A few months ago, Nordique mentioned the Prarie Central Railway. I had some time to investigate it--as I was completely unfamiliar with it--and have found little to nothing on it.
Can anyone tell me anything they know about it? What motive power they had, where they ran, what was their business like?
Thanks,
Gabe
The Prairie Central (PACY) was one of several short lines that Craig Burroughs attempted in the early years of railroad deregulation. It still shows up in my 1983 Official Guide. It operated 74 miles between Decatur and Paris, Illinois over former Penn Central trackage. It was the second operator after PC, having been preceeded for a short period by the Wabash Valley Railroad Corp. (WVRC), a Morrison-Knudsen subsidiary. A sister road was the Prairie Trunk (PARY) from Flora to Shawneetown, IL.
Both lines folded early, as did the Erie Western (ERES) that tried to keep the Erie-Lackawanna main line alive across western Ohio and Indiana and Burroughs' Louisiana Midland (LOAM) down south.
You may have more luck posting at some of the Yahoo midwestern railfan groups. This topic pops up from time to time and there are many who know a lot more about the subject than I.
John Timm
Will watch this thread closely...have encountered references to this railroad being a noble effort and a good business plan that should have worked (but did not)...ran into evidence of them around KB&S and also IT in western Illinois while trying to salvage records. The creator of this shortline was also responsible for Prairie Trunk & Prairie Trail railroads if I remember correctly. They had at least one RS-3 (ex CNW around 1980 IIRC, saw that somewhere on the web.)
They had the PRR Peoria Secondary and part of the NKP main around Hoopeston among others. I would expect that like CCC&StL, because it was not exotic and in the midwest - little will find its way into print (which is a darn shame)...
desertdog wrote: The Prairie Central (PACY) was one of several short lines that Craig Burroughs attempted in the early years of railroad deregulation. It still shows up in my 1983 Official Guide. It operated 74 miles between Decatur and Paris, Illinois over former Penn Central trackage. It was the second operator after PC, having been preceeded for a short period by the Wabash Valley Railroad Corp. (WVRC), a Morrison-Knudsen subsidiary. A sister road was the Prairie Trunk (PARY) from Flora to Shawneetown, IL.Both lines folded early, as did the Erie Western (ERES) that tried to keep the Erie-Lackawanna main line alive across western Ohio and Indiana and Burroughs' Louisiana Midland (LOAM) down south.You may have more luck posting at some of the Yahoo midwestern railfan groups. This topic pops up from time to time and there are many who know a lot more about the subject than I.John Timm
Bless the ERES - a noble yet futile effort to keep the main line of my favorite railroad operating. What's more: they tried it with RS-3s, one of my favorite locomotives after the E's and F's.
ShopsYardMaster wrote:IIRC, the Prarie Central ran with a small fleet of ex-Conrail U25B's, none of which were re-painted, just sublettered PACY on the cab sides.
Yes, there are pictures of 2605 and 2606 here-http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/srchThumbs.aspx?srch=pacy&search=Search
Also on hand were the 2604 and GP9s 7300 and 7302.
Dredging up this old thread, just to see whether anyone has more information (specifically when) on this line's demise. I'm showing 1984 or 1985.
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
Carl: Last day for PACY was 12-21-1984 (and for that matter Prairie Trunk/PARY) as well .... Recovered the ICC/STB dockets on this thing recently and the tales that went with it for a proposal we are still working on. (3rd iteration) PACY left several unanswered questions.
One of the odder results of my search is that owner Trans-Action Associates had 12 shortlines in it's history between 1971 and 2011 when Burroughs died. Three still exist in some form. We may get stuck finding the heirs and assigns of Trans-Action Associates which might be mission impossible. Burroughs nearly died in an ugly automobile accident while the PACY/PARY circus was going on. (part of Balt's old turf was the big part of PARY and the big derailment on IC-trackage rights pretty much did it in, plus there are some claims of mis-management in lawsuit form that involve some names very familiar to a nearby shortline that was a partner at the time). The more we dig into this thing, the screwier it gets.
(PACY was a piece of PC that USRA said CR did not want.)
Amazing how so much data has vanished in less than 40 years.
Thanks, MC! I had recovered a bankruptcy date, and it all fits in. (I had to redo my freight-car file on PACY, and just needed a little context for myslf.)
Interestingly, according to Trains at the time, the Prairie Central's U25B's were leased from the Penn Central estate.
Not entirely sure how that worked out in late 1981, but CR apparently only was leasing those early PRR U25B's from Penn Central. I had thought that all Penn Central power that was owned outright by the road (versus leased from a bank or builder like EMD) would've been purchased in 1976.
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