A Look At The Evansville Western’s West End

Come along for a look at a southern Illinois regional railroad that is keeping a piece of the old Louisville & Nashville alive.The Evansville Western operates the remnants of the old L&N St. Louis line west of Evansville, Indiana.  Under CSX ownership, the westernmost portion of the line from Okawville to East St. Louis was abandoned and the rails removed.  The end of track is located at a large grain elevator at Okawville, which remains one of the largest shippers on the line.

Our look at this line begins with scenes of the L&N in Evansville during the steam era, before a look at the line during the early CSX era.  Then it’s on to today’s Evansville Western in 2009 and the spring of 2021.

We concentrate on the western half of the Evansville Western, concentrating on the local that plies the line from McLeansboro to the end of track at Okawville.  Power includes GP38-2s in 2009, and the GP40 and road slug combinations in use today, all wearing the contemporary colors of corporate cousin Paducah & Louisville.  The railroad crosses the Illinois Central mainline at Ashley, Illinois, and trains of both the I.C. and successor Canadian National make appearances as the local waits to get across.

It’s a look at a contemporary operation that is making a success of a line the big railroad didn’t want.