Indiana & Ohio Railway: Operating Over 500 Miles

Last revised: September 2, 2024

The Indiana & Ohio Railway (reporting marks, IORY) is a short line based out of Cincinnati, Ohio that currently operates some 543 miles of track (Indiana - 10 miles, Michigan - 21 miles, and Ohio - 512 miles) making it one of Genesee & Wyoming's largest such properties.

The heritage of the company can be traced back to 1978 when the "Indiana & Ohio Railroad" acquired a segment of the former Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway ("Big Four," a component of the New York Central) between Valley Junction, Ohio and Brookville, Indiana.

However, the modern I&O began in 1985 when the railroad acquired a former Conrail branch between Mason and Monroe, Ohio.

Today, both of this lines remain part of the I&O system. Throughout the 1980s the railroad continued to grow picking up unwanted lines from large Class Is such as Conrail and the Chessie System, and even former Detroit, Toledo & Ironton trackage.

The DT&I makes up the largest component of the I&O running from Washington Courthouse, Ohio to Diann, Michigan where a connection is established with the Ann Arbor Railroad.

Today, the railroad is part of the Genesee & Wyoming family of short lines and features a rather diverse traffic base that should allow it to remain successful throughout the foreseeable future (in many ways the railroad is nearly a Class II, regional).

Photos

Indiana & Ohio GP30 #83 (built as Kansas City Southern #106 in May, 1962) was photographed here in Lima, Ohio during July of 1997. Author's collection.

History

During the 1980s and 1990s the then privately-owned Indiana & Ohio Railway continued to grow as it took over unwanted lines from Conrail and Chessie System.

The I&O took off in 1985 when the new company picked up 11.8 miles of the former Pennsylvania's Middletown Branch between Middletown and Hageman. Also included was 3.2 miles between Hageman and Monroe, once part of the old PRR Cincinnati-Dayton route.

A year later it picked up another former Conrail segment between Blue Ash and Cincinnati. This had been another former PRR line that ran between Cincinnati-Richmond, Indiana.

By this point the I&O had interchange points along the Chessie System (now CSX) and Conrail (now Norfolk Southern).

Then, in the late 1980's the newly formed CSX Transportation (1987) was continuing to let go of the Baltimore & Ohio's former St. Louis main line (Baltimore - St. Louis), a process launched under Chessie System in 1985.

As a result, the I&O picked up the entire section between Cincinnati and Greenfield, Ohio.

It also acquired the B&O's former Columbus Branch between Midland City and Columbus, part of the railroad's old Newark Division (which once liked Pittsburgh with Cincinnati, via Wheeling and Columbus).

Around the same time in late 1987 the I&O picked up the C&O's former line between Logan and Columbus giving it a system stretching well over 100 miles in length.

System Map

A present-day system map of the Indiana & Ohio Railway. Author's work.

It continued to grow in the 1990s; first acquiring the former Detroit, Toledo & Ironton main line between Washington Court House and Springfield, adding another 50 miles to it system.

In 1994 it gained control of more former Conrail trackage, this time two branches around Springfield reaching Mechanicsburg and Bellefontaine, which added another 40 miles.

A year later the I&O took over the rest of Conrail's remaining branch line trackage in and around Cincinnati. However, things changed in 1996.

That year the Indiana & Ohio Railway's owners elected to sell the company to another operator, in this case RailTex, Inc. which was, at the time, one of the larger short line conglomerates.

Indiana & Ohio GP40 #6763 and former Burlington Northern GP50 #3101 head over to pick up their train at the Grand Trunk Western yard in Flat Rock, Michigan on the evening of July 24, 1998. Doug Kroll photo.

Under RailTex the railroad continued to prosper and nearly doubled its system. The Genesee & Wyoming of its day, RailTex was founded by Bruce Flohr who launched his first short line in 1984 with the small San Diego & Imperial Valley Railroad on March 8, 1984 (still in service under Genesee & Wyoming).

