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Columbus, Chicago & Indiana Central Railroad Co.

Formed by the Feb. 12, 1868 consolidation of two railroads: Columbus & Indiana Central Railroad Co., Toledo, Logansport & Burlington Railroad Co. and the Union & Logansport Railroad Co.

The CC&IC's 581 miles of track stretched from Columbus, Ohio, (Franklin Co.) to Chicago, Ill., (Cook Co.) and the Toledo, Peoria & Western at the Illinois state line, in Iroquois Co., Ill. Its inclusion in the Pennsylvania system with the 256-mile Little Miami Railroad gave the Pennsylvania two double tracked mainlines extending west from Columbus. The CC&IC carried mainly freight traffic. By utilizing a cutoff between Bradford and New Paris in western Ohio outbound through freights heading from Columbus to Richmond, Ind., and points west were able to bypass a steep mainline grade in Dayton.

The majority of Pittsburgh-Chicago passenger traffic used the Fort Wayne System's mainline through Alliance, Mansfield and Lima in northern Ohio. All of the Pennsy's Pittsburgh-St. Louis varnish used what railfans called the Panhandle's "Passenger Line" through western Ohio, the Little Miami's mainline through London, Xenia, Dayton and New Paris.There were only two "name" trains assigned to the full CC&IC run via Columbus-Urbana-Bradford-Logansport; the St. Louis-Chicago "Fort Hayes" and "Ohioan." Both were eliminated by the 1960s.

As part of the Pennsylvania system in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, a double-tracked mainline extended west from Columbus Union Terminal along the CC&IC's route, passing north of the Panhandle's Buckeye yard in western Franklin County and then Plain City, Ohio (Madison Co./Union Co.); Milford Center, Ohio, (Union Co.); Urbana, Ohio, (Champaign Co.); Piqua, Ohio, (Miami Co.); to Bradford, Ohio, (Miami & Darke Counties); where the line split.

(To Chicago via Logansport, Ind.) Bradford, Ohio; Union City, Ohio/Ind., (Darke Co., Ohio/Randolph Co., Ind.); Hartford City, Ind. (Blackford Co.); Marion, Ind., (Grant Co.); Logansport, Ind., (Cass Co.); North Judson, Ind., (Starke Co.); LaCrosse, Ind., (Starke Co.,) Kouts, Ind., (Porter Co.) (Crown Point, Ind., (Lake Co.); Hartsdale, Ind, (Lake Co.); Riverdale, Ill., (Cook Co); Chicago, Ill. (Cook Co.)

(To Indianapolis via Richmond, Ind.) Bradford, Ohio; Greenville, Ohio, (Darke Co.); New Paris, Ohio, (Preble Co.); Richmond, Ind., (Wayne Co.); Knightstown, Ind., (Henry Co.); Greenfield, Ind., (Hancock Co.); Indianapolis, Ind., (Marion Co.);

(Richmond, Ind. to Effner, Ind. via Logansport); Richmond, (Wayne Co.); New Castle, Ind. (Henry Co.); Kokomo, Ind., (Howard Co.); Logansport, Ind. (Cass Co.); Monticello, Ind., (White Co.) and Effner, Ind., (Newton Co.)

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The CC&IC was relatively short-lived as an independent company. In 1869 a young Jay Gould's Erie Railroad began merger negotiations with the CC&IC that would give the Erie connections west via junctions of its of its Atlantic & Great Western and the CC&IC at Urbana, Ohio (Champaign Co.), and with the Little Miami Railroad at Dayton in Montgomery County. The Pennsylvania Railroad was the CC&IC's principal creditor and it was also looking to secure routes west. Under direction of PRR President J. Edgar Thompson in 1869, the Pennsylvania first leased the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago, another of Gould's takeover targets, for 999 years and then leased the CC&IC for 999 years. In January 1870 the Little Miami was leased for 99 years to finalize acquisition of qhat would be the heart of the Pennsylvania Railroad west of Pittsburgh for nearly 100 years.

Unlike the neighboring Little Miami RR, the CC&IC and its predecessors had a reputation for shaky finances and substandard construction, with later driving up the Pennsy's operating costs. In 1875, the CC&IC defaulted on its mortgage and nine years of litigation ensued ending with its reorganization as the Chicago, St. Louis and Pittsburgh Railway Co. The Panhandle's lease of the CC&IC's line was not affected. The CStL&P was formally merged with the Panhandle in 1890.

Most of the CC&IC's track between Columbus and Richmond, Ind. was abandoned by Conrail in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Planning is now underway to preserve and develop the CC&IC mainline right-of-way in Miami County, Ohio, between Piqua and Covington as a rails-to-trail project.

Copyright 1996 - 2008

Last modified: November 24 2007.

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