Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railroad

Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railroad

Company type	Railroad
Industry	Rail transport
Predecessor	Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railway
Founded	1915
Defunct	1990
Fate	Acquired by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (1927)
Headquarters	United States
Area served	Illinois, Indiana, Ohio
Parent	Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (from 1927)

The Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railroad (abbreviated as CIWN) was created in 1915 following the reorganization of the Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railway, which itself originated in 1902 through the consolidation of the Indiana, Decatur and Western Railway (ID&W) and the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Indianapolis Railroad (CH&I).

The heritage of the ID&W traces back to earlier railroads including the Indianapolis, Decatur and Western Railway (operating from 1888 to 1894) and the Indiana and Illinois Central Railway (active between 1853 and 1875). Meanwhile, the CH&I developed from predecessors such as the Junction Railroad established in 1848 along with other Cincinnati-area rail lines.

The primary route of CIWN consisted of three owned sections interconnected by trackage rights spanning Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Initially, the line utilized trackage rights over the Chicago and Alton Railway from Springfield to Boody in Illinois. From Boody to Decatur, operations ran on tracks controlled by the Wabash Railway. The second owned portion extended between Decatur and Indianapolis; here, trackage rights over the Indianapolis Union Railway facilitated access to the third segment reaching Hamilton, Ohio. Further trackage rights over the Toledo and Cincinnati Railroad enabled service extension into Cincinnati.

In 1925, CIWN reported freight revenue amounting to 376 million net ton-miles alongside passenger traffic totaling 14 million passenger-miles. The company managed a network comprising of road mileage and track mileage. Two years later, in 1927, ownership transferred to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, thereby incorporating CIWN’s Midwestern routes into a broader rail system.