Danville, Olney and Ohio River Railroad
Encyclopedia
The Danville, Olney and Ohio River Railroad ran south from Sidell
Sidell, Illinois
Sidell is a village in Sidell Township, Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. It is part of the 'Danville, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area'. The population was 626 at the 2000 census.-History:...

 to West Liberty, Illinois
West Liberty, Illinois
West Liberty is an unincorporated town in Fox Township, Jasper County, Illinois, USA.-Geography:West Liberty is located at at an elevation of 482 feet....

 and existed in the late 19th century.

History

The original proposal for the railroad was for a 243-mile route from Danville through Hume
Hume, Illinois
Hume is a village in Shiloh and Young America townships, Edgar County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the village population was 380.-History:...

 to the Ohio River. The portion running through Hume was completed and put into service in 1881.

The north-south railroad was known by the following official and unofficial names:
  • Kansas and Sidell
  • K & S
  • Old Dody
  • Dog River
  • Crab Oyster
  • Chicago & Ohio River
  • C & O


As the roadbed decayed, the line carried freight at just nine-and-a-half miles per hour. Derailments were frequent nonetheless.

I.N. Coolley served as President of the railroad in its later years.

The rolling stock of the railroad consisted of one caboose and two locomotives, numbered 200 and 201, which were former switch engines purchased from the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad
The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago to southern Illinois, St. Louis, and Evansville. Founded in 1877, it grew aggressively and stayed relatively strong throughout the Great Depression and two World Wars before being purchased by the Missouri Pacific...

. Cars were rented from major railroads.

In 1886, the company was sold at foreclosure
Foreclosure
Foreclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage lender , or other lien holder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower 's equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law...

 and acquired by the Chicago and Ohio River Railroad, a predecessor of the Illinois Central Railroad
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...

. However, when that company's successor, the Peoria, Decatur and Evansville Railway, went bankrupt, the line was resold in 1898 to the Indiana, Decatur and Western Railway, a predecessor of the Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railroad
Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railroad
The Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railroad was established in 1915 as a reorganization of the Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railway, which in turn was created in 1902 as a merger of the Indiana, Decatur and Western Railway and Cincinnati, Hamilton and Indianapolis Railroad...

 (acquired by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...

in 1927).

In 1938, the line was abandoned by legal means. The scrap iron was removed by Hyman Michaels.

George H. Culp of Montezuma, Indiana, wrote a poem, entitled "The Old Road Passes", which describes the "Old Dog River line."

External links

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