Timeline of Class I railroads (1930–1976)
The following is a brief history of the North American rail system, mainly through major changes to Class I railroads , the largest class by operating revenue.
The Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad acquires control of the New Orleans Great Northern Railroad .[citation needed
January 1: The Illinois Terminal Company leases the Alton and Eastern Railroad (not Class I), a short piece of the former Chicago, Peoria and St. Louis Railroad .[ 1]
January 10: The Duluth, Missabe and Northern Railway leases the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad .[ 2]
January 31: Canadian National Railway subsidiary Central Vermont Railway is reorganized without change of name after a receivership beginning December 12, 1927.[ 3]
February 1: The New York Central Railroad leases subsidiaries Cincinnati Northern Railroad , Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway , Evansville, Indianapolis and Terre Haute Railway , and Michigan Central Railroad .[ 4]
April 1: The Delaware and Hudson Railroad begins operating the former property of the Delaware and Hudson Company .[ 5]
April 14: Louisiana and Arkansas Railway subsidiary Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company of Texas is renamed Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas Railway .[ 6]
April 30: The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway acquires the property of subsidiary Hocking Valley Railway .[ 7]
July 1: The Pennsylvania Railroad leases subsidiary West Jersey and Seashore Railroad .[ 8]
July 7: The Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway , in receivership since June 16, 1914, and under joint control by the Colorado and Southern Railway (Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad system) and Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway since 1906,[ 9] [ 10] Burlington-Rock Island Railroad .[ 11] The Savannah and Atlanta Railway (not yet Class I), in receivership since March 4, 1921[ 22] [ 31] [citation needed
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad acquires a portion of the property of subsidiary Quincy, Omaha and Kansas City Railroad (no longer Class I), and the rest is abandoned.[ 32]
The Kansas City Southern Railway gains control of the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway .
July 1: The Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas Railway merges into parent Louisiana and Arkansas Railway .[ 33]
September 1: The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway leases Texas subsidiary Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway .[ 34]
October 11: In receivership since June 1, 1931,[ 22] Fort Smith and Western Railway abandons all operations. A portion is acquired by Kansas City Southern Railway subsidiary Fort Smith and Van Buren Railway (not Class I).[ 32]
December 29: The Northern Alabama Railway merges into parent Southern Railway .[ 35] February 1: The Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railroad begins operating the former Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railway,[ 51] [ 48]
September 1: The Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad begins operating the former Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway,[ 52] [ 53]
December 23: The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad acquires the property of lessor Toledo and Cincinnati Railroad ,[ 54] Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway in 1917. Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway subsidiary Oregon Electric Railway de-electrifies.May 25: The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad buys the Alton Railroad from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad .[ 55]
December 1: The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad reorganizes without change of name, exiting a bankruptcy it entered on June 29, 1935.[ 56] [ 57]
December 14: The Illinois Terminal Railroad is reorganized under the same name, leaving Illinois Power and Light Corporation control.[ 29]
December 26: The Illinois Central Railroad acquires the property of subsidiary Gulf and Ship Island Railroad .[ 58]
December 28: The Syracuse, Binghamton and New York Railroad merges into lessee Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad .[ 59]
December 31: The Perkiomen Railroad merges into lessee Reading Company .[ 60] January 1: The Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad merges into the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad , its parent since 1927.
May 1: The Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway , better known as the Monon Railroad, in trusteeship since January 1, 1934,[ 32] Louisville and Nashville Railroad and Southern Railway .[ 61]
July 1: The Illinois Central Railroad acquires the property of subsidiary Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad .[ 58]
August 1: The Seaboard Air Line Railroad acquires the former Seaboard Air Line Railway,[ 62] [ 63]
August 5: Central Railroad of New Jersey subsidiary Central Railroad of Pennsylvania , renamed from Easton and Western Railroad in early 1944, begins operating the Pennsylvania lines of the CNJ.[ 64]
September 7: The Missouri and Arkansas Railway ceases operations due to a strike . Portions are taken over by the Helena and Northwestern Railway (in 1949) and Arkansas and Ozarks Railway (in 1950), and the remainder is abandoned.[ 14] Cotton Plant-Fargo Railway continues to operate a piece of the old H&NW into the 1970s.
