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| Bill Edrington commented on a posting Bill Edrington Attached is a page from the November/December 1984 Official Guide showing the lines operated by the Prairie Central and its sister company, Prairie Trunk, at that time. The USRA Final System Plan, which was the "bible" regarding which of the bankrupt railroads' lines would and would not be included in Conrail, identified both the former PRR between Paris and Peoria and the former NYC (Big Four) between Paris and Lawrenceville as being unprofitable surplus lines that would be operated by Conrail only if their operating losses were directly subsidized. The FSP granted Conrail trackage rights over the B&O from Lawrenceville to Vincennes and over the L&N (former C&EI) from Vincennes to Danville as an alternative route for southern Illinois coal traffic to the Chicago area. Illinois came through with a subsidy for the Paris-Decatur portion of the ex-PRR Peoria Secondary for an initial year, after which the line was operated for some years as the Wabash Valley Railroad, a subsidiary of Morrison-Knudsen Corp. The state also subsidized operation by Conrail of the Paris-Lawrenceville line until Conrail sold its lines south of Mt. Carmel to the Southern Railway in the early 1980s. Prairie Central was formed around this time to take over the Paris-Decatur operation, which Morrison-Knudsen had found to be unprofitable, and also ended up operating the portion of the former NYC between Paris and Mt. Carmel. Prairie Central did not last long. There was not enough traffic on either of its lines to support continued operation. The same was true with the Prairie Trunk's operation of the former B&O between Springfield and Shawneetown. Bill Edrington I should have mentioned for clarity's sake that Conrail began operations on April 1, 1976. The state subsidy to Conrail for operating the Paris-Decatur line only lasted one year, after which the Wabash Valley operated it without subsidy until its parent company, Morrison-Knudsen, threw in the towel. Paris-Lawrenceville operation by Conrail was subsidized for several years until that line was no longer needed to handle coal traffic from south of Mt. Carmel. Prairie Central then operated the line all the way from Paris to Mt. Carmel for a short time, without state subsidy, but could not make a go of it. Dave Ritter Years of operation for the PACY 1981 to 1984 and ended due the the embargo from the IC of trackage rites from Hervey City to Decatur for non-payment and a costly derailment at Lake City. |
These are notes that I am writing to help me learn our industrial history. They are my best understanding, but that does not mean they are a correct understanding.
Friday, November 3, 2017
Prairie Central Railway (PACY), made with Conrail rejects
The same person, Mr. Burroughs, who formed the Prairie Trunk Railroad from a B&O branch that CSX did not want, formed the Prairie Central Railway from a Pennsy branch (Decatur-Paris) and a NYC/Big Four branch (Paris-Mt. Carmel), that Conrail did not want. The Big Four branch was part of the Egyptian Line. It sounds like Mr. Burroughs was a modern day robber baron.
I was a trainman/engineer on the Cairo Branch with Penn Central and Conrail, Danville to Cairo. I hired on to Prairie Central in 1982 running Mount Carmel to Paris Midland Yard, and once in a while to Decatur. Not being in the management of PC, CR, or PACY, I can only relate the history as I know it.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Conrail using the B&O (O&M) Lawrenceville to Vincennes I never knew of that. When Conrail began operations in 1976 ( formed on paper in 1974 ), we ran coal trains out of Harrisburg to Carmi, then transferred to L&N trackage at Carmi. That took us to Howell Yard in Evansville, where we ran the L&N (ex-C&EI) to Brewer yard.
As far as the Prairie Central, Prairie Central was serving a grain elevator just north of, I believe, West Union. They had bought about a mile of track to create one track for loads and one track for empties. It was lying beside the main when PACY ceased operations.
I understood that PACY took a lot of business away from the N&W in Decatur. We were exchanging cars with Southern RR at Mount Carmel with increasing traffic, with negotiations to exchange northbound coal out of Harrisburg. If I remember correctly, the Southern and N&W began operations as NS in 1984. Not only was there the controversy, as you mentioned above, of a 99 year lease agreement between the IC and Pennsylvania RR for trackage rights Hervey City to Decatur transferring on to PACY, but because of the traffic being taken from the N&W, after becoming NS, the exchange rates at Mount Carmel jumped to impossible rates. I believe it was in June of 1984 we ceased operating - one of the best railroad jobs I ever worked.
Very cool, the Prairie Central was always a railroad that fascinated me and frustrated me because I could never research it because so little was known about it. It also didn't help that someone had to make a Prairie DOG Central that got in the way of searches. If you have any more insight I would love to hear about it. jmhawkins611@gmail.com
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