American Central

The American Central Railroad, also known as AmCentral, is a Class I railroad in the midwestern and northeastern United States.

The Newburgh, Evansville, and Southern (1917-1940)
In 1917, the Newburgh, Evansville, and Southern was chartered as a way to haul short freight trains in and around Evansville, Indiana. The railroad was meant to compete with the Evansville, Suburban, and Newburgh traction line, though its expansions into Paducah, Kentucky, and St. Louis, Missouri, ended in NE&S absorbing the ES&N in 1930.

The Great Depression had a bit of an effect on the NE&S, though not enough to put the railroad out of business. In 1932, the railroad began expanding towards Louisville, Kentucky, and when it reached Louisville, it began its Louisville Flyer passenger service, a fast express service between Louisville and St. Louis, with one stop in Evansville. The train proved to be successful, and in 1935, it was given a streamlined 4-6-4 Hudson-type locomotive and a set of matching cars in gray, black, and gold. At the end of 1940, the railroad linked Indianapolis, Louisville, St. Louis, and Cincinnati.

In 1939, the railroad rebranded to American Central to give the line a more appropriate title, having expanded north.

American Central goes to War (1941-1945)
Following the attacks on Pearl Harbor, and the subsequent entry of the United States into World War II, American Central saw massive success, expanding far more eastward towards Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During the war, the railroad serviced the Evansville Shipyard, as well as the Chrysler plant on the north side of Evansville. It also served the Philadelphia Shipyard.

Towards the end of World War II, American Central was seen as a vital link in the U.S. rail network, and in 1944, the American Central Railroad Company went public, and was listed on the NYSE as ACRR.

By the end of 1945, American Central had 7.5 billion passenger miles in revenue service and 37.8 billion net ton freight revenue miles.

Postwar American Central (1946-1965)
In 1946, American Central enjoyed moderate success, though in the following years, it became clear that interest in railroads began waning after the construction of the Interstate Highway system. In an effort to renew interest in railroads, American Central began steadily reducing passenger fares. This did not have as much of an effect as they had expected, and began focusing more on freight service. Despite declining interest, American Central kept expanding further, and at the end of 1959, it gained controlling interest in the New York Central's "Water Level Route" between Manhattan and Chicago. New York Central maintained full trackage rights to the line, though the tracks now belonged to American Central.

Dieselization (1955-1959)
Beginning in 1955, American Central began retiring its fleet of worn-out steam locomotives and replacing them with brand new diesel-electric locomotives. Diesel locomotives were nothing new to American Central, as it had begun purchasing new diesel locomotives as far back as 1939 with the EMD FT, and even earlier with diesel-powered "doodlebug" passenger cars in 1929. American Central became fully dieselized in 1959, with most of their steam locomotives being scrapped. Many locomotives were donated to railroading museums, and one locomotive was able to stay on the active roster: M1 2-8-4 Berkshire no. 1944.

The American Central System (1965-1985)
In 1965, proceeding many, many years of talks of merging (some dating back to 1939), American Central merged with the Quebec and Southern Railroad, giving the railroad a major stake in the Northeast market. The railroad became known as the "American Central System" with most of the locomotive fleet receiving a bright blue and black paint scheme.

In 1968, American Central convinced the New York Central railroad to merge with it, cancelling a possible merger between the New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroad. The merger was completed in 1969, and American Central became the dominant player in the Northeast railroad market.

The American Central System was considered a decent success in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, it was once again rebranded as AmCentral, though most locomotives carried the "American Central" or "American Central System" name.

AmCentral (1985-present)
AmCentral at this point was a massive railroad, with the extremities of the railroad expanding past Chicago, Vermont, Manhattan, Washington, D.C., St. Louis, and New Orleans. It saw much of the same success through the 1990s and 2000s. In 2017, the railroad had pulled in approximately $9.4 billion in revenue, and it still sees economic success to this day.

Arkansas

 * Little Rock
 * Marion
 * Pine Bluff

Illinois

 * Carbondale
 * Centralia
 * Chicago

Indiana

 * Bloomington
 * Elkhart
 * Evansville
 * Fort Wayne
 * Indianapolis
 * Princeton
 * Terre Haute

Kentucky

 * Decoursey
 * Paducah
 * Louisville

Louisiana

 * Baton Rouge
 * New Orleans

New York

 * Albany
 * Manhattan
 * Schenectady

Maryland

 * Cumberland
 * Washington, D.C.

Missouri

 * St. Louis

Ohio

 * Bellevue
 * Cincinnati
 * Cleveland
 * Columbus

Pennsylvania

 * Altoona
 * Philadelphia
 * Pittsburgh

Tennessee

 * Memphis
 * Nashville

West Virginia

 * Cowen
 * Grafton