Flohrs employed three strategies to increase business; aggressive marketing away from the primary rail line, acquiring non-union railroads, and purchasing second-hand locomotives.

The idea worked and he eventually amassed a network of 26 railroads that totaled more than 4,100 route miles. In early 1997 after a long negotiation with the Canadian National the I&O was able to purchase nearly the rest of the DT&I's main line between Springfield, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan.

Then, just a year later, it acquired two small short lines, the Central Railroad of Indianapolis and Central Railroad of Indiana.

In early 2000 RailTex was acquired by RailAmerica, Inc. and thus the Indiana and Ohio Railway had a new owner, which also acquired its two subsidiaries.

RailAmerica has its own story, the product of two entrepreneurial brothers who founded the company in 1985.

According to the article, "The Triumph Of Train NC-2" by author Fred Frailey in the featured in Trains Magazine's June, 2010 issue, their company launched in 1985 when Chessie System spun-off an component of the former Pere Marquette in Michigan, which later became the Huron & Eastern Railway.

Within a decade they had amassed some 75 short lines and went public in 1992. In February, 2007 RA was sold to Fortress Investment for $1.1 billion, which resold the company to Genesee & Wyoming in February, 2012. At the time, RA was the largest short line holding company in the nation.

Locomotive Roster

Road Number	Model Type	Builder	Year Built	Notes
20	"LS-750"	Lima-Hamilton	11/1949	Built as Cincinnati Union Terminal #21. Unit suffered mechanical failure on the I&O's first day of service. Scrapped in late 2000's after cannibalized for parts.
51	GP7	EMD	9/1951	Built as CB&Q #223; became Burlington Northern #1579. Sold by I&O to Orange Port Terminal Railway. Scrapped.
52	GP7	EMD	10/1953	Built as B&O #743. Transferred to Goderich-Exeter Railway in early 2000's.
53	GP7	EMD	9/1953	Built as B&O #723. Sold to National Railway Equipment.
54	GP7	EMD	9/1953	Built as B&O #726. Sold to National Railway Equipment.
55	GP7	EMD	6/1950	Built as C&O #5704. Sold to Lebanon, Mason & Monroe Railroad.
56	GP7	EMD	6/1950	Built as C&O #5705. Acquired by the South Shore Line, circa 1978. Sold to Lebanon, Mason & Monroe Railroad.
61	GP9	EMD	6/1956	Built as C&O #6067. Sold to Rail Switching Service (RSSX).
62	GP9	EMD	3/1956	Built as C&O #6018. Sold to Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway.
63	GP9	EMD	11/1956	Built as C&O #6018. Sold to Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway.
65/482	GP9	EMD	5/1957	Built as Nickel Plate Road #482; became N&W #2482. Sold.
71	GP18	EMD	8/1960	Built as Seaboard Air Line #404. Became Seaboard Coast Line #1060, then Seaboard System #1060. Sold to BioFuel Energy Corp.
81	GP30	EMD	6/1962	Built as N&W #532. Scrapped in the mid-2000s.
82	GP30	EMD	6/1962	Built as N&W #537. Scrapped in the mid-2000s.
83	GP30	EMD	5/1962	Built as Kansas City Southern #106. Scrapped in the mid-2000s.
84	GP30	EMD	7/1963	Built as Kansas City Southern #113. Sold to Indiana Southern.
85	GP30	EMD	11/1962	Built as Nickel Plate Road #901. Sold to the Cincinnati Railway.
86	GP30M	EMD	9/1963	Built as C&O GP30 #3033. Rebuilt by CSX as GP30M #4224. Sold.
87	GP30M	EMD	10/1963	Built as C&O GP30 #3046. Rebuilt by CSX as GP30M #4233. Sold.
