Mobile and Ohio Railroad

Mobile and Ohio Railroad

System map of the Mobile & Ohio in 1903
Locale	Southern United States
Dates of operation	1848–1940
Successor	Gulf, Mobile and Ohio
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Previous gauge	, 5 ft (1,524 mm) and converted to 4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm) in 1886
Headquarters	Mobile, Alabama

The Mobile and Ohio Railroad was a railroad in the Southern U.S. The M&O was chartered in January and February 1848 by the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee. It was planned to span the distance between the seaport of Mobile, Alabama and the Ohio River near Cairo, Illinois. On September 13, 1940 it was merged with the Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad to form the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad.

At the end of 1925 M&O operated 1,161 miles (1,868 km) of road and 1,536 miles (2,472 km) of track; that year it reported 1785 million ton-miles of revenue freight and 49 million passenger-miles.

The Mobile and Ohio Railroad was conceived after hard times in Mobile following the Panic of 1837. The port was not generating the business that it had before the panic and businessmen and citizens in the city were inspired with a plan for a railroad to restore commerce to the city. The first section of track opened for service in 1852 between Mobile and Citronelle, Alabama and was constructed in 5 ft (1,524 mm). The line made it to Columbus, Kentucky on April 22, 1861, steamboats were then used to connect with the Illinois Central Railroad at Cairo.

The start of the Civil War shortly after the completion of the line saw it converted to military use and it quickly became a military target for both sides during the war. Following the conflict the M&O had to be almost entirely rebuilt and was facing near total financial ruin due in part to an unpaid debt of $5,228,562 that had been owed by the Confederate government. It was placed in receivership in 1875 and did not emerge until eight years later.