The Edgewood Cutoff is a 169-mile (273 km) single-track

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

line that runs in a north–south direction through southern

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and western

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. Built by the

Illinois Central The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, the Great Lak ...

(IC) Railroad, the Kentucky section of the line opened in 1927 and the Illinois section in 1928. The line is named for the hamlet of Edgewood, Illinois where the northern end of the cutoff diverges from the IC mainline. At the southern end, the line rejoins the IC mainline at Fulton, Kentucky at the

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

border. The Edgewood Cutoff was built to ease traffic congestion on the IC mainline primarily caused by the single-track bridge over the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

Cairo, Illinois Cairo ( , sometimes ) is the southernmost city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County, Illinois, Alexander County. A river city, Cairo has the lowest elevation of any location in Illinois and is the only Illinoi ...

. (The cutoff crosses the Ohio River at

Metropolis, Illinois Metropolis is a city and the county seat in Massac County, Illinois, United States. It is located by the Ohio River. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 5,969, down from 6,537 in 2010 United States census, 2 ...

using the Paducah and Illinois Railroad's bridge.)''IC's Cairo Bridge'', Clifford J. Downey, ''Classic Trains'', Winter 2012. Due to its location, east of the IC mainline, trains running from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

would shave 22 miles (35 km) from their route by using the cutoff. Trains to and from

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, however, would continue to use the old mainline through Cairo, as would all IC passenger trains. Even so, the cutoff would especially benefit heavy coal trains coming from western Kentucky. The gradient profile of the line was a significant improvement over the old mainline, with a maximum of a 0.3% grade versus 1.2% on the Cairo line. The number of curves was greatly reduced as well. In fact, one section of tangent (straight) track on the cutoff is 63 miles (102 km) long. Sidings were located along the cutoff to permit trains to pass each other on the single-track line. The construction of three tunnels was necessitated along the route, all of which are located within the remote forested region of southern Illinois. The IC spent approximately $17 million to build the Edgewood Cutoff. IC had also studied the possibility of reconstructing the Cairo line, although that project was estimated at $24 million and was never pursued. After the IC announced plans to build the cutoff on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...

1922, several communities along the Cairo route filed lawsuits to stop the new line from being built. They were unsuccessful. After the cutoff opened, more and more trains were diverted to the new line, until within a few years the cutoff was handling more tonnage than the old line. In 1972, IC merged with GM&O to form the Illinois Central Gulf (ICG). The name was changed back to Illinois Central in 1988.

Canadian National The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue an ...

acquired IC in 1999 and instituted changes such as running most southbound trains over the Edgewood Cutoff and most northbound trains over the Cairo line.

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

currently uses the Cairo line. No passenger trains have ever been scheduled to run on the Edgewood Cutoff.

References

Further reading