Wherediz 3/16/2013

[wayne b]

These are screen shots of a portion of a RR that was never built, at least never built by the company that surveyed and did the ROW work shown the route. Identify the locations, the RR that did it and the aproxamate year of the work.

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[Notch 8]

These are screen shots of a portion of a RR that was never built, at least never built by the company that surveyed and did the ROW work shown the route. Identify the locations, the RR that did it and the aproxamate year of the work.

Piqua&Indiana appox 1858 ?

[wayne b]

No, not P&I. Close enough on the date.

[rrnut282]

Well, there are only two counties in Indiana where the sea-level elevation is four digits, excepting the tops of the hills in Brown County. I don't think this is near Angola so somewhere around Richmond.

[Notch 8]

Ridgeville Indiana, ? Don't know the RR..

[wayne b]

Youre right, notch but where around Ridgeville? And where was it going to?

[indrr]

How about the Union and Bluffton Railroad? Started in 1855, restarted in 1866 and still not finished.

Here's an excerpt from the 1882 history of Randolph county. I also included another entry about an unfinished railroad in the same area, a route connecting Union and Cambridge City: http://books.google.com/books?id=yI9uAA ... 533&edge=0

Locations are County Line Road west of Camden Road near Ridgeville and CR 450W south of Mount Pleasant.

[wayne b]

Not the Union & Bluffton. If this were part of a ROW for the U&B itwould have been used by CB&C between Camden (Pennville). To refine the locations you gave: SE end of cut through woods is 0.43 mile north of PRR ROW. NW is at W 1000N. Cut in the field where the track would have crossed S 450 W is 800 ft. north of W 650 S in Jay County.

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Any connection with the Portland and Union would have been far to the north of Ridgeville. Here is the mosteasily seen with GE of the PU.

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[wayne b]

Ok, big hint. This is a shot of the tracks on the SW side of Ridgeville. High speed to PRR is on left, track through town is to the right. Original route is the red line.

[wayne b]

Not too shabby, got all but the RR, which is interesting since it came within 5.5 miles of the Fort. It was one of the earliest RR proposed for the Fort Wayne area but one of the slowest being built. Originally proposed in the early 1840' s as the Cincinnati & Fort Wayne,

it reorganized as the Cincinnatti, Richmond & Fort Wayne with ROW prep work done from Richmond, Winchester, Camden (Pennville), Bluffton to Fort Wayne done in the 1850's and 1860's but brought to a halt during the Civil War. After the war they were just as slow getting up to speed as before so while they were diddling the NYC came in backing the Cincinnati, Muncie & Fort Wayne, now called the New Castle district. With much of the ROW work already done by the CR&FtW and building on that aleady pepped ROW the CM&FtW was completed from Ft. W to Bluffton in a few months but leaving the CR&Ft W with either building a new ROW in parallel with the CM&Ft W, paying for track rights or terminating at Bluffton.

They chose none of the above abandoning instead the Winchster to Bluffton route and choosing to start at the 5 and 1/2 mile point out on the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne & Chicago (PRR) that had been agreed upon with the GR&I before it was turned over to a receiver to manage it. From there they built south to Portland. While building south, Ridgeville came up with a payment of $14,000 to get them to keep that town in their planned route so instead of building on the Portland & Union ROW to Union City or going a direct route to Winchester they stopped track laying at Portland, started laying track from Winchester while sending the ROW prep gang far ahead to prep between Ridgevile and Portland by way of Collet. This did not go over too well with the people between Ridgeville and Bluffton who had paid subscriptions or bought stock on the promise that a railroad was being built through that area.

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There are some that believe the Adams to Richmond track was built by the GR&I but it was actually built by the Cincinatti, Richmond & Ft. Wayne while the holding company in control of the GR&I made a race with other RR's to get to the Strait of Mackinac

[rrnut282]

Makes you wonder whether or how the New Castle District would have come to be if they had stayed with the original route from Richmond through Bluffton to Fort Wayne.

[wayne b]

Yes, do not know what they do in Muncie that would make it attractive but original route would have made it more direct. I am sure another town would have grown to replace whatever they get from the side trip to Muncie now. Nor do I know what the wanted from backing the CM&FtW except to connect with the Ft. Wayne and Jackson knowing it would eventually be extended to Detroit and Toledo.

[CIOR]

The N&W did look at the GR&I route in the Final system planning for Conrail and the holders of the PC estate. There were too many issues from what I've heard with the routing.

As to the history books, Muncie was quickly becoming a industrial location, and the railroads wanted in on the action, thus why the route probably would have been chosen. Its rather interesting to know that several other routes do or had been planned to exist in that region, considering now how devoid of rails it is.