Whitewater Valley Railroad

In 1863 the Indianapolis and Cincinnati Railroad (I&C) acquired the right to build on the old towpath, although many portions of the canal remained open as a source of water power for mills such as the one still operating in Metamora.

After the I&C purchased the canal right-of-way, its subsidiary, the White Water Valley Railroad (WVRR), reached Connersville in the spring of 1867, and continued on to Hagerstown in 1868.

The Big Four (later the New York Central Railroad or NYC) operated commuter trains from Connersville and from Harrison, Ohio, into Cincinnati, and briefly operated through trains and parlor cars from Cincinnati to Fort Wayne, changing at Connersville to the tracks of the Lake Erie and Western Railroad.

The portion of the remaining NYC branch between Connersville and Beeson's Station was sold to Indiana Hi-Rail Corporation in 1981.

The present Whitewater Valley Railroad was formed as a not-for-profit corporation in 1972, and began weekend passenger operations in 1974 on 25 miles (40 km) of leased Penn Central track between Connersville and Brookville.

The railroad proposes to install a turntable and roundhouse shelter to protect locomotives and other equipment from the weather in this general location along with providing space for other historic buildings.

The railroad operates passenger excursion trains pulled by historic diesel locomotives and open window Erie, New York Central, and Rock Island coaches on a regular schedule.