Whitewater Valley Railroad

The Whitewater Valley Railroad is a heritage railroad in southeastern Indiana between Connersville and Metamora.

The railroad is dedicated to the preservation and presentation of a 1950s era of branch line railroading. It is now operated by vintage diesel switchers and road switchers during most of the year. Steam operations vary from year to year. The most recent steam locomotive donated to the organization is New York Central B-10W 0-6-0 #6894. It is nearly identical to the last steam engines operated on the line.

The Whitewater River formed a natural trade route for Native Americans and for early settlers. In 1836 the new state of Indiana approved funds to build the Whitewater Canal, following the river from Lawrenceburg, Indiana all the way to Hagerstown, Indiana 76 miles (122 km). It was opened to Connersville, Indiana in 1845. While improving trade for the area, it suffered from alternate droughts and floods, which carried away aqueducts and embankments. It was so damaged by floods in the later 1850s that residents petitioned the state to sell the right of way for a railroad.

In 1863 the Indianapolis and Cincinnati Railroad (I&C) acquired the right to build on the old towpath, although many portions of the canal remained open as a source of water power for mills like the one still operating in Metamora. The canal remained open in Connersville until 1953, when Western Avenue was built over the top of it.

After the I&C purchased the canal right-of-way, its subsidiary, the White Water Valley Railroad (WVRR), reached Connersville in the Spring of 1867, and continued on to Hagerstown in 1868. The WWVRR connected with the I&C main line at Valley Junction, 17 miles (27 km) west of Cincinnati, and ran trains into Cincinnati over that line.

Initially operated by the I&C, the WVRR operated independently for several years. In 1890 the WVRR was absorbed by the growing *Big Four* - the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis. The Big Four (later the New York Central Railroad or NYC) operated commuter trains from Connersville and from Harrison, Ohio, into Cincinnati, and briefly operated through trains and parlor cars from Cincinnati to Fort Wayne, changing at Connersville to the tracks of the Lake Erie and Western Railroad.

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