The was a major part of the
Pennsylvania Railroad system, extending the PRR west from
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania via
Fort Wayne, Indiana to
Chicago . It included the current
Fort Wayne Line and
Fort Wayne Secondary .
The was chartered in
Ohio on
February 24 and in
Pennsylvania on
April 11 ,
1848 to build from
Allegheny City, Pennsylvania (annexed by
Pittsburgh in
1907 ) west to
Crestline, Ohio on the
Cleveland, Columbus And Cincinnati Railroad . It was organized on
June 15 , and construction began on
July 4 ,
1849 . The first section, from Allegheny City west to
New Brighton , opened
July 30 ,
1851 . Extensions opened to
Clarks Summit on
October 22 and
Enon Valley November 19 . On
November 27 ,
1851 a section between
Salem and
Alliance, Ohio was completed, not yet connected to the rest. On
December 8 , the east section was extended west to
East Palestine, Ohio , with a
Stagecoach transfer provided for through travel. Further sections opened
January 3 ,
1852 west to
Columbiana , and on
January 6 the gap between Columbiana and Salem was filled. In conjunction with the
Cleveland And Pittsburgh Railroad , connecting at Alliance, a through line was provided between
Cleveland and Pittsburgh. On
March 11 ,
1852 , an extension west to
Massillon was opened with an excursion. On
August 10 ,
1852 a further extension from Massillon west to
Wooster opened. The line west to
Mansfield was finished
April 8 ,
1853 , and the full line to
Crestline opened
April 11 . With this it formed part of a through line to
Cincinnati via the
Cleveland, Columbus And Cincinnati Railroad .
map of the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad]]
Work began on
August 16 ,
1854 on the
Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge over the
Allegheny River to extend the O&P into
Pittsburgh to connect with the
Pennsylvania Railroad . The bridge opened
September 22 ,
1857 , with a temporary station at
Penn Street and
Tenth Street .
The was chartered in
Ohio on
March 26 ,
1850 and in
Indiana on
January 15 ,
1851 , to extend the line west to
Fort Wayne, Indiana . It was organized
July 4 ,
1850 and work began in February
1852 . Some of the capital was gained from a merger with the '''Great Western Railroad''' of Ohio in
1851 . On
August 26 ,
1853 the line opened from
Crestline west to
Bucyrus , and a continuation west to
Forest opened in early January
1854 . On
June 10 the line opened west to
Delphos , and on
October 31 the full line to Fort Wayne was completed, opening the next day.
The was chartered in
Indiana on
May 11 ,
1852 and organized
September 14 ,
1852 as a further extension west to
Chicago . It was chartered
February 5 ,
1853 in
Illinois . The first section opened in February
1856 from Fort Wayne to
Columbia City .
On
July 26 ,
1856 the was formed as a consolidation of the Fort Wayne and Chicago, Ohio and Indiana, and Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroads. Extensions opened west to
Warsaw September 28 ,
Plymouth November 10 ,
Englewood, Illinois (south of
Chicago ) on
November 29 ,
1858 , and Van Buren Street in Chicago on
December 25 ,
1858 . On
January 1 ,
1859 trains started running to Chicago, with a terminal at the future location of
Union Station . The part west of Plymouth was built with rails removed from the
New Portage Railroad .
From the early days, the
Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) had been involved with the project, supplying funds. Once the
Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge at
Pittsburgh was finished in
1857 , trains began to run through from
Philadelphia . In
1858 the PFW&C began using the first
Union Station in Pittsburgh, shared with the PRR.
On
July 1 ,
1859 the PFW&C defaulted on its debts, and was sold at
Foreclosure on
October 24 ,
1861 . It was reorganized as the
February 26 ,
1862 .
