The Vermilion Valley Railroad (reporting mark VVRR) is a 5.9-mile (9.5 km) short-line railroad that operates across the Indiana-Illinois state line, connecting the Flex-N-Gate Corporation facility west of Covington, Indiana with CSX Transportation in Danville, Illinois.
Operations by the VVRR began in 2003 after CSX abandoned the ex-New York Central Railroad line. On May 12, 2023, VVRR was acquired by Gulf & Atlantic Railways.[1]
History
The line was completed in 1869 by the Indianapolis, Crawfordsville and Danville Railroad, and later became part of the Pekin-Indianapolis line of the Peoria and Eastern Railway, a New York Central Railroad subsidiary.[2]
Successor Conrail abandoned the portion between Olin and Crawfordsville by 1985,[3][4] and in 1999 the remaining pieces were conveyed to New York Central Lines LLC for operation by CSX.[5] CSX filed with the Surface Transportation Board for abandonment between Danville and Olin in 2001, since there had been no traffic for the past three years.[6]
Flex-N-Gate Corporation is an Illinois-based auto parts manufacturer that has submitted an offer of financial assistance and bought the line through newly created FNG Logistics Corporation in December 2002.[7] The Vermilion Valley Railroad began operating the line in April 2003.[8]
After being run by Indiana Boxcar Corporation until 2019 and Midwest and Bluegrass until 2023, VVRR operations have transitioned to Gulf & Atlantic Railways.
