B&O Info Desk>Introduction

The B&O Trail in one sense began when the Indianapolis, Decatur and Springfield Railroad was completed in 1880 to Indianapolis from Springfield, Illinois. This line eventually became part of the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad in 1927 (view stock certificate). It served the B&O well, through the B&O's purchase by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad (C&O) in 1963 to the B&O's eventual merger with the C&O into CSX Transportation in 1987. However, the nationwide decline in railroad traffic since World World II eventually reached this line, resulting in its abandonment from 1989 to 1993.

Since then a new vision has grown for this route, one just as revolutionary and far-reaching as the one that founded the original Indianapolis, Decatur and Springfield line. In 1994, Rail Corridor Development, Inc. (now B&O Trail Association, Inc. (BOTA)), and Hendricks County Trail Development, Inc. (HCTDA), both began their efforts to convert this former rail line to a rail-trail providing benefits to area communities. The east end of the proposed rail-trail [see map] begins in Indianapolis, Indiana, from where it will extend westward through Indiana to North Salem, Roachdale, Russellville, and Marshall, until it reaches its western terminus at Montezuma, Indiana. Additional line abandonment west of Montezuma could eventually result in the extension of the trail across the Wabash River and into Illinois.

Please view the other pages of our site to learn more about the B&O Trail.