The following is a brief history of the North American rail system, mainly through major changes to Class I railroads, the largest class by operating revenue.
1930 The Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad acquires control of the New Orleans Great Northern Railroad. January 1: The Illinois Terminal Company leases the Alton and Eastern Railroad (not Class I), a short piece of the former Chicago, Peoria and St. Louis Railroad.ICC (1932), p. 219 January 10: The Duluth, Missabe and Northern Railway leases the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad. January 31: Canadian National Railway subsidiary Central Vermont Railway is reorganized without change of name after a receivership beginning December 12, 1927.Moody's (1992), p. 234 February 1: The New York Central Railroad leases subsidiaries Cincinnati Northern Railroad, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, Evansville, Indianapolis and Terre Haute Railway, and Michigan Central Railroad.Moody's (1976), p. 274 April 1: The Delaware and Hudson Railroad begins operating the former property of the Delaware and Hudson Company.Moody's (1990), p. 277 April 14: Louisiana and Arkansas Railway subsidiary Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company of Texas is renamed Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas Railway.ICC (1931) April 30: The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway acquires the property of subsidiary Hocking Valley Railway.ICC (1930) July 1: The Pennsylvania Railroad leases subsidiary West Jersey and Seashore Railroad. July 7: The Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway, in receivership since June 16, 1914, and under joint control by the Colorado and Southern Railway (Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad system) and Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway since 1906,ICC (1920), p. 437 leaves receivership and is renamed Burlington-Rock Island Railroad.
1931 July 19: Baltimore and Ohio Railroad subsidiary Alton Railroad begins operating the former Chicago and Alton Railroad,Oliphant's Earning Power of Railroads, 1946, p. 160 which had entered receivership on August 30, 1922.ICC (1922)
1932 January 1: The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad begins operating the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway and Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad under lease, shortly after acquiring control.ICC (1949)Oliphant's Earning Power of Railroads, 1946, pp. 191-192 February 1: The New York Central Railroad acquires the property of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad,Moody's (1970), p. xli in receivership since August 16, 1931. April 14: The Southern Pacific Company gains control of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway and subsidiary St. Louis Southwestern Railway of Texas.Moody's (1976), p. 755
1933 February 1: Southern Pacific Company subsidiary San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway acquires the property of the San Diego and Arizona Railway, half-owned by the SP.Moody's (1992), p. 257 July 1: New Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad lessor New Orleans Great Northern Railway acquires the property of GM&N subsidiary New Orleans Great Northern Railroad.Moody's (1982), p. 83 July 15: Reading Company subsidiary Atlantic City Railroad is renamed Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines and leases the West Jersey and Seashore Railroad from the Pennsylvania Railroad, which acquires a 2/3 share of the new company. December: The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad acquires the property of lessor Coal and Coke Railway.ICC (1933)
1934 The property of the Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company is conveyed to lessee Louisiana and Arkansas Railway.Oliphant's Earning Power of Railroads, 1946, pp. 361-362 February 1: The Kansas City Southern Railway leases the property of Texas subsidiary Texarkana and Fort Smith Railway located within Texas.ICC (1934) (The remainder, in Arkansas, was already operated under lease by the KCS.) June 30: The Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway, Houston East and West Texas Railway, Houston and Texas Central Railroad, Louisiana Western Railroad, Morgan's Louisiana and Texas Railroad and Steamship Company, and San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway merge into lessee Texas and New Orleans Railroad, a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Company. October 1: The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway acquires the properties of lessor Chesapeake and Ohio Railway of Indiana.Moody's (1984), p. 647
1935 January 8: The property of the bankrupt Maryland and Delaware Seacoast Railway (not Class I), successor to part of the Maryland, Delaware and Virginia Railway, is split among Pennsylvania Railroad subsidiaries Baltimore and Eastern Railroad and Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Railroad.Moody's (1976), p. 261 April 16: The Missouri and Arkansas Railway begins operating the former Missouri and North Arkansas Railway,ICC (1935) in receivership since May 5, 1927. June 21: The property of the Arizona and New Mexico Railway is conveyed to lessee El Paso and Southwestern Railroad, itself leased to the Southern Pacific Company.ICC (1937)
1936 January 1: The Union Pacific Railroad leases subsidiaries Oregon Short Line Railroad, Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Company, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad, and St. Joseph and Grand Island Railway.Moody's (1992), p. 111 July 16: The Springfield, Havana and Peoria Railroad, successor to part of the Chicago, Peoria and St. Louis Railroad, merges into lessee Chicago and Illinois Midland Railway.
