Napoleon, Defiance and Western Railway

The railroad line was originally a main line on the Wabash Railroad 5th District from New Haven, Indiana, to Toledo, Ohio. Subsequent owners included the Norfolk and Western Railway, Norfolk Southern Railway, the Indiana Hi-Rail Corporation and the Maumee & Western Railroad. The line was purchased by Pioneer Railcorp on December 28, 2012, for $5.4 million. In 2019, Pioneer Railcorp was acquired by BRX Transportation Holdings and renamed as Pioneer Lines. In September 2022, Patriot Rail Company LLC purchased Pioneer Lines from BRX Transportation Holdings. In 2023, the railroad was named "Shortline of the Year" by "Railway Age".

"Worst Railroad Tracks in America"

When it purchased the rail line, Pioneer described it as being "in dire need of rehabilitation," Prior to Pioneer's purchase, the line had been dubbed by some as being the "Worst Railroad Tracks in America" due to its poor track conditions. The track conditions were the result of decades of underinvestment in maintenance. The poor conditions were also attributed to the fact that the line had been run through a portion of the former Great Black Swamp and the underlying wetland soils made it difficult to maintain the railroad in good condition.

The conditions were so poor that the entire line was classified as "excepted", the lowest possible track classification. That classification limited track speed to 10 MPH although trains often operated at even slower speeds to limit the number of derailments, which happened frequently. It also limited the height, length and type of cars that could move over the line. Much of the track was old, lightweight 80 pound rail, which restricted the weight of the carloads that could operate over the line.

Rehabilitating the Napoleon, Defiance & Western

Starting with Pioneer taking ownership of the line and with funding assistance from Ohio and Indiana and the federal government, extensive efforts have been made to address the decades of deferred maintenance and to improve the overall state of the railroad. This work started on day one of operations with a focus on replacing decayed ties, broken rails, clearing brush and trees from the railroad right-of-way, putting down ballast and upgrading railroad crossings. In recent years, the work has shifted to replacing the 80 pound rail with more robust rail that can support heavier car loadings.

The pace of improvements accelerated after the purchase of Pioneer RailCorp by BRX Transportation Holdings. The new CEO of Pioneer Lines, Alex Yeros, set a goal to upgrade all of the track owned by Pioneer Lines railroads, to at least Class 1 standards. The current owner, Patriot Rail, has continued the efforts to upgrade all of the main line to Class 1 standards. When the work associated with the Phase 3 CRISI grant is completed, the railroad will have new rail and ties along the entire active portion of the line, and there will be no significant deferred track maintenance remaining.

The list of improvements include:

2013

Phase 1 - Sidings and Track Rehabilitation

New sidings east of Cecil and on the east side of Napoleon

The railroad normally operates Monday through Saturday with trains typically moving railcars from the interchanges with CSX at Defiance, Ohio and Norfolk Southern at Woodburn, Indiana to customers located along the line and returning cars back to the interchanges. Some customers also require switching service to move railcars for loading and unloading. The railroad also operates over 3 miles of track that runs south from Cecil, Ohio to the Lafarge North America (Paulding Plant). This section of track was originally part of the Cincinnati Northern Railroad and is owned and maintained by Lafarge.

In past years, the section of the line between Cecil and Defiance was largely inactive due to a lack of customers and poor track conditions. As the track conditions have improved, trains operating through this section have been more common. The restoration of this section has given customers the option to route their traffic through more than one interchange, potentially reducing their shipping costs.

The section of the line that served Liberty Center, Ohio was taken out of service in 2016. While that portion of the line has not been officially abandoned, the rails have been removed from a point immediately west of US-24 and continuing east through Liberty Center. That portion of the line had been primarily used for car storage.

The railroad's main yard is located between 5th Street and Davidson Street in Defiance. The railroad's headquarters is located at 817 5th Street in a restored Wabash Railroad-era freight house adjacent to the main yard. The railroad does not have a dedicated engine house and it's not uncommon to find locomotives tied down at various locations on the line.