The Rail History of Elwood, Indiana - Elwood’s Second Rail Line

The Rail History

of Elwood, Indiana

Elwood’s Second Rail Line

La Fayette, Muncie & Bloomington RR

Updated: 01 August 2010

Revised: 01 May 2022

1876 –

La Fayette, Muncie & Bloomington RR

Muncie & State Line Ry

La Fayette, Bloomington & Muncie RR

Lake Erie & Western*

*LE&W – The New York Central years – 1900-1922

NYC&StL RR (Nickel Plate Road)

Norfolk & Western

Norfolk Southern

The La Fayette, Muncie & Bloomington (Illinois) Rail Road was organized on July 13, 1869.

Its initial charter was to build the final 37 miles of a rail line from Illinois to Lafayette, Indiana.

Less than two years later, it was chartered to build an 84.6-mile extension from Lafayette to

Muncie.

Work started in June of 1871 and by late 1872, the entire grade had been completed, bridges

were in place and ties were on the ground. But the arrival of rails was delayed by cash shortages

and legal complications. It was May 28, 1874, before the railroad authorized completion of the

line.

By mid-October of 1875, 35 miles of track had been completed between Tipton and Muncie and a

month later another 25 miles of track was added from Tipton to Frankfort. The railroad ran a sixcar stockholders' special from Muncie to Lafayette on February 1, 1876, and on February 10,

1876, daily trains were scheduled between Muncie and Tipton and between Tipton and Alexandria

(see timetable No. 1 below).

On February 24, 1876, the schedules were extended to Frankfort. The entire 201 mile mainline

from Muncie to Bloomington, Illinois, was opened on July 1, 1876. Eventually, the LM&B put on a

through daily express train in each direction and the 201 miles were often covered in 7 1/2 hours.

On April 3, 1879, the La Fayette, Muncie & Bloomington RR was sold under foreclosure. It

emerged as the Muncie & State Line Railroad. On April 30, 1879, the property was consolidated

into a new company known as the La Fayette, Bloomington & Muncie Railway. Finally, on

December 11, 1879, the Lake Erie & Western, established August 4, 1879, formally absorbed the

La Fayette, Bloomington & Muncie Ry. The LE&W extended 718 miles from Sandusky, Ohio to Peoria,

Illinois.

LE&W – THE NEW YORK CENTRAL YEARS

The last line to become part of the Lake Erie & Western was the Lafayette, Muncie & Bloomington.

This line built from Lafayette, with the line toward Bloomington, Illinois, completed in 1872, and the

line to Muncie completed in 1876. This company would change its name to Lake Erie & Western

Railway, the first of three companies with the exact same name. It was this company that

completed the line from Muncie to Celina, Ohio, in 1879.

Around 1877, Cornelius Vanderbilt and his New York Central and Hudson River Railroad gained a

majority of stock of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway. The Lake Shore &

Michigan Southern quickly realized the value of the LE&W as a competitor and purchased the road

in 1900. The LS&MS held controlling interest in the LE&W until On December 22, 1914, when the

New York Central and Hudson River Railroad merged with the Lake Shore and Michigan

Southern Railway to form a new New York Central Railroad.

The NYC operated the LE&W as part of their Big Four Lines although it did not merge it into the NYC

System. After operating it as a separate entity for two decades, the New York Central sold the Lake

Erie and Western to the Nickel Plate Road in 1922. The LE&W was merged into the Nickel Plate

Road and became the Lake Erie and Western District.

It then became part of the Norfolk & Western in 1964 and Norfolk Southern in 1982. NS

currently operates the line through Elwood.

Marvin Crim

WLWHS 1957

II_Elwood’s_Second_Rail_Line.docx

Revised: 01 May 2022