*Town Pages Under Construction*
A Humble Railroad with a Turbulent Past
This humble railway runs east and west cutting through the heart of Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. Oddly enough, it became more like what the 3I Railroad originally sought out to become more than the 3I actually did. Today, the TP&W remains itself, not without supervision; however. The name of the "Toledo, Peoria, & Western" was not seen until 1887, which was a decent time after the rails the railway would call home were laid. The original endeavor dates to 1837 with a state funded attempt to connect Peoria and Warsaw, Iowa with a railroad. Grading began but did not finish and fell to abandonment. 1849 saw a grant gifted to the Peoria and Oquawka Railroad to connect Peoria, IL to the Mississippi River. Grading took well into 1855, it was then when rail was placed. Rail was laid out east towards Indiana, meeting the Toledo, Logansport, and Burlington in 1859 after driving through Chenoa, Gilman, and other Illinois towns. The line west of Burlington was sold in 1862 to the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy. In 1864 the Peoria & Oquawka renamed to the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw.
The purchase of the Mississippi & Wabash Railroad in 1865 was made to continue the original efforts to reach the Mississippi River. This lead to Peoria to Keokuk service by 1868. The railway has always been plagued with financial difficulties. Throughout the 1870s the railroad was changing hands frequently until the TP&W name we know came about in 1887 with the Toledo, Peoria, and Western.
1887 may have brought about the name we all know today, but with this the new named was ushered in with a tragedy beyond expectation. On this humble railway in the Illinois flatlands came about what would known as the Great Chatsworth Train Wreck of 1887. A Niagra Falls bound passenger train passed through Chatsworth, IL never to make it to Piper City. A doubleheaded steam special, at the perfectly wrong time. A fire, part of a controlled burn by the TP&W Railway to control local brush, weakened a trestle. The train collapsed the small trestle over an irrigation creek, causing a pileup of the wooden bodied/steel framed coaches which resulted in several cars telescoping one another. Roughly 80-85 people were killed. The lead locomotive crossed without issue, but the second locomotive crashed into the embankment of the creek while the following coaches then telescoped. The last few sleepers stopped short of the wreckage. Timothy Coughlin was arrested for this tragedy, as it was suspected a failure to extinguish the flames before charring the bridge caused the wreck.
In 1924, CB&Q and Pennsylvania Railroad held most of the railroads stock. The PRR would continue to be an influence and major stock holder well into the end of the PRR. The Roarin' Twenties were even rough for the TP&W... new ownership on 1926 saw the opening of a Santa Fe connection at Lomax with a new leader of the railroad. Union strikes hit the TP&W during company reform. During WWII, the TP&W became the only railroad to be taken over by the Federal Government, and after the war the railroad was returned to private operation. Labor strikes came back around once privatization began and this time led to the death of two strikers in Gridley in 1946. On March 10th, 1947 George McNear; owner and president of the TP&W, was shot and killed. The crime remains unsolved.
New ownership appointed thereafter brought about dieselization of the railroad and overall modernization. This meant new shops, new signals, new storehouses, and in May 1955 - the ATSF and PRR jointed purchased the TP&W railroad. Having modernized and upgraded the railroads efficiently poised the railroad as a valuable asset to both the PRR in Indiana and the Santa Fe at Lomax. The route was a good way to by pass Chicago traffic and saw similar aspirations as the Kankakee Belt Line the NYC was operating through Kankakee.
It was in 1970 when a TP&W manifest derailed in downtown Crescent City, IL and caused an enormous fire to erupt thanks to several derailed liquid propane gas tankers. Despite fighting the fire religiously, the fire departments of countless local agencies retreated after issuing an evacuation while several tank cars BLEVE'd, exploding and destroying much of the town. TP&W once again affected history, as the strategies used to counter the blaze were used to write NFPA documentation for training new firemen on handling explosive BLEVE situations.
The Santa Fe and PRR joint purchase was only objected by the Minneapolis & St. Louis but the sale was OK'd by the US Supreme Court. Penn Central held its stock hold of the PRR on the TP&W, however in 1976 the formation of Conrail threatened eastern abandonment. Conrail was not interested in the TP&W venture as the PRR once was. TP&W was forced to take on its eastern side. The PRR 50% share was now up for grabs and the Santa Fe acted. Upon approval by the Interstate Commerce Commission on March 1st of 1981 - the Santa Fe gained complete control of the TP&W railway. On January 1st, 1984 the AT&SF absorbed the TP&W into the Santa Fe Railroad.
In 1986 the Keokuk line from Keokuk to Warsaw to La Harpe was sold by the Santa Fe to the Keokuk Junction Railway upon approval from the Surface Transportation Board.
In 1989, the Santa Fe sold its Lomax to Peoria to Logansport, IN mainline - once again freeing the TP&W name to new investors and made the TP&W an independent railroad again.
Following the formation of the BNSF Railway in 1995, the old BN connection between Peoria to Galesburg was opened for the TP&W via trackage rights. Also in 1995, the newly reformed TP&W was now of interested of another railroad. 40% of its shares were purchased by the New York, Susquehanna, and Western Railway, with control going to parent company Delaware Otsego Corp. By 1999, the same time the Illinois Central Railroad was being taken over by the Canadian National - the Toledo, Peoria, and Western was sold off entirely to the RailAmerica, Inc. of Jacksonville, FL. The new company continued to maintain the route as held without selling of or abandoning any sections further. RailAmerica was not a huge influence to the route, doing what was necessary to keep the route operable and profitable and little else.
