Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad

The Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern Railroad (reporting mark CFE) is a short line railroad offering service from Tolleston, Indiana to Crestline, Ohio, United States over the former Fort Wayne Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Operations commenced in 2004 as a division of the Central Railroad of Indianapolis (CERA), under the overall corporate ownership of RailAmerica. CFE operates 279 miles (449 km) of rail leased from CSX.^[2][3]

Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern Railroad

Overview
Headquarters	Fort Wayne, Indiana
Reporting mark	CFE
Locale	Indiana, Ohio
Dates of operation	2004–
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	279 miles (449 km)
Operating speed	40 mph (64 km/h)[1]
Other
Website	https://www.gwrr.com/cfe/

History

Conrail acquired the line in 1976, and later sold some of it to the Norfolk Southern Railway to relieve that company's ex-Nickel Plate Road main line. CSX Transportation acquired the entire line in the 1999 breakup of Conrail, and began to make improvements, including new crossing signals, paving crossings, and weeding the railroad. After this was complete, signs were posted at each crossing notifying motorists of an increase in train traffic.

In 2004, operations under the Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern Railroad name began; from the beginning of operations, the railroad has been owned by RailAmerica.^[4] In 2011 former Norfolk Southern supervisor Joseph (Joe) Parsons was named the General Manager of Chicago, Fort Wayne, & Eastern Railroad headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

On July 23, 2012, Genesee & Wyoming Inc. announced that it intended to purchase RailAmerica in a deal valued at $1.39 billion.^[5][6] Approval of the purchase was granted by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board on December 19, 2012,^[7] and ownership of the Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern was transferred to the G&W.

As of 2023, there are many interchanges in CFE:

BNSF (Chicago, Illinois); Belt Railway of Chicago (Chicago, Illinois); Canadian National (Chicago, Illinois); CPKC (Chicago, Illinois); Chicago Rail Link (Chicago, Illinois); Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad (Chicago, Illinois); CSX (Crestline, Ohio and Lima, Ohio); Gary Railway (Chicago, Illinois); Iowa Interstate Railroad (Chicago, Illinois); Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad (Chicago, Illinois); Indiana & Ohio Railway (Lima, Ohio); Manufacturers' Junction Railway (Chicago, Illinois); Norfolk Southern (Fort Wayne, Indiana and Lima, Ohio); South Chicago and Indiana Harbor Railway (Chicago, Illinois); Union Pacific (Chicago, Illinois); Wisconsin and Southern Railroad (Chicago, Illinois). ^[3]

Traffic

As of 2023, CFE owns 323 total miles, 184 in Indiana, and 139 in Ohio and Illinois. CFE has a capacity of 286,000.^[3]