1937 January 22: The Alton and Eastern Railroad (not Class I), a short piece of the former Chicago, Peoria and St. Louis Railroad, is merged into lessee Illinois Terminal Company (along with other subsidiaries), and simultaneously the parent is renamed Illinois Terminal Railroad.Paul Stringham, Illinois Terminal, the Electric Years, , pp. 98, 251 March 1: The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway buys the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway from the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway and leases it to subsidiary Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. July 1: The Duluth, Missabe and Northern Railway merges with lessor Spirit Lake Transfer Railway to form the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway, which continues to lease the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad.Moody's (1990), p. 286
1938 March: The property of the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad is conveyed to lessee Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway. June 30: New York Central Railroad lessor Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway absorbs seven other lessors, including the formerly Class I Cincinnati Northern Railroad and Evansville, Indianapolis and Terre Haute Railway.Moody's (1976), p. 274 NYC lessor Toledo and Ohio Central Railway absorbs lessor Kanawha and Michigan Railway. November: The Copper River and Northwestern Railway is abandoned.
1939 The Savannah and Atlanta Railway (not yet Class I), in receivership since March 4, 1921 and trusteeship since January 1, 1937,ICC (1938) is reorganized under the same name. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad acquires a portion of the property of subsidiary Quincy, Omaha and Kansas City Railroad (no longer Class I), and the rest is abandoned.ICC (1939) The Kansas City Southern Railway gains control of the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway. July 1: The Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas Railway merges into parent Louisiana and Arkansas Railway.Moody's (1986), p. 670 September 1: The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway leases Texas subsidiary Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway. October 11: In receivership since June 1, 1931, the Fort Smith and Western Railway abandons all operations. A portion is acquired by Kansas City Southern Railway subsidiary Fort Smith and Van Buren Railway (not Class I). December 29: The Northern Alabama Railway merges into parent Southern Railway.Moody's (1992), p. 79
1940 August 1: The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad acquires and begins operating the property of the former Southern Railway subsidiary Mobile and Ohio Railroad, in receivership since June 3, 1932. September 13: The Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad merges into the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad.Moody's (1972), p. 295 December 31: The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad begins operating the former Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railway,Moody's (1976), p. 644 in trusteeship since September 16, 1933.ICC (1939) December 31: The Wichita Falls and Southern Railroad (no longer Class I) absorbs lessor Wichita Falls and Southern Railway.
1941 Great Northern Railway subsidiary Spokane, Coeur d'Alene and Palouse Railway (former Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad) de-electrifies, but is no longer Class I. February 20: The Chicago Great Western Railway begins operating the former Chicago Great Western Railroad.Oliphant's Earning Power of Railroads, 1946, p. 251 June 30: The Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway merges into lessee Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.Moody's (1992), p. 403 October 1: The Spokane International Railroad begins operating the former property of Canadian Pacific Railway subsidiary Spokane International Railway,Moody's (1976), p. 407 in trusteeship since August 28, 1933. October 22: The Northern Pacific Railway purchases the property of subsidiary Minnesota and International Railway (no longer Class I) at foreclosure.Moody's (1969), p. 684 December 22: The property of the Chicago and Erie Railroad is conveyed to parent Erie RailroadICC (1941) as part of the latter's reorganization that takes it out of Chesapeake and Ohio Railway control. The Erie had been in trusteeship since May 7, 1938.
1942 January 1: Pennsylvania Railroad subsidiary Wabash Railroad begins operating the former Wabash Railway,Moody's (1990), p. 63 in receivership since December 1, 1931. January 21: The Norfolk Southern Railway acquires the property of the former Norfolk Southern Railroad,Moody's (1971), p. 55 in receivership since July 28, 1932.ICC (1940) June 30: The Grand Canyon Railway (no longer Class I) merges into lessee Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.
1943 January 1: Wabash Railroad subsidiary Ann Arbor Railroad exits a receivership that began on December 4, 1931 without reorganization.Moody's (1976), p. 310 July 1: The Great Northern Railway acquires the property of subsidiary Spokane, Coeur d'Alene and Palouse Railway (no longer Class I).ICC (1943) December 1: The Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway begins operating the former Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad, in receivership since July 26, 1923.ICC (1923) December 31: The Texarkana and Fort Smith Railway merges into lessee Kansas City Southern Railway.Moody's (1989), p. 296
1944 February 1: The Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railroad begins operating the former Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railway,Oliphant's Earning Power of Railroads, 1946, p. 154 in trusteeship since April 4, 1933. September 1: The Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad begins operating the former Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway,Oliphant's Earning Power of Railroads, 1946, p. 118 in trusteeship since January 1, 1938.ICC (1942) December 23: The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad acquires the property of lessor Toledo and Cincinnati Railroad,Moody's (1986), p. 677 which acquired it from the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway in 1917.
1945 Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway subsidiary Oregon Electric Railway de-electrifies. May 25: The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad buys the Alton Railroad from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. December 1: The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad reorganizes without change of name, exiting a bankruptcy it entered on June 29, 1935.Moody's (1982), p. 1260 in receivership since March 18, 1925.ICC (1926) December 14: The Illinois Terminal Railroad is reorganized under the same name, leaving Illinois Power and Light Corporation control. December 26: The Illinois Central Railroad acquires the property of subsidiary Gulf and Ship Island Railroad.Moody's (1972), p. 278 December 28: The Syracuse, Binghamton and New York Railroad merges into lessee Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.Moody's (1976), p. 604