Mobile and Ohio Railroad

Mobile and Ohio Railroad
System map of the Mobile & Ohio in 1903
Overview
HeadquartersMobile, Alabama
LocaleSouthern United States
Dates of operation1848–1940
SuccessorGulf, Mobile and Ohio
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Previous gauge,
5 ft (1,524 mm) and converted to
4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm) in 1886[1]

The Mobile and Ohio Railroad was a railroad in the Southern U.S. The M&O was chartered in January and February 1848 by the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee. It was planned to span the distance between the seaport of Mobile, Alabama and the Ohio River near Cairo, Illinois.[2] On September 13, 1940, it was merged with the Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad to form the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad.[3]

At the end of 1925 M&O operated 1,161 miles (1,868 km) of road and 1,536 miles (2,472 km) of track; that year it reported 1785 million ton-miles of revenue freight and 49 million passenger-miles.

  1. ^ The Days They Changed the Gauge
  2. ^ James H. Lemly. "The Mobile and Ohio Railroad 1848-1940". The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
  3. ^ "GM&O Family Tree Flow Chart". The GM&O Historical Society, Inc. Retrieved 2016-04-23.