Global InformationFort Wayne Line information
| Fort Wayne Line | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Other name(s) | Fort Wayne Secondary PRR Chicago Main Line |
| Status | Operational |
| Termini |
|
| History | |
| Opened | 1851 (independent), 1869 (PRR), 1871 (Pennsy Co.), 1918 (PRR), 1968 (Penn Central), 1976 (Conrail), 1994 (NS), 1999 (CSX), 2004 (CFE)) |
| Closed | 1869 (independent), 1871 (PRR), 1918 (Pennsy Co.), 1968 (PRR), 1976 (Penn Central), 1999 (Conrail) |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
The Fort Wayne Line and Fort Wayne Secondary is a rail line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad (CFE), and CSX Transportation in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. The line runs from Pittsburgh, west via Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Gary, Indiana,[1] along what was once the Pennsylvania Railroad's Pittsburgh to Chicago main line.
From downtown Pittsburgh, at the west end of the Pittsburgh Line, west to the junction with CSX's Greenwich Subdivision at Crestline, Ohio, NS owns the line. Major junctions include the Conemaugh Line in northern Pittsburgh, the Cleveland Line at Rochester, Pennsylvania, the Youngstown Line at New Brighton, Pennsylvania, the Lordstown Secondary east of Alliance, Ohio, and the Cleveland Line again at Alliance.
From Crestline west to Adams junction in Allen County, Indiana, (Fort Wayne Line) and beyond to the Gary, Indiana, neighborhood of Tolleston (Fort Wayne Secondary), the line is owned by CSX. Since 2004 this section has been leased to and operated by RailAmerica's Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad (CFE), with NS retaining trackage rights.
The final piece, from CSX's Porter Subdivision at Tolleston northwest to NS's Chicago Line, the former LS&MS in far northwestern Gary, Indiana, at Buffington, is owned by CSX with NS trackage rights, junctioning CSX's Barr Subdivision at Clarke Junction (also in northwestern Gary).
Amtrak's Capitol Limited operates over the line east of Alliance (OH).
The Fort Wayne Line is also home to the second biggest rail yard in America, Conway Yard, Conway and Freedom, Pennsylvania.[citation needed]
- ^ "Conrail System Map Showing The Proposed Allocation Of Conrail Lines & Rights". July 9, 1997. Archived from the original on July 7, 2012.