The Chicago and Wabash Valley Railroad was chartered in 1898 and built a line from a connection with the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railway (the Monon) at McCoysburg northwards to Dinwiddie. Construction started on the middle of the line in 1899, working its way southward to McCoysburg in 1901, and northward to Dinwiddie in 1906.

Primary freight along the route was grain traffic. The C&WV, intending to build further south from McCoysburg, wanted to cross the Monon, who would not allow an at-grade crossing. So instead, the C&WV began building a bridge over the Monon, and even graded a line a few miles south of McCoysburg (as shown on the map). Construction never progressed beyond the initial phase however; the bridge piers can still be seen today in McCoysburg.

The owner, one Benjamin Gifford, had plans to extend the line as far north as Gary, and in fact an additional four miles were built north out of Dinwiddie in 1912, but his death in 1913 brought those plans to a halt. The C&WV was ultimately purchased by the Monon that same year, who abandoned the original C&WV route in 1935.