The Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railroad (reporting mark CIWN)[1] was established in 1915 as a reorganization of the Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railway, which in turn had been created in 1902 as a merger of the Indiana, Decatur and Western Railway (ID&W) and the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Indianapolis Railroad (CH&I).

[citation needed] The CIWN's owned mainline was three segments connected and extended by trackage rights.

The first segment extended from its trackage rights over the Chicago and Alton Railway in Springfield to Boody, Illinois.

Trackage rights via the Wabash Railway connected Boody with Decatur, Illinois.

[2] In 1925, the CIWN reported 376 million net ton-miles of revenue freight and 14 million passenger-miles; at the end of that year it operated 347 miles (558 km) of road and 460 miles (740 km) of track.