Pufferbelly: the railroad that became a trail

1868 - present

The railroad: The Pufferbelly Trail runs on the graded bed of a railroad older than most of the city around it. Fort Wayne's own account, in the city's news release of 18 November 2010, dates the line's beginning to 1868: the Fort Wayne to Jackson, Michigan railroad, later the Fort Wayne, Jackson and Saginaw, became part of the New York Central system in 1880, operated as Penn Central in the 1970s, ceased operation in 1976, and had its tracks removed in 1978. The Post and Mail's account of December 2025 dates the Fort Wayne and Jackson Railroad's service from 1879 to 1976. The line begun and the service begun are both printed; the bracket between 1868 and 1879 is construction against operation, and the record holds both dates rather than choosing. The trail's name is the railroad's own slang, carried over: a pufferbelly is a steam locomotive, big-bellied and breathing hard, and the name was chosen, in the city's telling of 2010, as a name from the past to pave a path to the future.

The first mile: The trail began at its northern end, in pieces, each piece a small civic occasion. On 18 November 2010 Mayor Tom Henry joined the Indiana Department of Transportation, Northwest Allen County Trails and the Greenway Consortium to celebrate the completion of the first mile of the 13-mile Pufferbelly Trail, the mile from Wallen Road to the Parkview YMCA; a business owner, Bob Mann, presented the mayor a check for $7,842 toward the work at the ribbon cutting. In March 2011 the Pufferbelly was named one of the Indiana Partnership for Transportation Quality's award-winning projects, the city and Northwest Allen Trails having identified the former New York Central corridor together. From there the trail grew segment by segment southward toward downtown, the way the Aboite system grew, in phases separated by gaps that stood open for years.

The lengths, dated: TrailLink's guide lists the Pufferbelly at 9.1 miles between Fort Wayne and Huntertown, with 13 miles the planned length on the old corridor. Indiana Trails counts 11.25 miles and more. The City of Fort Wayne, on its Rivergreenway page as read in November 2026, states that more than 13 miles of the Pufferbelly Trail have been constructed, from Fitch Road to Fourth Street, and that it connects with the Rivergreenway in downtown Fort Wayne. The three counts are a growth chart, printed in order.

The Golden Spike: The last gap was the commercial mile. Construction began in August 2025 on the 1.7-mile section from Lima Road and Ice Way to Washington Center Road, a 12-foot-wide asphalt trail built on the old New York Central corridor at a cost of $4.2 million, and on 3 December 2025 the city's Public Works Division celebrated its completion with Fort Wayne Trails, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the corridor's businesses. The phase is called the Golden Spike, after the transcontinental railroad's last spike, because once a pedestrian bridge over Coliseum Boulevard is built it will connect 130 miles of existing trails in Fort Wayne and Allen County. The bridge crosses where the railroad crossed, on the west side of the Bob Thomas Ford store whose owner, Bob Thomas, stands on the public record in 2025 discussing the land the city needs from his business for it, a dealership and a trail dividing a boulevard between them, as THE DEALERSHIPS records. The Vann Family Foundation has donated $5 million toward the bridge, which was projected to go to bids in 2025 and construction in 2026. The 2022 record shows the same closing segment drawing a $2,685,278 Next Level Trails grant as the last 1.78 miles, with construction then expected in 2023; the dates moved, and both tellings are kept, because the gap years are part of the trail's history too.

Sources:

1. City of Fort Wayne news release, 18 November 2010, via Around Fort Wayne (the 1868 beginning, the 1880 New York Central absorption, the 1976 end and 1978 track removal; the first mile and the $7,842 check).
2. Around Fort Wayne, 12 March 2011 (the Indiana Partnership for Transportation Quality award).
3. TrailLink, Pufferbelly Trail guide (the 9.1 miles; the name from the steam locomotive nickname); Indiana Trails, Pufferbelly Trail page (the 11.25-plus miles); Parkview Health, trail guide (the name).
4. Poka-Bache Connector Trail, news page, and The Post and Mail, December 2025 (the Golden Spike section, August to December 2025, the $4.2 million, the 1879 to 1976 service dates).
5. Whatzup, Pufferbelly bridge report, as read 2026 (the Vann Family Foundation's $5 million; the 2025 bids and 2026 construction projection); WBOI news release, 22 April 2022 (the $2,685,278 Next Level Trails grant).
6. City of Fort Wayne, Rivergreenway page, as read November 2026 (more than 13 miles constructed, Fitch Road to Fourth Street).