The Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway, Part II

Originally published 18 August 2014.

In the ICC Valuation report about the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway, there was included a complete history of which companies built which sections of track.

The CIL included, at the time of the report, 509 miles of main line trackage. It became part of the Monon as follows:

Indianapolis, Delphi & Chicago built 40 miles from Delphi to Rensselaer in 1878.

Crawfordsville & Wabash built 28 miles from Crawfordsville to LaFayette between 1846 and 1852.

The New Albany and Salem built 35 miles between named towns in 1850.

The New Albany and Salem built two sections, from Salem to Crawfordsville, and from LaFayette to Michigan City, a total of 225 miles, in 1854.

The Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Railway (2) built 43 miles from Rensselaer to Dyer in 1881.

The Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Railway (2) built two sections, from Dyer toward Hammond, and Delphi to Indianapolis, totaling 79 miles, in 1882.

The Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Railway (2) built 1 mile at Hammond in 1884.

(Total track acquisition from the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Railway (2) was 451 miles.)

The Bedford, Springville, Owensburg and Bloomfield built 34 miles from Bedford to Bloomfield in 1877.

The Bloomfield Rail Road built 6 miles from Bloomfield to Switz City in 1878.

(Total track acquisition from the Bedford & Bloomfield was 40 miles.)

The Orleans, West Baden and French Lick Springs Railway built 18 miles from Orleans to French Lick in 1887.

At the time the LaFayette and Monon was purchased, it consisted of no main line track, 13.5 miles of yard tracks at LaFayette, machine shops and car shops. Total acquired mileage: 0.

At the time of the purchase of the Chicago and Indianapolis Terminal Company, the property consisted of warehouses, storage facilities, and side tracks at Indianapolis. Total acquired mileage: 0.

And that is the history of the Monon, according to the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1918.