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<p>In 1873, the Indianapolis and Illinois Central Railway Company (I&IC) constructed 85 miles of new railroad, extending from the Wabash River near Hillsdale, Indiana to Decatur, Illinois. In 1875, the company began construction an additional 68 miles to Indianapolis, Indiana. The I&IC would become part of the Indianapolis, Decatur and Springfield Railway (ID&S) in 1875, and the ID&S would complete the line. The ID&S became part of the Indianapolis, Decatur & Western Railway (ID&W) in 1887, which was reorganized into the Indiana, Decatur and Western Railway (ID&W) in 1895. In 1901, the Springfield & Decatur Railway (S&D) would construct an additional 26 miles from Boody, Indiana to Derry Farm, Indiana and the ID&W would construct 8 miles from Derry Farm to Springfield, Illinois. The railroad was reorganized into the Cincinnati, Indianapolis & Western Railway (CI&W) in 1902, and was again reorganized into the Cincinnati, Indianapolis & Western Railroad in 1915. The CI&W operated a sizable network throughout Indiana and Illinois.<br></p><p>In 1927, the CI&W would be acquired by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O). The B&O was a prominent railroad, operating lines throughout the eastern United States. This line provided the B&O with an additional connection into Illinois, serving Decatur and Springfield. Throughout the 20th Century, traffic along the route began to decline. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) took financial control of the B&O in 1963. In 1973, the two railroads were merged into the Chessie System, although they continued to operate separately. The portion of the line between Decatur and Springfield was abandoned in 1984. In 1987, the Chessie System was merged into CSX Transportation. This route was an excess line for CSX, which already operated parallel routes with more local traffic. In 1988, the line between Russellville and Bloomingdale would be abandoned, followed by segments between Indianapolis and Roachdale in 1989; Roachdale and Russellville in 1990; Bloomingdale to Montezuma in 1994 and Montezuma to Hillsdale in 2001. In 2018, CSX sold the Decatur to Hillsdale line to the Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad (DREI), the current operator of the remaining line. <br></p>
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