The ''Wabash Cannon Ball'' was a passenger train on the

Wabash Railroad The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary con ...

that ran from 1950 to 1971. The train was named after the song "

Wabash Cannonball "The Great Rock Island Route" ( Roud 4228), popularized as "Wabash Cannonball" and also known by various other titles, is a 19th-century American folk song that describes the scenic beauty and predicaments of a fictional train, the ''Wabash Cann ...

". It was the second train to bear the name "Cannon Ball"; the first was the fast express ''Cannon Ball'', which ran in the late 1800s to the early 20th century.Decatur Daily Review (Decatur, IL) 31 Dec 1881 Pg. 2. Col. 3. "THE WABASH".

History

First ''Cannon Ball'' trains

There had been several Wabash Cannon Ball trains traveling throughout the middle and western United States from as early as the 1880s. The first ''Cannon Ball'' express train traveled from

Chicago, Illinois 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 ...

, southwest to

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

. This express train traveled throughout the western part of the Midwest and the eastern part of the southwestern United States. In addition to traveling on the

, it also traveled on the "Great Rock Island Route" in the late 1800s and into the early 1900s.

Song and reinstituting of a new train and new route

J. A. Roff wrote a song, ''The Great Rock Island Route,'' in the 1880s. In the 1930s, after a rewrite as ''

,''

country and western A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, or d ...

singer

Roy Acuff Roy Claxton Acuff (September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992) was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the "King of Country Music", Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown ...

gained great popularity with the song. The Wabash Railroad in 1950 resurrected the train on an entirely different route on the railroad between two major Midwestern cities,

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, and

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. The new route hosted one of the Wabash company's prestige trains. The ''Wabash Cannonball,'' number 4 eastbound and number 1 westbound, had a

parlor car A parlor car (or parlour car outside the U.S.) is a type of passenger car (rail), passenger coach that provides superior comforts and amenities compared to a standard coach. History Parlor cars came about on United States railroads to address ...

, a dining-lounge car, chair cars and reclining seat coaches. In St. Louis it made connections with the Wabash's '' City of Kansas City,'' bound for Kansas City, and the Wabash's '' City of St. Louis'' for Denver and points farther west. A nighttime counterpart, the ''Detroit Limited'', made the trip eastbound, and another night train counterpart, the ''St. Louis Limited'', went westbound on the same route. The train was under the administration of the

Norfolk and Western Railway The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...

from 1964, as the Wabash company merged with the N&W that year. The train did not survive the conversion of private passenger lines to administration of the trains by

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 ...

in May, 1971.

Major stops of the ''Wabash Cannon Ball''

*St. Louis, Missouri (

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

) *St. Louis, Missouri ( Delmar Boulevard Station) *Decatur, Illinois ( Wabash Station) *Danville, Illinois *Lafayette, Indiana *Logansport, Indiana *Fort Wayne, Indiana *Detroit, Michigan ( Fort Street Union Depot)

Notes

External links

1952 schedule of the ''Wabash Cannon Ball,'' with consists, at 'Streamliner Schedules'
{{NW named trains Named passenger trains of the United States Passenger rail transportation in Illinois Passenger rail transportation in Indiana Passenger rail transportation in Missouri Passenger rail transportation in Michigan Passenger trains of the Norfolk and Western Railway Passenger trains of the Wabash Railroad Railway services introduced in 1950 Railway services discontinued in 1971