November 7: The property of lessor Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad is conveyed to lessee Boston and Maine Railroad from Wells River south to White River Junction , and to the Newport and Richford Railroad (leased to the Canadian Pacific Railway ) from Wells River north to that company's line at Newport (and beyond to the Canada–US border[citation needed ).[ 65]
December 31: The Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central Railroad subsidiary Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad buy joint control of the Montour Railroad [ 66] Consolidated Coal Company . April 1: The Pittsburg, Shawmut and Northern Railroad , in receivership since August 1, 1905,[ 67]
April 11: The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad exits a trusteeship that it entered on November 1, 1935, free of its former joint control by the Missouri Pacific Railroad and Western Pacific Railroad parent Western Pacific Railroad Corporation . Simultaneously, the Denver and Salt Lake Railway , which had been controlled by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation ,[ 68] [ 69]
May: The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway sells its minority share of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway to the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad , giving that company a majority of W&LE stock.[ 70] Van Sweringen brothers purchased a minority of stock in the 1920s.
May 31: The Alton Railroad is merged into the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad , its parent since 1945.[ 55]
June 6: The Pere Marquette Railway merges into the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway ,[ 71] Van Sweringen brothers purchased a minority of stock in the 1920s.
September 18: The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad reorganizes,[ 72] [ 26]
December 31: The Oahu Railway and Land Company abandons its line outside Honolulu . The Bingham and Garfield Railway is closed and replaced by a private railroad .
January 1: The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad begins operating the properties of the former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway[ 73] Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway ,[ 34] [ 74]
July 1: The Central of Georgia Railway , no longer under Illinois Central Railroad control, is reorganized under the same name,[ 75] [ 74]
August 4: The Texas and Northern Railway is incorporated to take over the existing private railroad of the Lone Star Steel Company .[ 76] [ 75]
December 28: The St. Louis-San Francisco Railway acquires control of the Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad (not yet Class I).[ 77]
December 31: The Chicago, Terre Haute and Southeastern Railway merges into lessee Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad .[ 75]
December 31: The Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway merges into lessee Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway (Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway system).[ 75] Pecos and Northern Texas Railway , also part of the AT&SF system, merges into the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway , which leases its line west of Sweetwater ; the GC&SF continues to lease the line, now owned by the P&SF, east of Sweetwater.[ 78] The Wellsville, Addison and Galeton Railroad (not Class I) takes over operations from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad of much of the former Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad , isolated from the rest of the B&O by a 1942 flood. The WA&G will be abandoned on March 13, 1979.
January 11: The Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway is renamed Monon Railroad .[ 92]
February 1: Western Pacific Railroad subsidiary Sacramento Northern Railway , in trusteeship since December 22, 1953, is reorganized without change of name.[ 93]
March 1: As part of the Missouri Pacific Railroad 's plan to end a bankruptcy dating from 1933, it absorbs 23 subsidiaries, including some Class I railroads: New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railway (Gulf Coast Lines ), Beaumont, Sour Lake and Western Railway , St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway , San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad , and International-Great Northern Railroad .[ 94]
April 2: The Pennsylvania Railroad merges lessor Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad into lessor Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad .[ 8]
May 31: The Pennsylvania Railroad merges lessor Pennsylvania, Ohio and Detroit Railroad into lessor Connecting Railway .[ 8]
June 11: The Canadian National Railway merges a number of subsidiaries, including the Canadian Northern Railway and Grand Trunk Pacific Railway , that it had formerly operated.[ 95]
June 15: The Illinois Terminal Railroad is reorganized under the same name, becoming a joint subsidiary of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad , Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad , Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad , Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad , Litchfield and Madison Railway , Illinois Central Railroad , New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate), St. Louis-San Francisco Railway , and Wabash Railroad . The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad and New York Central Railroad are later added, bringing the total to 11.[ 29]
December 31: The ICC raises the minimum operating revenue from $1 million to $3 million effective January 1, 1956, dropping thirteen railroads to Class II:
The St. Louis-San Francisco Railway acquires control of the Central of Georgia Railway . The ICC will reverse its approval on November 14, 1958, and in 1963 the Southern Railway will buy the Frisco's share.[citation needed
January 1: The Chicago and North Western Railway leases subsidiary Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway .[ 97]
March 29: New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad subsidiary New York, Ontario and Western Railway , which entered trusteeship on May 21, 1937,[ 14] Fulton -Oswego by the New York Central Railroad (which had operated there via trackage rights ). This is the last Class I to completely abandon operations while still Class I, with none of its core lines acquired by other companies.
