Along the Right-of-Way:
New York Central "Egyptian Line"
by Brian Schmidt
Part of the Western Division, New York Central's "Egyptian Line" line extended from Chicago to Cairo, Illinois. Once a busy mainline, the route was downgraded by Penn Central and Conrail in the last half of the century. Deemed surplus by Conrail the line was sold in the mid-1990s to Norfolk Southern who intended to use it for coal and grain traffic but has let the line languish since its purchase without a wheel turning. Luckily for rail historians much of the line is still intact. Portions of it in western Indiana are operated by the Kankakee, Beaverville & Southern during the harvest season. The rest of the line is railbanked and could conceivably be returned to service with little work. I made a trek across Indiana in the summer of 2003 and stumbled across the line by accident. I took a few photos at the time but I intend on making a return visit this winter when the line will be a little more open for exploration. Here's a sampling of what I found!
New York Central "Egyptian Line"
by Brian Schmidt
Part of the Western Division, New York Central's "Egyptian Line" line extended from Chicago to Cairo, Illinois. Once a busy mainline, the route was downgraded by Penn Central and Conrail in the last half of the century. Deemed surplus by Conrail the line was sold in the mid-1990s to Norfolk Southern who intended to use it for coal and grain traffic but has let the line languish since its purchase without a wheel turning. Luckily for rail historians much of the line is still intact. Portions of it in western Indiana are operated by the Kankakee, Beaverville & Southern during the harvest season. The rest of the line is railbanked and could conceivably be returned to service with little work. I made a trek across Indiana in the summer of 2003 and stumbled across the line by accident. I took a few photos at the time but I intend on making a return visit this winter when the line will be a little more open for exploration. Here's a sampling of what I found!