91	DS-4-4-1000	Baldwin	11/1948	Built as Western Railway of Alabama #630; became Seaboard Coast Line #91. Scrapped.
92	S12M	Baldwin	9/1951	Built as Patapsco & Back Rivers Railroad #345. Rebuilt as S12M. Scrapped.
251	GP35	EMD	3/1964	Built as N&W #224. Sold to Indiana Southern.
252	GP35	EMD	4/1964	Built as N&W #232. Sold to Indiana Southern. Scrapped.
252	GP35	EMD	4/1964	Built as N&W #232. Sold to Indiana Southern. Scrapped.
1354	GP40	EMD	5/1966	Built as N&W #1354, became NS #1354. Worked on both Central Oregon & Pacific and Missouri & North Arkansas. Transferred.
1500	SW1500	EMD	3/1972	Built as Penn Central #9555. Became Conrail #9555. Sold to GATX Rail Locomotive Group.
1501	SW1500	EMD	10/1973	Built as Penn Central #9582. Became Conrail #9582. Sold to GATX Rail Locomotive Group.
2001	RP20BD	RailPower	2007	Built as Grand Trunk Western GP9 #1776 in 6/1956; renumbered as #4450. Spent time on Central Vermont. Sold to St. Lawrence & Atlantic before acquisition by RailPower and rebuilt into model RP20BD. Lettered for Central Railroad of Indiana (CIND).
2002	RP20BD	RailPower	-	Lettered for Central Railroad of Indiana (CIND).
2058	GP20	EMD	6/1960	Built as Santa Fe #1114 then became #3114 and #3014. Later worked on Toledo, Peoria & Western as #2009/#2058. Sold.
2100	GP38-2	EMD	11/1979	Built as Chicago & North Western #4617. Acquired by National Railway Equipment then became Chicago, Fort Wayne & Eastern #3884 before transfer to I&O.
2101	GP38-2	EMD	12/1979	Built as Chicago & North Western #4623. Acquired by National Railway Equipment then became Chicago, Fort Wayne & Eastern #3887 before transfer to I&O.
2102	GP38-2	EMD	12/1979	Built as Chicago & North Western #4624. Acquired by National Railway Equipment then became Chicago, Fort Wayne & Eastern #3888 before transfer to I&O.
2103	GP38-2	EMD	12/1979	Built as Chicago & North Western #4625. Acquired by National Railway Equipment then became Chicago, Fort Wayne & Eastern #3889 before transfer to I&O.
2342	SW1500	EMD	3/1970	Built as Southern #2342 and became NS #2342. Acquired by Pittsburgh Industrial as #2342. Sold.
2720	GP38-3	EMD	6/1969	Built as Southern GP38 #2720, became NS #2720. Acquired by the Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway as #3800 and rebuilt by Dallas, Garland & Northeastern a GP38-3. Sold to Locomotive Leasing Partners.
3027	GP38AC	EMD	2/1969	Built as L&N #4027; became Seaboard System #6248/#4023 then CSX #2157. Acquired by Kyle Railroad as #5127. Transferred to Central Oregon & Pacific.
3043	GP40-2	EMD	2/1969	Built as Baltimore & Ohio #3700.
3221	SD40-2	EMD	5/1974	Built as Milwaukee Road #198. Became Soo Line #6362 then Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern #6362.
3222	SD40-2	EMD	12/1973	Built as Chicago & North Western #6815; became Union Pacific #2964 then Larry's Truck & Electric #2964.
3223	SD40-2	EMD	5/1974	Built as Milwaukee Road #205. Became Soo Line #6366 then Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern #6366.
3472	SD40-2	EMD	8/1978	Built as Missouri Pacific #3223; became Union Pacific #4223/B4223. Spent time on Ohio Central as #4028.
3488	SD40-2	EMD	12/1977	Built as Burlington Northern #7014; became BNSF #7014.
3489	SD40-2	EMD	7/1978	Built as Colorado & Southern (Burlington Northern) #7843; became BNSF #7843.
