The

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

Danville, Olney and Ohio River Railroad ran south from Sidell to

West Liberty, Illinois West Liberty is an unincorporated community and Census-designated Place in Fox Township, Jasper County, Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan ...

Interstate Commerce Commission, 46 Val. Rep. 1 (1933), Valuation Docket No. 387: Illinois Central Railroad Company et al. and existed in the late 19th century.

History

The original proposal for the railroad was for a route from Danville through Hume to the Ohio River. The portion running through Hume was completed and put into service in 1881. The north–south railroad was known by the following official and unofficial names: * Kansas and Sidell * K & S * Old Dody * Dog River * Crab Oyster * Chicago & Ohio River * C & O As the roadbed decayed, the line carried freight at just . Derailments were frequent nonetheless. I.N. Coolley served as President of the railroad in its later years. The rolling stock of the railroad consisted of one caboose and two locomotives, numbered 200 and 201, which were former switch engines purchased from the

Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago to southern Illinois, St. Louis, and Evansville. Founded in 1877, it grew aggressively and stayed relatively strong throughout the Great Depression and two Wor ...

. Cars were rented from major railroads. In 1886, the company was sold at foreclosure and acquired by the Chicago and Ohio River Railroad, a predecessor of the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also c ...

. However, when that company's successor, the Peoria, Decatur and Evansville Railway, went bankrupt, the line was resold in 1898 to the Indiana, Decatur and Western Railway, a predecessor of the

Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railroad The Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railroad was established in 1915 as a reorganization of the Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railway, which in turn had been created in 1902 as a merger of the Indiana, Decatur and Western Railway (I ...

(acquired by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1927). In 1938, the line was abandoned by legal means. The scrap iron was removed by Hyman Michaels. George H. Culp of Montezuma, Indiana, wrote a poem, entitled "The Old Road Passes", which describes the "Old Dog River line."

References

* The Hume Centennial History Committee. (1973). ''Hume: 1873-1973''. Potomac, Illinois: Wescove Press.

External links

Map of the railroad from the Library of Congress
{{DEFAULTSORT:Danville Olney Ohio River Railroad Defunct Illinois railroads Predecessors of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Railway companies established in 1869 Railway companies disestablished in 1886 Narrow gauge railroads in Illinois 3 ft gauge railways in the United States 1869 establishments in Illinois

History

See also

References

External links