The Edgewood Cutoff is a 169-mile (273 km) single-track

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line that runs in a north–south direction through southern

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and western

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. Built by the

Illinois Central 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 co ...

(IC) Railroad, the Kentucky section of the line opened in 1927 and the Illinois section in 1928. The line is named for the hamlet of

Edgewood, Illinois Edgewood is a village in Effingham County, Illinois, United States. The population was 440 at the 2010 census, down from 527 at the 2000 census. Edgewood is part of the Effingham, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Edgewood was founded ...

where the northern end of the cutoff diverges from the IC mainline. At the southern end, the line rejoins the IC mainline at

Fulton, Kentucky Fulton is a home rule-class city in Fulton County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,357 at the 2020 census, down from 2,445 at the 2010 census. It was once known as the "Banana Capital of the World", because 70% of imported banana ...

at the

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

border. The Edgewood Cutoff was built to ease traffic congestion on the IC mainline primarily caused by the single-track bridge over the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

Cairo, Illinois Cairo ( ) is the southernmost city in Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County. The city is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Fort Defiance, a Civil War camp, was built here in 1862 by Union General Ulysses ...

. (The cutoff crosses the Ohio River at

Metropolis, Illinois Metropolis is a city located along the Ohio River in Massac County, Illinois, United States. It has a population of 6,537 according to the 2010 United States Census. Metropolis is the county seat of Massac County and is part of the Paducah, K ...

using the

Paducah and Illinois Railroad Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Missour ...

's bridge.)''IC's Cairo Bridge'', Clifford J. Downey, ''Classic Trains'', Winter 2012. Due to its location, east of the IC mainline, trains running from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

would shave 22 miles (35 km) from their route by using the cutoff. Trains to and from

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, however, would continue to use the old mainline through Cairo, as would all IC passenger trains. Even so, the cutoff would especially benefit heavy coal trains coming from western Kentucky. The gradient profile of the line was a significant improvement over the old mainline, with a maximum of a 0.3% grade versus 1.2% on the Cairo line. The number of curves was greatly reduced as well. In fact, one section of tangent (straight) track on the cutoff is 63 miles (102 km) long. Sidings were located along the cutoff to permit trains to pass each other on the single-track line. The construction of three tunnels was necessitated along the route, all of which are located within the remote forested region of southern Illinois. The IC spent approximately $17 million to build the Edgewood Cutoff. IC had also studied the possibility of reconstructing the Cairo line, although that project was estimated at $24 million and was never pursued. After the IC announced plans to build the cutoff on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

1922, several communities along the Cairo route filed lawsuits to stop the new line from being built. They were unsuccessful. After the cutoff opened, more and more trains were diverted to the new line, until within a few years the cutoff was handling more tonnage than the old line. In 1972, IC merged with

GM&O The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio was a Class I railroad in the central United States whose primary routes extended from Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana, to St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as Chicago, Illinois. From its two ...

to form the

Illinois Central Gulf 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 co ...

(ICG). The name was changed back to Illinois Central in 1988.

Canadian National The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...

acquired IC in 1999 and instituted changes such as running most southbound trains over the Edgewood Cutoff and most northbound trains over the Cairo line.

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

currently uses the Cairo line. No passenger trains have ever been scheduled to run on the Edgewood Cutoff.

References

Further reading