page_title: Wabash Cannonball Trail
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Wabash Cannonball Trail / History
caption_attribution_description: Route map of the Wabash Railway with marking of double-tracked lines.
context_page_description: The Wabash Cannonball Trail is a rail to trail conversion in northwestern Ohio, U.S. It is 63 miles long. The North Fork of the Wabash Cannonball Trail is part of the North Coast Inland Trail, which plans to fully connect Indiana to Pennsylvania, and portions of the trail are included in the North Country National Scenic Trail.
context_section_description: The Wabash Railroad line used by the trail was first built in 1855, and service continued until 1969. The Norfolk Southern Railway then purchased it. The rails were finally abandoned in 1990. Local enthusiasts developed the idea of creating a public recreational trail and utility corridor. On March 24, 1994, the corridor was purchased from Norfolk Southern.
  The name Wabash Cannonball stems from an 1882 American folk song about an imaginary train. No train actually had the name until 1949, when the Wabash Railroad actually named its Detroit-St. Louis day train the Cannon Ball.
  Other rail-to-trail conversions of the Wabash Railroad in the Midwestern region include the Kiwanis Trail in Adrian, Michigan, the Wabash Heritage Trail in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the Wabash Trail in Sangamon County, Illinois.
caption: Wabash Railroad map, showing North and South Forks of the trail in Ohio
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