The Vermilion Valley Railroad is a short-line railroad that operates across the Indiana- Illinois state line, connecting the Flex-N-Gate Corporation facility west of Covington, Indiana with

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

in Danville, Illinois. Operations by the VVRR began in 2003 after CSX abandoned the ex- New York Central Railroad line. On May 12, 2023, VVRR was acquired by

Gulf & Atlantic Railways Gulf & Atlantic Railways is an American holding company that owns two railroads in Florida. History Gulf & Atlantic Railways was founded in October 2018 by private equity firm Equity Group Investments purchasing Grenada Railroad from Iowa Pac ...

History

The line was completed in 1869 by the Indianapolis, Crawfordsville and Danville Railroad, and later became part of the Pekin-

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

line of the

Peoria and Eastern Railway The Peoria and Eastern Railway was incorporated on February 21, 1890, for the purpose of constructing or acquiring a railway between Pekin, Illinois, and Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capita ...

, a New York Central Railroad subsidiary. Successor

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...

abandoned the portion between Olin and Crawfordsville by 1985, and in 1999 the remaining pieces were conveyed to New York Central Lines LLC for operation by CSX. CSX filed with the

Surface Transportation Board The Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the United States is a federal, bipartisan, independent adjudicatory board. The STB was established on January 1, 1996, to assume some of the regulatory functions that had been administered by the Intersta ...

for abandonment between Danville and Olin in 2001, since there had been no traffic for the past three years. Flex-N-Gate Corporation is an Illinois-based auto parts manufacturer that has submitted an offer of financial assistance and bought the line through newly created FNG Logistics Corporation in December 2002. The Vermilion Valley Railroad began operating the line in April 2003. After being run by

Indiana Boxcar Corporation The Indiana Boxcar Corporation (IBC), based in Connersville, Indiana, United States, provides services such as locomotive leasing to the rail industry. It also owned several short-line railroads which operated lines under contract for their owners: ...

until 2019 and

Midwest and Bluegrass The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

until 2023, VVRR operations have transitioned to Gulf & Atlantic Railways.

Locomotive roster

Loco roster
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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vermilion Valley Railroad Illinois railroads Indiana railroads Transportation in Vermilion County, Illinois Transportation in Vermillion County, Indiana Transportation in Warren County, Indiana Switching and terminal railroads Railway companies established in 2003 2003 establishments in Illinois 2003 establishments in Indiana Spin-offs of CSX Transportation 2023 mergers and acquisitions