Work Text:
The New York & Wumpa Island Railroad's roots go back to the 1910s', following the formation of the Wumpa Island and Charleston Railroad company, later dropping the word "company" once their line was completed. The company started construction of a line from Port Maria on the south eastern side of the island to Charleston, South Carolina on the mainland. Construction started in 1917, but stalled in 1918 after one of the financial department managers of the company was fired and later arrested for embezzlement of funds, causing the company to declare bankruptcy.
Wanting to lend a hand, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad stepped in a helped the company get back on their feet and finish construction of the line, which was completed by the end of 1918, and the first regular service trains ran on January 1st, 1919.
The Wumpa Island and Charleston Railroad built an interchange yard with the Doberbach Valley Railway, Wumpa Island's oldest operating railroad company, at their northern terminus in the town (now city) of Little Hamlet, to allow the Doberbach Valley Railway a connection of sorts to South Carolina, with the Wumpa Island and Charleston later offering the Doberbach Valley Railway a trackage rights agreement to their yard in Charleston. However, the Doberbach Valley Railway's management declined the offer, stating they didn't want to "start a war" between the two.
After the completion of the line from Port Maria to Charleston, the company started work on a new line from Port Maria to North Port, on the northern side of the island. Construction was finished in early 1921.
In early 1922, another one of the Wumpa Island and Charleston's financial department managers was fired and later arrested for embezzlement of funds. He was later found to have connections to the Ku Klux Klan, a white suprimacist group that had a heavy presence in the south. The Seaboard Air Line Railroad had intended to buy out of the Wumpa Island and Charleston and make them a whole owned subsidiary to help them avoid a second bankrupty, but another company soon stepped in, that company being the New York and Charleston Railroad, running from New York, New York to Charleston.
After agreements were made with both the New York and Charleston and Seaboard Air Line Railroad's, the New York and Charleston bought out and absorbed the Wumpa Island and Charleston, and then renamed the entire company to the New York & Wumpa Island Railroad, starting January 1st, 1923.
The New York and Charleston had offered to buyout the Doberbach Valley Railway and operate them as a semi-independent subsidiary, but they declined, stating they'd rather retain independence and maintain a good business relationship with the company, to which they still do this day.
In 1924, the New York and Wumpa Island, introduced a new long distance all pullman coach express train known as the "Wumpa Island Merchant," running from the company's terminal in the New York borough of Brooklyn to Sand Dune City, the capital city of Wumpa Island and by far the biggest city on the whole island/state/whatever you wanna call it. The Wumpa Island Merchant became an instant success, and this was noted by the fact that for years, the train was double headed (hauled by two steam locomotives) south of Philadelphia, where the overhead electric wires end. (Steam locomotives are technically banned from New York City in real life due to legislation that was passed in the 1900's). The electrified section of the line from Brooklyn to Philadelphia was previously electrified at 5,000 volts DC, but was later converted to 25,000 volts AC in 1935.
The company didn't suffer badly from the Great Depression, but some losses came as a result of the depression. Some freight contracts were cancelled, one of them being a major contract.
World War 2 saw a huge spike in freight traffic for the war effort, which saw the company lease one of the Union Pacific Railroad's massive 4000 class 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy's" as a test bed for a future heavy freight locomotive. This resulted in the company buying 200 of the Union Pacific's famous 4-6-6-4 "Challengers" and the construction of 100 massive 2-8-8-4's, which were almost exactly like the UP's "Big Boy's," but with one less set of pilot wheels so that it would stay within the railroad's axle limits. The new 2-8-8-4's were modified to allow for high speed running at up to 70-75 miles per hour, which is essentially what the "Challengers" were meant for.
After the end of the war and the widespread introduction of diesel locomotives, the company kept steam locomotives until December of 1959. However, steam would return in 1960 as the company started running steam hauled tourist and excursion trains, which drew in a lot of money. This also saw limited steam hauled revenue trains ever now and then, which the railroad still does.
Before the merger:
The New York and Charleston Railroad was the result of a merger between the Charleston, Richmond, and Washington Railroad and the New York and Southern Railroad. The merger took place in 1907.
The company's principal mainline was from the magnificent Brooklyn Station in Brooklyn, New York to Charleston (South Carolina) by way of Washington (DC), Richmond (Virginia), and Charlotte (North Carolina). The company also had a number of secondary and branch lines throughout the vast network, including interchange yards with nearly every railroad company between New York and Charleston.
Modern times:
The New York and Wumpa Island has aquired multiple railroads and railroad lines throughout the 20th and 21st century.
The first major acquisition was the buyout of the bankrupt New York, Boston, and Northern Railway in 1959, which saw the latter becoming a subsidiary of the New York and Wumpa Island. In 1999, following the breakup of Conrail (which was created by the US government to clean up the mess created by the ill-fated Penn Central Transportation Company), the New York and Wumpa Island aquired rolling stock and several small lines and one main line that were formerly owned by the company. Following the Conrail asset purchases, the New York and Wumpa Island bought out the Port Maria, Gander Mountain, and Western Railroad and Wumpa Island Central Railroad companies, both of which were entering financial hardship.
In 2001, the company finally achieved a direct connection to Florida after buying out the Miami Central Railroad, which had essentially went bankrupt after their CEO embezzled nearly every last cent of the company's finances and left the US to avoid prosecution.
Lore is not complete and is subject to change.