On
July 1 ,
1865 the PFW&C leased the
New Castle And Beaver Valley Railroad , giving it a branch from
Homewood, Pennsylvania north to
New Castle . The
Lawrence Railroad , branching west from
Lawrence Junction on the NC&BV to
Youngstown, Ohio , was leased on
June 27 ,
1869 . On
June 1 ,
1887 the Lawrence Railroad became part of the
Youngstown, Lawrence And Pittsburgh Railroad , which on
August 1 merged into the PRR's
Pittsburgh, Youngstown And Ashtabula Railroad , and on
January 9 ,
1906 that merged with the New Castle and Beaver Valley to form the
Pittsburgh, Youngstown And Ashtabula Railway , still leased to the PRR.
The PFW&C bought the
Cleveland, Zanesville And Cincinnati Railroad by
Deed on
July 1 ,
1865 , making it its Akron Branch. The line ran from
Hudson, Ohio on the
Cleveland And Pittsburgh Railroad south through
Akron , crossing the PFW&C at
Orrville and continuing to
Millersburg . In
1868 a short 3.5 mile (5.5 km) extension to the south was built, and on
November 4 ,
1869 the PFW&C sold the line to the
Pittsburgh, Mt. Vernon, Columbus And London Railroad . That company later became part of the PRR's
Cleveland, Akron And Cincinnati Railway .
On
May 22 ,
1869 the PFW&C leased the
Massillon And Cleveland Railroad , giving it a short branch from
Massillon north to the Akron Branch at
Clinton .
On
July 1 ,
1869 the PRR leased the PFW&C and began operating it directly, but on
April 1 ,
1871 the PFW&C was transferred to the newly-formed
Pennsylvania Company . On
December 1 ,
1871 the Pennsylvania Company leased the
Cleveland And Pittsburgh Railroad . Since
January 25 ,
1860 the C&P had been operated jointly by itself and by the PFW&C, providing a branch of the PFW&C from
Rochester, Pennsylvania west and north, crossing the PFW&C at
Alliance, Ohio and continuing to
Cleveland .
Operation was transferred back to the
Pennsylvania Railroad from the
Pennsylvania Company on
January 1 ,
1918 .
Pennsylvania Railroad map, including the PFW&C]]
On
February 1 ,
1968 the PRR was merged into
Penn Central . The PFW&C stayed separate, filing for
Bankruptcy on
July 14 ,
1973 after Penn Central's
1970 bankruptcy. On
April 1 ,
1976 the PFW&C became part of
Conrail . Conrail downgraded the line, preferring other parallel lines. On
June 2 ,
1994 the
Norfolk Southern Railway bought 18 miles (29 km) from
Gary to
Valparaiso , which had been out of service since
1991 , for $1.4 million. They soon bought 61 more miles (98 km), from Valparaiso east to
Warsaw , and acquired
Trackage Rights east to
Fort Wayne .
With the
August 22 ,
1998 breakup of Conrail, the line was split at
Crestline, Ohio . West of Crestline, including the section that had been owned by Norfolk Southern since
1994 , went to
CSX Transportation , along with the intersecting
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago And St. Louis Railway (part of the
New York Central Railroad system until
1968 ). East of Crestline went to Norfolk Southern, which also obtained
Trackage Rights west of Crestline. At the west end, the line has been abandoned from
Buffington, Indiana (in northwestern
Gary ) northwest to
Whiting, Indiana ; at both locations there are connections to the parallel old
Lake Shore And Michigan Southern Railway (
New York Central Railroad ). On the east side, the line is out of service west of
Tolleston , at the junction with the old
Michigan Central Railroad (now CSX). On the other side of the gap, at
Whiting , the LS&MS disappears, and a connection goes back to the old PFW&C, which runs the rest of the way into Chicago, carrying both Norfolk Southern freight trains and several
Amtrak passenger services.
On
August 1 ,
2004 the
Chicago Fort Wayne And Eastern Railroad , a new
Short Line owned by
RailAmerica , leased the west part of the line, from
Crestline, Ohio west to
Tolleston, Indiana , from CSX. It also obtained
Overhead Trackage Rights along the formerly out-of-service line from Tolleston west to
Clarke Junction , and west along the former
Baltimore And Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (now CSX) to
Blue Island, Illinois .
Norfolk Southern continues to own the line east of Crestline, as well as the part west of
Whiting, Indiana .
