The Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railway was formed in 1880 as a consolidation of the Pekin, Lincoln & Decatur Railroad and the Decatur, Mattoon and Southern Railroad.

The PD&E connected Peoria, Illinois with Evansville, Indiana for the last two decades of the 19th century before being absorbed by the Illinois Central Railroad System in 1900.

The PD&E also had two branch lines, one of which was not included in the IC takeover. Despite the fact that it was such a short lived railroad, the line was still being called "the old PD&E" as late as 1940.