Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
Southern Illinois
B & O Locomotive 118
Courtesy of B & O Railroad Museum
The Baltimore and Ohio railroad had a sub-division in southeastern Illinois that consisted of 74 miles of track from Flora to the Ohio river at Shawneetown.
The existence of 16 depots has been confirmed along the B & O railroad from Flora to Shawneetown. New Shawneetown and Flora depot buildings are still standing. The Flora Depot is a museum. Ninety-eight bridge structures were built from Flora to Shawneetown. The B & O Railroad was built on top of the Old Shawneetown levee during the late 1800s.
B & O History
1870
Springfield and Illinois South-eastern Railway Company
Illinois Railroad and Warehouse Commission Annual Report
Springfield & Illinois Southeastern chartered to build a railroad to connect the Illinois River at Beardstown with the Ohio River at Shawneetown. On July 8, 1870, 600 tons of rail arrived in Shawneetown aboard the steamboat Fair Play according to an article from the Evansville Journal. The Journal also reported the people of Gallatin County celebrated the completion of the railroad through the county on September 29, 1870. The last rail between Edgewood and Shawneetown was installed on December 15, 1870 connecting Chicago and Shawneetown. One thousand tons of iron arrived in Chicago on November 12, 1870 for the Beardstown to Springfield extension.
The Columbus Car and Works supplied the Springfield & Illinois Southeastern with equipment for their rail operations.
1875
Ohio and Mississippi Railway Company acquired the Springfield and Illinois South Eastern Railway.
1893
Ohio & Mississippi consolidated with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
1900
B & O merges Ohio & Mississippi into B & O Southwestern Railroad.
11 Mar 1949
B & O discontinued passenger trains 42 and 43 between Flora and Shawneetown.
1962
Chesapeake & Ohio Railway acquired controlling interest in the B & O.
1967
C & O and B &O realigned into joint control.
1971
The B & O files with Interstate Commerce Commission to abandon operations of its Flora to Shawneetown branch.
B & O Abandonment Filing 1971
1973
Chessie System Inc. acquired C & O.
October, 1973
Prairie Trunk Railway sought permission to acquire and operate the 73.27-mile Flora-Shawneetown line of railroad.
February 17, 1977
Prairie Trunk acquisition of the Flora-Shawneetown line approved and B & O application to abandon the railway dismissed by the Interstate Commerce Commission.
July 27, 1977
Interstate Commerce Commission denied petitions for reconsideration of its previous decision dismissing B & O's abandonment application and approving the acquisition of the line by Prairie Trunk.
July 25, 1985
Prairie Trunk Railway filed a Chapter 11 petition and abandoned operations of the Flora to Shawneetown railroad concurrent with the filing.
April, 1989
The Court entered an Order authorizing the sale of the Prairie Trunk Railway real estate and tangible personal property to Butler/Binion Group, Ltd for the sum of $4,150,000.00. The rails and associated equipment were ripped from the land, leaving very little trace of a resource that had been an integral part of rural southeastern Illinois for over a hundred years.
Mt. Vernon Register-News (Mt Vernon, Illinois) 11 Mar 1949, Fri • Page 1
Springfield and Illinois South Eastern Railway Wikipedia
1870 Railroad Gazette
In Re Prairie Trunk Ry., 112 B.R. 924 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1990)
Springfield & Southeastern Illinois Railway
1872 Directory of Shawneetown
Springfield & Southeastern Illinois Railway
1872 Directory of Shawneetown
Ohio & Mississippi Railroad Locomotive Drawing
B&O Employee Magazine 1942
B&O Locomotive 2917