Indiana railroad dating from 1880s being dismantled

POSEYVILLE, Ind. — A stretch of railroad that has served a southwestern Indiana town since the 1880s is being dismantled despite attempts by local officials to keep the tracks in place.

Indiana Southwestern Railway officials say they decided to abandon the 17-mile section leading to the Posey County town of Poseyville because it hasn’t had any activity for the last two years.

Town leaders had asked a federal agency last year to stop the abandonment and there were talks of the town buying the rail section, the Evansville Courier & Press reported Tuesday.

“We were willing to sell it, but they apparently had no means to buy the railroad,” said Dan LaKemper, the railroad’s general counsel. “They didn’t want it abandoned, and I understand that. But if they aren’t willing to buy it, then we have no alternative. We had left it in place for a number of years hoping business would come back, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.”

Work began this fall in removing the rail line, although its right of way will continue to exist for several months until the abandonment process is complete. LaKemper said a rails-to-trails group has expressed interest in acquiring the ground, most of which is owned by Indiana Southwestern Railway.

Meanwhile, town officials would like to see the path remain open for possible future use in the area about 20 miles northwest of Evansville, Town Council president Bruce Baker said.

“We have a lot of underground coal in southwestern Indiana, and I think rail is very important to being able to mine that coal,” he said. “So if that ever happens, I suppose someday they could be putting the rail back in.”

LaKemper said relaying the track would be far more expensive than upgrading an existing line. That was one reason, he said, that the railroad had been hesitant to abandon the section.

The Indiana Southwestern Railway took control of the rail section to Poseyville in 2000, a year after its track west of the town was removed. The line’s bridge over the Wabash River partially collapsed in 2005.