The line was opened under Big Four subsidiary Evansville, Mt. Carmel & Northern Railroad in July 1911. Passenger service rose and fell between 1911 and 1942 when it was discontinued. For a while though, one could catch a sleeper car to Chicago on this route.

While most of the line has been out of service for decades, some people question if it was ever officially abandoned. Another source said Conrail abandoned the line from North of Evansville to Skelton, near the Wabash River, close to Mt. Carmel. Norfolk Southern retains ownership of the line after receiving it in the Conrail split. At one time, L&N received trackage rights to use it as a bypass around most of Evansville.

Today, with miles of rusty rails in between, both ends of the line still see some service. At Mt. Carmel, rolling stock is stored on the line. At the Evansville end the tracks are used as a CSX mainline into Howell Yard seeing dozens of trains per day.