August 30: The Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway merges into parent Louisville and Nashville Railroad .[ 98] February 4: The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway takes control of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad .[ 110]
March 4: The California, Arizona and Santa Fe Railway merges into lessee Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway .[ 40]
June: The Southern Railway buys a majority interest in the Central of Georgia Railway from the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway .[ 79]
July 1: Southern Railway subsidiary Georgia and Florida Railway (controlled indirectly through the Carolina and Northwestern Railway , Live Oak, Perry and Gulf Railroad , and South Georgia Railway ) begins operating the former Georgia and Florida Railroad ,[ 83] [ 111] [ 112]
August 31: Pennsylvania Railroad subsidiary Wabash Railroad sells the Ann Arbor Railroad to the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad , also controlled by the Pennsylvania, in preparation for the lease of the Wabash to the Norfolk and Western Railway .[ 113] January 1: The St. Louis, San Francisco and Texas Railway is merged into parent St. Louis-San Francisco Railway .[ 114]
April: The Fort Worth and Denver Railway (Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad system) and Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad each buy one-half shares in the property of the jointly-leased Burlington-Rock Island Railroad , continuing to operate it as the Joint Texas Division.[ 11]
May 1: The Boston and Maine Railroad merges into the Boston and Maine Corporation , which becomes the new operating company.[ 115]
September: The Muskogee Company sells its railroad subsidiaries, including the Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway , Midland Valley Railroad , and Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka Railway , only the former still Class I, to Missouri Pacific Railroad subsidiary Texas and Pacific Railway .[ 116] [ 117] Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway .[ 40]
October 16: The Norfolk and Western Railway absorbs the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate) and continues its lease of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway , leases the Wabash Railroad and Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway , and gains control of the Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railroad .[ 8] March 2: The Great Northern Railway , Northern Pacific Railway , Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (jointly owned by the GN and NP), and Pacific Coast Railroad (not Class I, owned by the GN) merge into Burlington Northern Inc. , which becomes an operating railroad. Other GN and NP subsidiaries, including the Colorado and Southern Railway , Fort Worth and Denver Railway , Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway , and Oregon Electric Railway , are not yet consolidated,[ 128]
April 1: The Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway (no longer Class I) is merged into parent Texas and Pacific Railway , a subsidiary of the Missouri Pacific Railroad .[ 117] January 1: The Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad is merged into the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway .[ 77]
May 1: The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (later Amtrak ), listed as Class I until about 1980, takes over most intercity passenger trains in the U.S. Notable exceptions are the Southern Railway and Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , which joined Amtrak in 1979 and 1983 respectively, and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad , Georgia Railroad , and Reading Company , which later discontinued all service.
June 1: The Southern Railway merges subsidiaries Central of Georgia Railway , Georgia and Florida Railway (no longer Class I), Savannah and Atlanta Railway (no longer Class I), and Wrightsville and Tennille Railroad (not Class I) to form the new Central of Georgia Railroad .[ 129]
July 1: Baltimore and Ohio Railroad subsidiary Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway (no longer Class I) sells its passenger operations to the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority .[ 130]
July 3: The Canadian Pacific Railway is renamed Canadian Pacific Ltd. [ 131]
July 31: The Monon Railroad is merged into the Louisville and Nashville Railroad .[ 132]
July 1: Baltimore and Ohio Railroad subsidiary Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway (no longer Class I) is renamed Staten Island Railroad .[ 130]
December 6: The Auto-Train Corporation begins operating passenger trains on Seaboard Coast Line Railroad and Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad trackage. It will be listed as Class I until about 1980.
