The Vandalia Railroad Company was incorporated January 1, 1905, by a merger of several lines in Indiana and Illinois that formed a 471-mile railroad consisting of lines mostly west of Indianapolis. On January 1, 1917, the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway (the Panhandle) which the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as 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. At its ...

(PRR) had acquired in 1868, was merged into the Vandalia Railroad to form the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad. This gave the PRR a direct route from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to St. Louis. In 1968, PRR merged with the

New York Central 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 ...

(NYC) to become

Penn Central 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 and the ...

(PC) and in 1976, becoming part of

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 busine ...

(CR). Much of the north–south line was abandoned with the Conrail formation but parts of the east–west line survive as part of

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

The Vandalia Railroad lineage

left, 1896 Railroad map of Indiana. Detailed township and county map distinguishing railroads by color and name. Includes a list of railroads in left margin, coded by color.

Terre Haute and Richmond

The Terre Haute and Richmond Railroad was chartered in January 1847, with construction starting in late 1849. In February 1852, of track between

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

and

Terre Haute Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and its metropolitan area had a population of 168,716. Located along the Wabash River about e ...

were completed. On March 6, 1865, the name was changed to the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad. On April 26, 1870, an extension was finished from Terre Haute to the Illinois state line that met up with the St. Louis, Vandalia and Terre Haute.

Chauncey Rose Chauncey Rose (December 24, 1794 – August 13, 1877) was an United States, American businessman during the 19th century. Early life Chauncey Rose was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, Wethersfield, Connecticut, to Scottish people, Scottish ...

served as promoter of this railroad and was its first President.

Indianapolis and Vincennes

The Indianapolis and Vincennes was originally promoted as a route to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

when construction started in 1867, with the Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Lafayette Railroad providing financial help in return for a lease on the line. A.E. Burnside, major General in the Union Army during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, was an early promoter of the railroad. In 1868, two

(PRR) companies were also added as guarantors for the line. The line was completed between its namesake cities in 1869, with the PRR taking control in 1871. The line, however, never reached the Gulf of Mexico as its promoters had planned.

Terre Haute and Logansport

In 1871, the initial section of the Terre Haute and Logansport Railroad connected Rockville, Crawfordsville, Frankfort, and Clymers, Indiana, which is southwest of Logansport. The railroad used trackage rights on a

Wabash Railroad The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary con ...

predecessor for four years until they built their own tracks into Logansport. The Terre Haute and Logansport then leased the segment of the Evansville and Crawfordsville Railroad that stretched from Rockville to Terre Haute in 1872. The Terre Haute and Logansport finished a line in 1884, that connected Logansport with

South Bend South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

. This line was also leased to the Terre Haute and Indianapolis, which in 1890, leased the Indiana and Lake Michigan Railway, giving it access to

St. Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orth ...

, Michigan.

Detroit, Eel River and Illinois

Completed in 1874, between Logansport and

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

, Indiana, the Detroit, Eel River and Illinois had been planned as a farm-to-market road. The Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific leased the line in 1879, to complete the middle link of a St. Louis–East Coast line. The lease was canceled after a long legal battle. The line was later reorganized as the Logansport and Toledo Railway and was bought by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1901.

Merger

The Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad, the St. Louis, Vandalia & Terre Haute Railroad, the Terre Haute & Logansport Railway, the Logansport & Toledo Railway, the Indiana & Vincennes Railroad were all merged on January 1, 1905, to form the Vandalia Railroad Company. The railroad connected Indianapolis in the east with St. Louis in the west and South Bend and Butler in the north with Vincennes in the south.

Routes

The main east–west line ran from Indianapolis to St. Louis, with a major branch, the Terre Haute & Peoria Railroad, connecting Decatur, and Peoria, Illinois. The line was double-tracked for much of its length, serving the coal region of southern Illinois, and as a passenger route for the Pennsylvania Railroad's Blue Ribbon named trains, ''The St Louisan'', the ''Jeffersonian'', and the ''

Spirit of St. Louis The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that Charles Lindbergh flew on May 20–21, 1927, on the Charles Lindbergh#New York–Paris flight ...

''. The main north–south route ran from Terre Haute to Logansport and then to on to South Bend. Logansport was a PRR hub, with six branch lines radiating in all directions. Logansport also featured a yard and engine terminal. From Logansport, the line proceeded northward intersecting every major east–west trunk line including the PRR's main east–west route and PRR's "panhandle" route. Upon reaching South Bend, the line proceeded northward through an industrial corridor toward the

Studebaker Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers Man ...

plant to a depot just short of South Bend Union Station. Because the

(NYC) trackage was elevated, interchange with NYC and tenant

Grand Trunk Western The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company was an American subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railway, later of the Canadian National Railway operating in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Since a corporate restructuring in 1971, the railroad ha ...

(GTW) was indirect via a west-routed branch that reached the Studebaker plant railroad, New Jersey, Indiana, and Illinois (NJI&I) subsidiary of the Wabash Railroad, GTW, and NYC's Kankakee Belt Railroad subsidiary. PRR maintained few facilities other than the depot in town as there were no other connecting PRR lines in South Bend. PRR Depot LaPorte Street with Plymouth Short Line Track Connection Embedded in Pavement-Plymouth IN

PRR Depot LaPorte Street with Plymouth Short Line Track Connection Embedded in Pavement-Plymouth IN

From Logansport, the Logansport & Toledo Railway proceeded northeast to Butler, where it connected to the

Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, established in 1833, and sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, New York, to Chicago, Illinoi ...

Equipment

The Vandalia Railroad was a PRR subsidiary for most of the twentieth century. PRR was known for equipment standardization and as such, all properties and subsidiaries operated with standardized PRR equipment.

Traffic

Freight traffic was the primary use of the Vandalia Railroad. Studebaker loaded trucks for shipment south. Passenger trains were operated, including football specials for the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

. The university is located a few miles north of the station.

Abandonment

Despite the shutdown of most Studebaker operations in South Bend in December of 1963, abandonment was delayed until the Conrail consolidation. At that time, Conrail had three routes to/through South Bend and the Vandalia Railroad was deemed redundant. It has been abandoned piecemeal from the city border northward, with online industries served from trains based on the former NYC territory. Into the 2000s a remannt of the Vandalia Line and its connection to the former NYC tracks on the west were retained in South Bend to just past Ewing Avenue by Norfolk Southern to service Hanson Cold Storage. In 2014 NS formally abandoned it and the tracks were taken up as NS. From 1985 to 1990 a short segment of the PRR Vandalia line to South Bend in Plymouth, IN, was operated as the Plymouth Short Line (PSLL).

Remnants

The depot in South Bend still stands as a business. The former spur to Hanson Storage just south of Ewing Avenue that came off the Vandalia line is still in place. The depot in Plymouth, IN, which served both the Vandalia Line to South Bend as well as the PRR mainline to Chicago is still in place and owned by CSX. A short piece of connecting track between the two lines is embedded in the pavement. A short piece of track is left in place just north of Chippewa Avenue in South Bend that formerly connected the PRR line to another Studebaker plant on the city's south side. In later years, it was used by AM General and serviced by Penn Central and Conrail.

References

Bibliography

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External links

PRR Corporate History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vandalia Railroad (1905-17) Defunct Indiana railroads Predecessors of the Pennsylvania Railroad 1905 establishments in Indiana 1916 disestablishments in Indiana