"Follow the Flag": A History of the Wabash Railroad Company

by H. Roger Grant

"Follow the Flag" offers the first authoritative history of the Wabash Railroad Company, a once vital interregional carrier. The corporate saga of the Wabash involved the efforts of strong-willed and creative leaders, but this book provides more than traditional business history. Noted transportation historian H. Roger Grant captures the human side of the Wabash, ranging from the medical doctors who created an effective hospital department to the worker-sponsored social events. And Grant has not ignored the impact the Wabash had on businesses and communities in the "Heart of America." Like most major American carriers, the Wabash grew out of an assortment of small firms, including the first railroad to operate in Illinois, the Northern Cross. Thanks in part to the genius of financier Jay Gould, by the early 1880s what was then known as the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway reached the principal gateways of Chicago, Des Moines, Detroit, Kansas City, and St. Louis. In the 1890s, the Wabash gained access to Buffalo and direct connections to Boston and New York City. One extension, spearheaded by Gould's eldest son, George, fizzled. In 1904 entry into Pittsburgh caused financial turmoil, ultimately throwing the Wabash into receivership. A subsequent reorganization allowed the Wabash to become an important carrier during the go-go years of the 1920s and permitted the company to take control of a strategic "bridge" property, the Ann Arbor Railroad. The Great Depression forced the company into another receivership, but an effective reorganization during the early days of World War II gave rise to a generally robust road. Its famed Blue Bird streamliner, introduced in 1950 between Chicago and St. Louis, became a widely recognized symbol of the "New Wabash." When "merger madness" swept the railroad industry in the 1960s, the Wabash, along with the Nickel Plate Road, joined the prosperous Norfolk & Western Railway, a merger that worked well for all three carriers. Immortalized in the popular folk song "Wabash Cannonball," the midwestern railroad has left important legacies. Today, forty years after becoming a "fallen flag" carrier, key components of the former Wabash remain busy rail arteries and terminals, attesting to its historic value to American transportation.

304 pages, Hardcover

First published June 28, 2004

About the author

H. Roger Grant (1943/1944 – November 17, 2023) was an American railroad historian and author.

Reviews

[M.J. Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Rumble and the Roar Live On!

This book is an educational experience for any railfan who lives in the Midwest. The corporate history of the Wabash Railroad is examined, from the construction of the Northern Cross Rwy from the Illinois River to Springfield, IL, through the expansion of the system to its greatest extent in 1904, to the failed entry into Pittsburgh, the war years, the introduction of diesels and, finally, the lease of the Wabash system by the Norfolk and Western Railway, the last major rail system to operate steam locomotives in everyday service. I really liked reading this corporate history, written by an experienced author of railroad books!

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides a good, fairly detailed summary of the Wabash Railroad from its earliest beginnings in Illinois and Missouri through its incorporation into Norfolk Southern. I'd recommend it specifically for the reader who is interested in the Wabash, and not railroads in general. It is very light on technical subject so if you're more interested in things like the history of Wabash motive power and equipment, you won't find much here. Overall, I liked it (yes, I have a particular affinity for the Wabash due to my family history) and it will find a permanent place on my bookshelf.