 The Vandalia was merged into the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad on January 1, 1917, and the Pennsylvania Railroad began operating the branch directly on January 1, 1921, with a lease of the PCC&StL.As the Vandalia line, the track gave purely local services, and business declined as did the quality of the rail line.With an embargo placed on the line between Auburn and Butler due to poor conditions, abandonment of the line began in 1954 with complete abandonment by 1977.