Whitewater Valley Railroad - History

History

The Whitewater River formed a natural trade route for Native Americans and for early settlers. In 1836 the new state of Indiana approved funds to build the Whitewater Canal, following the river from Lawrenceburg, Indiana all the way to Hagerstown, Indiana 76 miles (122 km). It was opened to Connersville, Indiana in 1845. While improving trade for the area, it suffered from alternate droughts and floods, which carried away aqueducts and embankments. It was so damaged by floods in the later 1850s that residents petitioned the state to sell the right of way for a railroad.

In 1863 the Indianapolis and Cincinnati Railroad (I&C) acquired the right to build on the old towpath, although many portions of the canal remained open as a source of water power for mills like the one still operating in Metamora, Indiana. The canal remained open in Connersville until 1953, when Western Avenue was built over the top of it.

After the I&C purchased the canal right-of-way, its subsidiary, the White Water Valley Railroad (WVRR), reached Connersville in the Spring of 1867, and continued on to Hagerstown in 1868. The WWVRR connected with the I&C main line at Valley Junction, 17 miles (27 km) west of Cincinnati, and ran trains into Cincinnati over that line.

Initially operated by the I&C, the WVRR operated independently for several years. In 1890 the WVRR was absorbed by the growing *Big Four* - the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis. The Big Four (later the New York Central Railroad or NYC) operated commuter trains from Connersville and from Harrison, Ohio, into Cincinnati, and briefly operated through trains and parlor cars from Cincinnati to Fort Wayne, changing at Connersville to the tracks of the Lake Erie and Western Railroad.

The little used section between Connersville and Hagerstown was abandoned by the NYC 1931, with the track removed from this section in 1936, and all passenger service ended in 1933. Local freight continued behind steam locomotives until 1957, and behind diesel locomotives until discontinued by the NYC's successor, the Penn Central Railroad in 1972.

The formation of Conrail in 1976 saw that company provide rail service in Connersville, however the line was disconnected from the rest of the Conrail system.

The line between Metamora and Connersville was sold to the non-profit Whitewater Valley Railroad in 1984, although freight operation from Brookville to Valley Junction was taken over in 1979 by the Indiana and Ohio Railway. Freight service was abandoned on the Whitewater line between Brookville and Connersville in 1974. The portion of the remaining NYC branch between Connersville and Beeson's Station was sold to Indiana Hi-Rail Corporation in 1981.