The defunct railroads of North America regrouped several railroads in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The following is a list of the past railroad companies.

Defunct railroad companies

• Algoma Central Railway (AC)
• Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF)
• Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL)
• Auto-Train Corporation (AUT)
• Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O)
• Bangor and Aroostook Railroad (BAR)
• Beaumont, Sour Lake and Western Railway ^[1]
• Boston and Albany Railroad (B&A)
• Boston and Maine Corporation (BM)
• Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railway^[2]
• Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway (BCR&N)
• Burlington Northern Railroad (BN)
• Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR)
• Central of Georgia Railway
• Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR)
• Central Railroad of New Jersey (Jersey Central) (CNJ)
• Central Vermont (CV)
• Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (CO)
• Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CBQ)
• Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (MILW)
• Chicago Great Western Railway (CGW)
• Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (RI)
• Chicago and North Western Transportation Company (CNW)
• Cincinnati, Jackson and Mackinaw Railroad
• Cincinnati, Saginaw, and Mackinaw Railroad ^[3]
• Colorado and Southern Railway (C&S)
• Columbia Tap Railway^[4]
• Conrail (CR)
• Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW)
• Detroit, Toledo and Milwaukee Railroad (DT&M) ^[5]
• Detroit and Pontiac Railroad (D&P)
• Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway (DGH&M)
• Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad (DTI)
• Erie Railroad (Erie)
• Florida Overseas Railroad
• Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad^[6]
• Grand Trunk (GT)
• Great Northern Railway (GN)
• Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway^[7]
• Fernley and Lassen Railway
• Fredericksburg and Northern Railway^[8]
• Hudson Bay Railway (HBR)
• Houston Belt & Terminal Railroad^[9]
• Houston, East & West Texas Railroad^[10]
• Houston & Texas Central Railway^[11]
• Illinois Central Railroad (IC)
• Inter-California Railway
• Intercolonial Railway of Canada (IRC)
• International–Great Northern Railroad^[12]
• LaPorte Houston Northern Railway^[13]
• Lehigh Valley Railroad (LV)
• Lackawanna Railroad (Lackawanna)
• Louisville and Nashville Railroad (LN)
• Macon and Birmingham Railway (M&B)
• Maine Central (MEC)
• Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway (MSTL)
• Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad (MKT) (also known as the "KATY")^[14]
• Missouri Pacific Railroad (MP)
• National Transcontinental Railway (NTR)
• New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad
• New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad
• New Orleans & Nashville Railroad – see Uptown New Orleans.
• New York Central (NYC)
• New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (NH)
• New York, Ontario and Western Railroad (OW)
• New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (NKP)
• Norfolk and Western Railway (NW)
• Northern Pacific Railway (NP)
• Northern Railway of Canada (NRC)
• Penn Central (PC)
• Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR)
• Pontchartrain Railroad
• Pontiac and Detroit Railroad
• Prince Edward Island Railway (PEIR)
• Raleigh and Gaston Railroad
• Reading Railroad (RDG)
• St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railway^[15]
• San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railway^[16]
• Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL)
• Southern Pacific Transportation Company (SP)
• Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway (SPSR)
• Texas and New Orleans Railroad (TNO) ^[17]
• Toledo, Ann Arbor, and North Michigan Railway Company (T, AA & NM) ^[18]
• Toledo, Saginaw, and Mackinaw Railroad ^[19]
• Trinity & Brazos Valley Railway^[20]
• Tuckerton Railroad (TRR)
• Tuskegee Railroad
• Warren and Ouachita Valley (W&OV) ^[21]
• Western Maryland Railway (WM)
• Western Pacific Railroad (WP)
• Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad
• Wisconsin Central Ltd. (WC)