The Toledo and Illinois Railroad was chartered April 20, 1853, in Ohio to build from Toledo on Lake Erie west to the Indiana state line. The Lake Erie, Wabash and St. Louis Railroad was chartered in Indiana on August 19 to continue the line west through Wabash into Illinois towards St. Louis, Missouri, and the two companies merged August 4, 1856, to form the Toledo, Wabash and Western Railroad with a total length of 243 miles.[3]
The company soon went bankrupt and was sold at foreclosure. The Toledo and Wabash Railroad was chartered October 7, 1858, and acquired the Ohio portion October 8. The Wabash and Western Railroad was chartered on September 27 and acquired the Indiana portion on October 5. On December 15, the two companies merged as the Toledo and Wabash Railway. That company merged with the Great Western Railway of Illinois, the Illinois and Southern Iowa Railroad, the Quincy and Toledo Railroad and the Warsaw and Peoria Railroad to form the final Toledo, Wabash and Western Railway.
In the 1830s the State of Illinois planned a system of internal improvements which included a railroad from the Illinois river (at Meredosia) to the Illinois-Indiana line near Danville, Ill. The railroad was known as the “Northern Cross.” And so the Wabash Railroad System had its beginning, when on November 8, 1838, a select party was taken on a trip to the end of the track, some eight miles from Meredosia, and back again. The railroad reached Jacksonville, Ill., January 1, 1840 and Springfield, Ill., May 13, 1842. Another line was also built and reached Naples, Ill, from Bluffs, Ill. in 1838. The name of the railroad was subsequently changed to the Great Western Railroad of Illinois and the track was completed to Danville in November, 1856.
Meanwhile an enterprising group of businessmen in Indiana and Ohio had visions of an unbroken line of railroad to connect Toledo, Ohio, with the Mississippi river. This line was to run through the valleys of the Maumee and Wabash rivers to the state line of Illinois at a point seven miles from Danville and was projected to connect with the Great Western Railroad of Illinois to complete the line with the Mississippi river.
Two companies were formed and known as the “Toledo and Illinois Railroad Company and “The Lake Erie, Wabash and St. Louis Railroad Company.”
The Toledo and Illinois Railroad Company was incorporated April 25, 1853 in the State of Ohio and the 75 miles of track from Toledo to the Ohio-Indiana state line was completed on July 17, 1855.
The Lake Erie, Wabash and St. Louis Railroad Company was incorporated August 31, 1852 in the State of Indiana to baud a line of track from the OhioIndiana state line to the Indiana-Illinois state line. The track was completed to Fort Wayne, Ind., August 1, 1855, to Lafayette, Ind., June 23, 1856 and the state line was reached on August 1, 1856.
These two railroads were consolidated on September 23, 1856 to form the Toledo. Wabash and Western Railroad Company.