188.56 TO MP410.96) under ICC Decision AB-10 (SUB-NO. 27) by the Norfolk and Western from Kelley, Missouri to Council Bluffs, Iowa and effective
January 13 1984 .
The
Iowa Southern Railroad (ISR) took over 61.5 miles of the Wabash rail line in Iowa to the
Missouri stateline between Council Bluffs and
Blanchard, Iowa . On
August 22 1988 the line was cut back to serve only Council Bluffs. In August 1990 the remaining Iowa Southern line in Council Bluffs was sold to the
Council Bluffs And Ottumwa Railroad (CBOA). In May 1991 the CBOA was sold to the
Council Bluffs Railway (CBR), an
OmniTrax Subsidiary . Today the 66 mile route is abandoned between Council Bluffs and Blanchard and is has been converted into a trail known as the ''Wabash Trace Trail''
{Link without Title} .
A 93-mile portion of Wasbash's Council Bluffs - St. Louis line in Missouri between Blanchard, Iowa (other sources show
Burlington Junction , Missouri) and
Lock Springs was sold to the
Northern Missouri Railroad (NMOR) and began operations on
February 13 1984 . Operations on that line were discontinued in June 1986.
Norfolk & Western abandoned the track between Lock Springs and Chillicothe.
Thirty-nine miles of track between
Chillicothe and
Brunswick was sold to the
Chillicothe Southern Railroad . The line was sold to the
Chillicothe-Brunswick Rail Maintenance Authority (CBRM) on July 24 1987. On
April 1 1990 the line was leased to the
Wabash And Grand River Railway . The Wabash & Grand River Railway's lease was terminated on
December 1 1993 due to severe flood damage on the line and the line reverted back to the Chillicothe-Brunswick Rail Maintenance Authority. Today the track from Chillicothe to
Sumner remains in place but the track from Sumner to Brunswick has been abandoned.
