NS 61st Street Bridge (Englewood)

In 1856, the Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad Company constructed an additional 19 miles, extending from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Columbia City, Indiana. The railroad became part of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Rail Road in 1856, which constructed an additional 130 miles westwards to Chicago, Illinois.  The railroad was reorganized as the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway (PFW&C) in 1861, and would come under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in 1871. The PRR was a respected railroad, operating a significant railroad network in the eastern United States.  The PFW&C provided the PRR with access to the major railroad terminals at Chicago.  The line between Pittsburgh and Chicago also offered the PRR with other connections throughout Indiana and Ohio.  During the late 19th Century, the line would be double tracked for its entire length, with the work completed in 1904.  

By the late 1890s, the extensive network of railroad lines in Chicago had become a hazard to the population.  In response, the City of Chicago passed ordinances requiring the elevation of railroad lines within the city.  This work was completed by constructing retaining walls and placing the tracks upon a fill, and building underpasses at street crossings.  The first section of this line elevated was between 74th Street and 53rd Street, completed in 1899.  The line between 53rd Street and 21st Street was elevated in 1906, followed by the line between the Indiana State Line and 74th Street in 1914.  Other cities along the route took notice of the Chicago track elevation projects, and passed similar ordinances.  The City of Fort Wayne required the elevation of the tracks through the city, which was completed in 1915.  By 1918, the PFW&C would be fully merged into the Pennsylvania Railroad, which continued to operate the route as its mainline to Chicago through the 20th Century.

In 1968, PRR merged with rival New York Central Railroad to form Penn Central Railroad.  The Penn Central Railroad was short lived, as it was plagued by operations issues stemming from the merger of the two systems.  The railroad filed for bankruptcy in 1974, and many of the lines were reorganized into Conrail.  Conrail was formed by the Federal Government to take over profitable lines of multiple bankrupt railroad companies in the eastern United States.  In 1976, Conrail took over operations of this line, eventually downgrading it and removing the second track in many locations.  In 1994, Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) purchased a segment from Valparaiso to Warsaw, and obtained trackage rights east to Fort Wayne.  In 1998, Conrail was broken up, and the entire line was sold to CSX Transportation.  A portion between Whiting and Chicago was sold to NS.  In 2004, the segment between Fort Wayne and Gary would be sold to the Chicago, Fort Wayne & Eastern Railroad (CFE).  Today, CFE continues to operate the line east of Gary, while NS owns the portion west of Whiting.  The segment between Gary and Whiting was abandoned in favor of the parallel New York Central (former Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway) tracks.