3491	SD40-2	EMD	9/1979	Built as Burlington Northern #7180; became BNSF #7180.
3492	SD40-2	EMD	7/1978	Built as Colorado & Southern (Burlington Northern) #7842; became BNSF #7842.
3493	SD40-2	EMD	10/1978	Built as Colorado & Southern (Burlington Northern) #7860; became BNSF #7860.
3494	SD40-2	GMDD	4/1973	Built as Quebec North Shore & Labrador Railway #260.
3527	GP38-2	EMD	-	-
3801	GP38-3	EMD	9/1969	Built as Southern GP38 #2741, became NS #2741. Rebuilt as GP38-3. Transferred to other G&W properties.
3803	GP38-3	EMD	1/1970	Built as Southern GP38 #2788, became NS #2788. Rebuilt as GP38-3. Sold to CIT Group/Capital Finance, Inc.
3804	GP38-3	EMD	9/1970	Built as C&O GP38 #4828. Became CSX #2128. Rebuilt as Central Oregon & Pacific GP38-3 #3804. Sold to CIT Group/Capital Finance, Inc.
3807	GP38-3	EMD	5/1970	Built as Western Railway of Alabama GP40 #705. Became Seaboard System #6796 then CSX #6796. Rebuilt as GP38-3. Sold to CIT Group/Capital Finance, Inc.
3808	GP38-3	EMD	10/1969	Built as Southern GP38 #2718, became NS #2718. Rebuilt as GP38-3. Sold to CIT Group/Capital Finance, Inc.
3809	GP38-3	EMD	10/1969	Built as Southern GP38 #2719, became NS #2719. Rebuilt as GP38-3. Sold to CIT Group/Capital Finance, Inc.
3810	GP38-3	EMD	10/1969	Built as Southern GP38 #2723, became NS #2723. Rebuilt as GP38-3. Became Central Oregon & Pacific #3810. Sold to CIT Group/Capital Finance, Inc.
3811	GP38-3	EMD	10/1969	Built as Southern GP38 #2726, became NS #2726. Became Central Oregon & Pacific #3811. Rebuilt as GP38-3. Sold to CIT Group/Capital Finance, Inc.
3812	GP38-3	EMD	6/1969	Built as Southern GP38 #2739, became NS #2739. Spent time on New England Central and Georgia Southwesern. Rebuilt as GP38-3. Sold to CIT Group/Capital Finance, Inc.
3838	GP38AC	EMD	5/1971	Built as L&N #4023; became Seaboard System #6241 then CSX #2173. Transferred to Central Oregon & Pacific.
3864	GP38-3	EMD	3/1966	Built as Milwaukee Road #191, then #2000. Became Soo Line #2000. Rebuilt as Central Oregon & Pacific GP38-3 #3864. Sold to CIT Group/Capital Finance, Inc.
4008	GP40	EMD	8/1968	Built as Missouri-Kansas-Texas #199, became Union Pacific #505. Sold to CIT Group/Capital Finance, Inc.
4011	GP40	EMD	8/1968	Built as Missouri-Kansas-Texas #209, became Union Pacific #515. Transferred to Toledo, Peoria & Western.
4028	GP40	EMD	11/1967	Built as Seaboard Air Line #635, became Seaboard Coast Line #1552, Seaboard System #6705, and CSX #6705. Spent time with Helm Leasing. Sold.
4030	GP40	EMD	2/1969	Built as B&O #3700. Previously numbered as I&O #3043. Sold.
4031	GP40	EMD	9/1971	Built as B&O #4028. Became CSX #6603. Sold to the Kiamichi Railroad as #4031.
4032	GP40	EMD	1/1967	Built as Seaboard Air Line #638, became Seaboard Coast Line #1555, Seaboard System #6708, and CSX #6708. Spent time with Helm Leasing. Sold.
4033	GP40	EMD	1/1970	Built as Seaboard Coast Line #1587. Became Seaboard System #6742 then CSX #6742. Sold to Kyle Railroad.
4034	GP40	EMD	5/1970	Built as Seaboard Coast Line #1600. Became Seaboard System #6755 then CSX #6755. Transferred to Chicago, Fort Wayne & Eastern.
4035	GP40	EMD	5/1970	Built as Seaboard Coast Line #1609. Became Seaboard System #6763 then CSX #6763. Sold to Kyle Railroad.
4036	GP40	EMD	2/1969	Built as Western Railway of Alabama #704. Became Seaboard System #6793 then CSX #6793. Sold to Metra, rebuilt as GP23ECO #10.
