Although I have a deep interest in Chicago railroads, I know very little about a railroad known as the Big Four. So, I did a bit of research on it.
The Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway (CCC&SL) was a Midwestern railroad that operated as an affiliate of the New York Central. It was commonly referred to as the Big Four. It was formed in 1889 by the merger of four different railroads.
-
Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway, the
-
Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago Railway and the
-
Indianapolis and St. Louis Railway.
-
Indiana, Bloomington and Western Railway
The railroad was headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana and operated throughout Indiana and Illinois and parts of Ohio and Michigan.
In 1906, the Big Four was acquired by the New York Central Railroad which operated it as a separate entity until around 1930. It was later incorporated into Penn Central in 1968 and then became part of Conrail in 1976. In 1997, the Big Four was jointly acquired by CSX and NS.
Between 1904 and 1908 the railroad constructed a repair shop for steam locomotives and for passenger and freight cars in Beech Grove, Indiana. The railroad operated a terminal at Bellefontaine, Ohio, that included the largest roundhouse in use at that time between New York City and St. Louis, Missouri. A large yard facility known as the Big Four Yards is located in Avon, Indiana, along the lineâs tracks, now owned and operated by CSX.
In 1895, the railroad acquired what became known as the Big Four Bridge across the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky, thereby giving it access to that city. Use of the bridge for railroad purposes ceased by 1968.
While the Big Four was primarily a freight railroad, it did operate passenger trains throughout Indiana, as well as paasenger trains into downtown Chicago. A railroad line ran from Indianapolis, Indiana to Kankakee, Illinois where it connected to the Illinois Central tracks. From there passenger trains ran north to Central Station, the Illinois Central station at the southeast end of downtown Chicago. Big Four trains used Central Station until it closed even though in later years it had become an affiliate of the New York Central which used LaSalle Street station.