December 20: The Canadian National Railway transfers its ownership of the Central Vermont Railway , Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway , and Grand Trunk Western Railroad to new subsidiary holding company Grand Trunk Corporation .[ 133] April 1: The government-owned Consolidated Rail Corporation begins operations, replacing a number of bankrupt Northeastern railroads and their subsidiaries. This includes many existing and former Class I railroads:[ 8] Erie Lackawanna Railway (subsidiary of Norfolk and Western Railway ), bankrupt since June 26, 1972Penn Central Transportation Company , bankrupt since June 21, 1970
Ann Arbor Railroad (subsidiary), bankrupt since October 15, 1973; property acquired by the state of Michigan .[ 113] Baltimore and Eastern Railroad (subsidiary, no longer Class I)Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway (lessor), bankrupt since July 14, 1973Connecting Railway (lessor), bankrupt since July 14, 1973Lehigh Valley Railroad (subsidiary), bankrupt since July 24, 1970Michigan Central Railroad (lessor), bankrupt since July 14, 1973New York Connecting Railroad (lessor)Northern Central Railway (lessor), bankrupt since July 14, 1973Penndel Company (lessor), bankrupt since July 14, 1973Peoria and Eastern Railway (lessor)Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad (lessor), bankrupt since July 14, 1973Lehigh and Hudson River Railway (joint subsidiary of Central of New Jersey, Erie Lackawanna, Lehigh Valley, and Penn Central; no longer Class I), bankrupt since April 19, 1972Reading Company , bankrupt since November 23, 1971
Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines (joint subsidiary of Penn Central and Reading)
Penn Central subsidiaries Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad and Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad stay out of Conrail, and the Delaware and Hudson Railway is assigned trackage rights throughout the Northeast to compete with Conrail. The Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad buys the ex-Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad line between Effner and Logansport, Indiana , and the Michigan Northern Railway takes over the ex-Grand Rapids and Indiana Railway north of Grand Rapids, Michigan .
October 15: The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad and Texas and Pacific Railway are merged into parent Missouri Pacific Railroad .[ 94]
December 31: The ICC raises the minimum operating revenue from $5 million to $10 million effective January 1, 1976, dropping nine railroads to Class II:
References
^ ICC (1932), p. 219
^ a b c Moody's (1990), p. 286
^ Moody's (1992), p. 234
^ a b Moody's (1976), p. 274
^ a b Moody's (1990), p. 277
^ a b ICC (1931)
^ ICC (1930)
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Christopher T. Baer, PRR Chronology (Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society), accessed April 2009
^ George C. Werner: Rock Island System from the Handbook of Texas Online
^ ICC (1920), p. 437
^ a b c George C. Werner: Burlington-Rock Island Railroad from the Handbook of Texas Online
^ Oliphant's Earning Power of Railroads, 1946, p. 160
^ ICC (1922)
^ a b c d e f ICC (1949)
^ Oliphant's Earning Power of Railroads, 1946, pp. 191-192
^ Moody's (1970), p. xli
^ Moody's (1976), p. 755
^ Moody's (1992), p. 257
^ Moody's (1982), p. 83
^ a b ICC (1933)
^ Oliphant's Earning Power of Railroads, 1946, pp. 361-362
^ a b c ICC (1934)
^ Howard C. Williams: Texas and New Orleans Railroad from the Handbook of Texas Online
^ Moody's (1984), p. 647
^ Moody's (1976), p. 261
^ a b c ICC (1935)
^ a b c ICC (1937)