In 2012, RailAmerica was bought as a whole by Genesee & Wyoming, Inc - the TP&W is currently kept ownership under the G&W who has made numerous small improvements. Welcome, you are up to speed on the TP&W... at least overall you are. Below you will explore each town and see some stories from each town.
The purchase of the Mississippi & Wabash Railroad in 1865 was made to continue the original efforts to reach the Mississippi River. This lead to Peoria to Keokuk service by 1868. The railway has always been plagued with financial difficulties. Throughout the 1870s the railroad was changing hands frequently until the TP&W name we know came about in 1887 with the Toledo, Peoria, and Western.
1887 may have brought about the name we all know today, but with this the new named was ushered in with a tragedy beyond expectation. On this humble railway in the Illinois flatlands came about what would known as the Great Chatsworth Train Wreck of 1887. A Niagra Falls bound passenger train passed through Chatsworth, IL never to make it to Piper City. A doubleheaded steam special, at the perfectly wrong time. A fire, part of a controlled burn by the TP&W Railway to control local brush, weakened a trestle. The train collapsed the small trestle over an irrigation creek, causing a pileup of the wooden bodied/steel framed coaches which resulted in several cars telescoping one another. Roughly 80-85 people were killed. The lead locomotive crossed without issue, but the second locomotive crashed into the embankment of the creek while the following coaches then telescoped. The last few sleepers stopped short of the wreckage. Timothy Coughlin was arrested for this tragedy, as it was suspected a failure to extinguish the flames before charring the bridge caused the wreck.
In 1924, CB&Q and Pennsylvania Railroad held most of the railroads stock. The PRR would continue to be an influence and major stock holder well into the end of the PRR. The Roarin' Twenties were even rough for the TP&W... new ownership on 1926 saw the opening of a Santa Fe connection at Lomax with a new leader of the railroad. Union strikes hit the TP&W during company reform. During WWII, the TP&W became the only railroad to be taken over by the Federal Government, and after the war the railroad was returned to private operation. Labor strikes came back around once privatization began and this time led to the death of two strikers in Gridley in 1946. On March 10th, 1947 George McNear; owner and president of the TP&W, was shot and killed. The crime remains unsolved.
New ownership appointed thereafter brought about dieselization of the railroad and overall modernization. This meant new shops, new signals, new storehouses, and in May 1955 - the ATSF and PRR jointed purchased the TP&W railroad. Having modernized and upgraded the railroads efficiently poised the railroad as a valuable asset to both the PRR in Indiana and the Santa Fe at Lomax. The route was a good way to by pass Chicago traffic and saw similar aspirations as the Kankakee Belt Line the NYC was operating through Kankakee.
It was in 1970 when a TP&W manifest derailed in downtown Crescent City, IL and caused an enormous fire to erupt thanks to several derailed liquid propane gas tankers. Despite fighting the fire religiously, the fire departments of countless local agencies retreated after issuing an evacuation while several tank cars BLEVE'd, exploding and destroying much of the town. TP&W once again affected history, as the strategies used to counter the blaze were used to write NFPA documentation for training new firemen on handling explosive BLEVE situations.
The Santa Fe and PRR joint purchase was only objected by the Minneapolis & St. Louis but the sale was OK'd by the US Supreme Court. Penn Central held its stock hold of the PRR on the TP&W, however in 1976 the formation of Conrail threatened eastern abandonment. Conrail was not interested in the TP&W venture as the PRR once was. TP&W was forced to take on its eastern side. The PRR 50% share was now up for grabs and the Santa Fe acted. Upon approval by the Interstate Commerce Commission on March 1st of 1981 - the Santa Fe gained complete control of the TP&W railway. On January 1st, 1984 the AT&SF absorbed the TP&W into the Santa Fe Railroad.
In 1986 the Keokuk line from Keokuk to Warsaw to La Harpe was sold by the Santa Fe to the Keokuk Junction Railway upon approval from the Surface Transportation Board.
In 1989, the Santa Fe sold its Lomax to Peoria to Logansport, IN mainline - once again freeing the TP&W name to new investors and made the TP&W an independent railroad again.
Following the formation of the BNSF Railway in 1995, the old BN connection between Peoria to Galesburg was opened for the TP&W via trackage rights. Also in 1995, the newly reformed TP&W was now of interested of another railroad. 40% of its shares were purchased by the New York, Susquehanna, and Western Railway, with control going to parent company Delaware Otsego Corp. By 1999, the same time the Illinois Central Railroad was being taken over by the Canadian National - the Toledo, Peoria, and Western was sold off entirely to the RailAmerica, Inc. of Jacksonville, FL. The new company continued to maintain the route as held without selling of or abandoning any sections further. RailAmerica was not a huge influence to the route, doing what was necessary to keep the route operable and profitable and little else.
In 2012, RailAmerica was bought as a whole by Genesee & Wyoming, Inc - the TP&W is currently kept ownership under the G&W who has made numerous small improvements. Welcome, you are up to speed on the TP&W... at least overall you are. Below you will explore each town and see some stories from each town.
Resources Used...
- “Delaware Otsego Corporation.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 May 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaware_Otsego_Corporation.
- “Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Aug. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo,_Peoria_and_Western_Railway.
- “TP&W Historical Notes.” The Peoria Way, by Joe McMillan and Robert P. Olmsted, McMillan Publications, 1984, pp. 4. Helped guide early history for write up and used as general reference for information verification and dates.
- “Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Aug. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo,_Peoria_and_Western_Railway.
- “TP&W Historical Notes.” The Peoria Way, by Joe McMillan and Robert P. Olmsted, McMillan Publications, 1984, pp. 4. Helped guide early history for write up and used as general reference for information verification and dates.