The Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad is a

short line railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that opera ...

offering service from

Tolleston, Indiana Tolleston is a neighborhood and former town in west-central Gary, Indiana. It is situated south of Ambridge, west of Midtown, east of Westside and north of Black Oak. Tolleston is the site of two large city parks (MC Bennett Park and Tolleston ...

Crestline, Ohio Crestline is a village in Crawford and Richland Counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. Crestline's population was 4,630 at the 2010 census. It is the third largest municipality in Crawford County. The Crawford County portion of Crestline is part ...

, United States over the former Fort Wayne Line of the

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 ...

. It began operations in 2004 as a division of the Central Railroad of Indianapolis (CERA), under the overall corporate ownership of

RailAmerica RailAmerica, Inc., based in Jacksonville, Florida, was a holding company of a number of short-line railroads and regional railroads in the United States and Canada. In 2007, RailAmerica was acquired by Fortress Investment Group. Before that, it ...

. CFE operates of rail leased from

CSX 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. ...

History

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 ...

acquired the line in 1976, and later sold some of it to the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

to relieve that company's ex-

Nickel Plate Road The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad , abbreviated NYC&St.L, was a railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. Commonly referred to as the "Nickel Plate Road", the railroad served parts of the states of New York, Pennsylva ...

main line.

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. ...

acquired the entire line in the 1999 breakup of Conrail, and began to make improvements, including new crossing signals, paving crossings, and weeding the railroad. After this was complete, signs were posted at each crossing notifying motorists of an increase in train traffic. In 2004, operations under the Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad name began; from the beginning of operations, the railroad has been owned by

. In 2011 former Norfolk Southern supervisor Joseph (Joe) Parsons was named the General Manager of Chicago, Fort Wayne, & Eastern Railroad headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana. On July 23, 2012, Genesee & Wyoming Inc. announced that it intended to purchase RailAmerica in a deal valued at $1.39 billion. Approval of the purchase was granted by the U.S.

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 ...

on December 19, 2012,Surface Transportation Board
Decision, Case No. 42772
December 19, 2012 and ownership of the Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern was transferred to the G&W.

Traffic

Traffic on the line includes grain, lumber products, chemicals, steel, and petroleum. The CFE transported around 39,000 carloads in 2008.

References

External links

Chicago Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad official webpage - Genesee & Wyoming website
Illinois railroads Indiana railroads Ohio railroads Railway companies established in 2004 RailAmerica Spin-offs of CSX Transportation {{US-rail-company-stub