The St. Louis Line Subdivision is a

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 owned by

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 the U.S. states of

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

and

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 ...

. The line runs from

Indianapolis, Indiana 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 Mari ...

, west-southwesterly to

East St. Louis, Illinois East St. Louis is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois. It is directly across the Mississippi River from Downtown St. Louis, Missouri and the Gateway Arch National Park. East St. Louis is in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois. Once a bus ...

, along a former

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 ...

line, partly former

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

trackage and partly former

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

trackage. At its east end near Avon Yard, the St. Louis Line Subdivision continues through downtown Indianapolis as the

Indianapolis Terminal Subdivision Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...

. Its west end is near Rose Lake Yard in East St. Louis, where it meets the

Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis The Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis is a Class III switching and terminal railroad that handles traffic in the St. Louis, Missouri, metropolitan area. It is co-owned by five of the six Class I railroads that reach the city. Present ope ...

. Along the way, the line intersects the

Lafayette Subdivision The Sunset Route is a main line of the Union Pacific Railroad running between Southern California and New Orleans, Louisiana. The name traces its origins to the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway, a Southern Pacific Railway subsidiar ...

Greencastle, Indiana Greencastle is a city in Greencastle Township, Putnam County, Indiana, United States, and the county seat of Putnam County. It was founded in 1821 by Ephraim Dukes on a land grant. He named the settlement for his hometown of Greencastle, Pennsylv ...

, and the CE&D Subdivision and Danville Secondary Subdivision at

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

. Its west end is near the west end of the

Illinois Subdivision The Illinois Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Indiana and Illinois. The line runs from Washington, Indiana, west to East St. Louis, Illinois, along a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad lin ...

History

The St. Louis Line Subdivision was formed from two main lines, joined by a short connecting track in

. From Terre Haute east to Indianapolis, the Indianapolis and St. Louis Railroad opened in 1870; this became part of the

(NYC) through leases and mergers. The line west of Terre Haute was built by the

Terre Haute and Indianapolis Rail Road "Terre" (meaning "Earth") is a song by Canadian singer Celine Dion, recorded for her 1998 French-language album, ''S'il suffisait d'aimer''. It was written by French songwriter and producer Erick Benzi, and produced by Jean-Jacques Goldman and Be ...

(in Indiana) and the

St. Louis, Vandalia and Terre Haute Railroad ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

(in Illinois), and was also completed in 1870. These companies became part of the

(PRR) through leases and mergers. Both lines became part of

Penn Central Transportation The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central Railroad ...

and then

, which decided to downgrade the PRR's line east of Terre Haute and the NYC's line west of Terre Haute, building a short connection in Terre Haute and forming the St. Louis Line. The line was assigned to CSX in Conrail's 1999 breakup.

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 ...

's ''

National Limited The ''National Limited'' was the premier train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) on its route between Jersey City, New Jersey and St. Louis, Missouri, with major station stops in Washington, D.C., and Cincinnati, Ohio. (Buses took passenge ...

'' used the line between 1971 and 1976, with stops at Effingham and

Terre Haute Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

.{{cite web, title=The National Limited Timetable, publisher=Amtrak, date=October 31, 1976, url=http://www.timetables.org/full.php?group=19761031&item=0038

References

CSX Transportation lines Rail infrastructure in Indiana Rail infrastructure in Illinois Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway lines Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad lines