4050	GP40	EMD	1/1970	Built as Seaboard Coast Line #1585. Became Seaboard System #6740 then CSX #6740. Transferred to Kiamichi Railroad.
4070	SD40T-2	EMD	12/1978	Built as Southern Pacific #8529.
4071	SD40T-2	EMD	2/1979	Built as Southern Pacific #8567; became Union Pacific #8848.
4072	SD40T-2	EMD	1/1979	Built as Southern Pacific #8534; became Union Pacific #8751.
4082	SD40-2	GMDD	2/1974	Built as Canadian Pacific #5820.
4083	SD40-2	GMDD	1/1975	Built as Canadian Pacific #5694.
4084	SD40-2	GMDD	10/1977	Built as Canadian Pacific #5838. Sold to Respondek Railroad Corporation.
4085	SD40-2	GMDD	10/1977	Built as Canadian Pacific #5837. Sold.
5000	GP50	EMD	12/1980	Built as Burlington Northern #3100, then BNSF #3100. Transferred to Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway.
5001/5011	GP50	EMD	12/1980	Built as Burlington Northern #3101, then BNSF #3101. Transferred to Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway.
5002/5012	GP50	EMD	12/1980	Built as Burlington Northern #3102, then BNSF #3102. Transferred to Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway.
5003/5013	GP50	EMD	12/1980	Built as Burlington Northern #3103, then BNSF #3103. Transferred to Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway.
5004/5014	GP50	EMD	12/1980	Built as Burlington Northern #3104, then BNSF #3104. Transferred to Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway.
5005/5015	GP50	EMD	12/1980	Built as Burlington Northern #3105, then BNSF #3105. Transferred to Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway.
5006	GP50	EMD	12/1980	Built as Burlington Northern #3106, then BNSF #3106. Transferred to Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway.
5007	GP50	EMD	12/1980	Built as Burlington Northern #3107, then BNSF #3107. Transferred to Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway.
5008/5018	GP50	EMD	12/1980	Built as Burlington Northern #3108, then BNSF #3108. Transferred to Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway.
5009/5019	GP50	EMD	12/1980	Built as Burlington Northern #3109, then BNSF #3109. Transferred to Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway.
5016	SD50	EMD	5/1982	Built as Hammersley Iron #6063.
5017	SD50	EMD	3/1983	Built as Hammersley Iron #6064.
9400	SD45T-2	EMD	6/1975	St. Louis Southwestern (SP) #9400.

Indiana & Ohio GP40 #6793 rests between assignments at Lima on July 25, 1998. This Geep started out as Western Railway of Alabama #704 in 1969. Doug Kroll photo.

Today

Today, its system contains 543 miles and a diversified traffic base of chemicals, metals, grain, ethanol, lumber, plastics, and other freight.

Currently, the railroad has interchanges with numerous other lines including CSX, Norfolk Southern, Canadian National, Ann Arbor, and RJ Corman.

The Indiana and Ohio Railway is also now large enough to be split into several subdivisions including the Blue Ash Subdivision, Brookville Subdivision, CIND Subdivision, Mason Subdivision, Midland Subdivision, and Oasis Subdivision.

The I&O has a vast array of four and six-axle motive power, although all are strictly EMDs (interestingly some units come from the very fallen flag companies which owned the branches the I&O now operates). Due to its size the railroad's future appears strong as it serves a significant portion of western Ohio.

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