Indianapolis and Bellefontaine Railroad

The Indianapolis and Bellefontaine Railroad (I&B) was formed in 1848 as a successor to the Pendleton and Indianapolis Railroad. It eventually became the Bellefontaine and Indiana Railroad, which in turn was succeeded by the Bellefontaine Railway in 1864, the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway in 1868, and the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway (Big Four) in 1889. Though the I&B once used the four-foot ten-inch Ohio gauge, it was quickly converted to standard gauge (4 ft 8.5 in/1.435 m).

In 1850, the I&B was one of the three founding lines of the Union Track Railway Company (along with the Madison and Indiana Railroad and the Terre Haute and Richmond Railroad). Three years later, the UTRC changed its name to Indianapolis Union Railway (IU) and opened the world's first union station in Indiana's capitol city. The I&B's main line runs from the IU tracks east of Union Station northeast to Lawrence, Pendleton, and Anderson. Just west of Muncie, it turns to the east to pass through that city, then continues on through Winchester before reaching the Ohio state line at Union City, Indiana. Continuing eastward from Union City, Ohio, it passes through Versailles and Sidney before reaching its other namesake, Bellefontaine. This Indianapolis-Bellefontaine main line remains an important rail corridor into the early 21st Century, where it is now owned and operated by CSX Transportation.