| Wabash Railroad begin in the earliest days of railroading. It was a familiar name in Indiana and surrounding states. As the sign says, the Wabash system began in 1838. It began with construction of the Northern Cross Railroad in Illinois. By the end of 1856 the line reached from Springfield to the Indiana state line. Over the next several years the Northern Cross became the Great Western, then became part of the Toledo, Wabash and Western Railroad. In 1877 the company was reorganized as the Wabash Railway Company. Eventually the Wabash ran from Kansas City, MO to Buffalo, NY with lines to Omaha, Des Moines, Cleveland and Chicago. In 1964 the Wabash Railroad and the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad (the "Nickel Plate Road") became part of the Norfolk and Western. |