^ Moody's (1992), p. 111
^ a b c Paul Stringham, Illinois Terminal, the Electric Years, ISBN 0-916374-82-3 , pp. 98, 251
^ Patricia L. Duncan: Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway from the Handbook of Texas Online
^ ICC (1938)
^ a b c d e ICC (1939)
^ Moody's (1986), p. 670
^ a b Nancy Beck Young: Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway from the Handbook of Texas Online
^ Moody's (1992), p. 79
^ a b Moody's (1972), p. 295
^ Moody's (1976), p. 644
^ a b H. Allen Anderson: Wichita Falls and Southern Railroad from the Handbook of Texas Online
^ Oliphant's Earning Power of Railroads, 1946, p. 251
^ a b c d e f Moody's (1992), p. 403
^ a b Moody's (1976), p. 407
^ Moody's (1969), p. 684
^ ICC (1941)
^ Moody's (1990), p. 63
^ Moody's (1971), p. 55
^ ICC (1940)
^ Moody's (1976), p. 310
^ a b c ICC (1943)
^ ICC (1923)
^ Moody's (1989), p. 296
^ Oliphant's Earning Power of Railroads, 1946, p. 154
^ Oliphant's Earning Power of Railroads, 1946, p. 118
^ ICC (1942)
^ Moody's (1986), p. 677
^ a b Moody's (1986), p. 662
^ Moody's (1982), p. 1260
^ ICC (1926)
^ a b Moody's (1972), p. 278
^ Moody's (1976), p. 604
^ Moody's (1975), p. 131
^ Moody's (1971), p. 357
^ a b Moody's (1988), p. 251
^ ICC (1945)
^ Moody's (1975), p. 141
^ Moody's (1990), p. 205, 231
^ Pennsylvania Railroad Board of Directors, Inspection of Physical Property , November 1948, pp. 122-128 ^ ICC (1920), p. 422
^ a b ICC (1946)
^ R. A. LeMassena (1974). Rio Grande ... to the Pacific! . Sundance Publications . ISBN 0-913582-09-3 ^ a b Moody's (1986), p. 89
^ Moody's (1986), p. 647
^ Moody's (1976), p. 110
^ Moody's (1985), p. 883
^ a b c ICC (1947)
^ a b c d ICC (1948)
^ Moody's (1976), p. 116
^ a b Moody's (1980), p. 788
^ George C. Werner: Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway from the Handbook of Texas Online
^ a b c Moody's (1984), p. 96
^ a b Moody's (1988), p. 237
^ a b ICC (1950)
^ ICC (1936)
^ a b c Moody's (1984), pp. 97, 142
^ Moody's (1982), p. 33
^ Chris Cravens: Wichita Valley Railway from the Handbook of Texas Online
^ Moody's (1982), p. 845
^ Moody's (1975), p. 567
^ Moody's (1976), p. 764
^ ICC (1946, 1956)
^ Moody's (1984), p. 664
^ Moody's (1992), pp. 257-258
^ Moody's (1972), p. 37
^ Moody's (1972), p. 98
^ a b c d Moody's (1992), p. 122
^ a b Moody's (1976), p. 1203
^ ICC (1955, 1956)
^ a b c Moody's (1984), p. 28
^ Moody's (1985), p. 701
^ a b Moody's (1989), p. 30
^ Moody's (1971), p. 102
^ Moody's (1989), p. 71
^ Moody's (1969), p. 535
^ Moody's (1976), p. 111
^ ICC (1929, 1930)
^ Moody's (1986), p. 746
^ a b Moody's (1972), p. 837
^ Moody's (1976), p. 209
^ Moody's (1989), p. 330
^ Moody's (1988), p. 72
^ a b Moody's (1986), p. 663
^ ICC (1963), p. 498
^ ICC (1952), p. 152
^ a b Moody's (1982), p. 852
^ David Minor: St. Louis, San Francisco and Texas Railway from the Handbook of Texas Online
^ Moody's (1992), p. 407
^ Moody's (1969), p. xxxvii
^ a b c Moody's (1976), p. 656
^ a b ICC (1966)
^ Moody's (1992), p. 258
^ ICC (1964, 1965)
^ Moody's (1975), p. xxx
^ Moody's (1992), p. 97
^ Moody's (1975), p. 566
^ a b c Moody's (1976), p. 224
^ Moody's (1992), p. 423
^ Moody's (1990), p. 335
^ Moody's (1980), p. 752
^ Moody's (1992), p. 12
^ Moody's (1984), p. 125
^ a b Moody's (1992), p. 539
^ Moody's (1992), p. 203
^ Moody's (1982), p. 711
^ Moody's (1988), p. 298
^ Moody's (1992), p. 415
^ Moody's (1992), p. 32
^ Lewis, p. 257
^ Moody's (1986), p. 649
^ ICC (1975, 1976)
Current
Former
Timeline Railroads in italics meet the revenue specifications for Class I status, but are not technically Class I railroads due to being passenger-only railroads with no freight component.
