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Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad

TheDanville - Chicago Flyer atSteger, Illinois on November 26, 1965
Overview
Headquarters	Chicago
Reporting mark	CEI
Locale	Chicago, Illinois,St. Louis, Missouri,Evansville, Indiana and southernIllinois
Dates of operation	1877–1976
Successor	Split betweenMissouri Pacific Railroad (laterUnion Pacific Railroad) andLouisville and Nashville Railroad (laterCSX)
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge
Route map Legend Chicago Monmence State Line Watzeka Classna Park Illinois Indiana Freeland Park Illinois Indiana Hoopeston Judysville Danville Villa Grove Wabash River Illinois Indiana Tuscola Sullivan Brazil Findlay Indianapolis Terre Haute Shelbyville Hymera Pana Sullivan Altamont Vincennes Salem Princeton Hillsboro Mount Vernon Benton Evansville Marlon Joppa Thebes Mississippi River Illinois Missouri St. Louis Chaffee This diagram: view talk edit

TheChicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad (reporting markCEI) was aClass I railroad that linkedChicago to southernIllinois,St. Louis, andEvansville. Founded in 1877, it grew aggressively and stayed relatively strong throughout theGreat Depression and two World Wars before finally being purchased by theMissouri Pacific Railroad (MP or MoPac) and theLouisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N). Missouri Pacific merged with the C&EI corporate entity in 1976, and was later acquired itself by theUnion Pacific Railroad.

The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was organized in 1877 as a consolidation of three others: theChicago, Danville and Vincennes Railroad (Chicago-Danville, November 1871), the Evansville, Terre Haute and Chicago Railroad (Danville-Terre Haute, October 1871) and theEvansville and Terre Haute Railroad (Terre Haute-Evansville, November 1854). Intended to merge or purchase railroads that had built lines between the southern suburbs of Chicago andTerre Haute, Indiana throughDanville, Illinois, the C&EI constructed a new line from Chicago to aMississippi River connection in extreme southern Illinois atThebes.

The management of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois and the Chicago and Indiana Coal Railway ("the Coal Road" or C&IC) became intertwined and eventually a connection was built between the two railroads between Goodland, Indiana (on the C&IC) and Momence (on the C&EI). By 1894 the Eastern had merged the C&IC. The C&EI continued this vigorous growth into the next decade.^[1]

The city ofDanville, Illinois, was the midpoint of the primary mainline between Chicago and Evansville. The first repair shops for locomotives and cars were built on the west side of the city in 1877 at the intersection of East Fairchild and Section Streets. When it became apparent that the original shops had become obsolete, it was decided to build new shops on the east side of town in the Oaklawn neighborhood. By that time the C&EI was considered a large regional railroad with 737 miles of mainline, 159 locomotives, 125 passenger cars, and 11,000 freight cars. Expansion of the railroad in the early 1900s led to the near doubling of the shop capacity just a few years later, at which point about 1,200 people were employed there.^[2]

In 1902, theFrisco purchased a controlling interest in the Chicago and Eastern Illinois and continued building; first a connection between the two railroads atPana, Illinois, next extending the line in Indiana toEvansville and a connection with theOhio River. However, in 1913 financial problems led to the collapse of the Frisco, and the Eastern was once again on its own by 1920. The C&EI spun off a variety of their lines, including the "Coal Road" (which became theChicago, Attica and Southern Railroad). The C&EI did not survive the Great Depression intact, enteringbankruptcy in 1933, re-emerging just beforeWorld War II in 1940. The railroad continued its brisk growth once again, gaining access toSt. Louis, Missouri in 1954.

TheMissouri Pacific Railroad began to quietly purchase C&EI stock in 1961. After approval was gained from the Interstate Commerce Commission, Mopac assumed control of the C&EI in May 1967.^[3] One of the stipulations of the merger required sale of C&EI's Evansville line to theLouisville and Nashville Railroad in 1969.^[4] The line directly south of Chicago to near Danville was actually purchased by both railroads (and continues to be owned and operated jointly by MoPac and L&N's successors,Union Pacific Railroad andCSX Transportation). The C&EI was maintained as a separate subsidiary for a few years, but Missouri Pacific merged it in 1976. The route from Woodland Junction, Illinois through Danville into Indiana became part of L&N and its successors (now CSX), while the western fork toward Thebes and St. Louis became MoPac/UP.

TheChicago terminal for the C&EI passenger trains wasDearborn Station, sometimes known as 'Polk Station.'LaSalle Street Station was used during Frisco control of the railroad.

The C&EI operated many streamliners. Its own trains, the Chicago toCypressMeadowlark, and the Chicago to EvansvilleWhippoorwill were short lived. The C&EI ran the Chicago to Evansville portion of the L&N'sHumming Bird, andGeorgian. The railroad also participated in the Chicago to Florida passenger service on the "Dixie Route", with trains such as theDixie Limited, theDixie Flyer, theDixie Mail, theDixie Flagler, and theDixiana. It handled the trains from Chicago to Evansville, which then passed to theLouisville and Nashville,Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis,Central of Georgia,Atlantic Coast Line andFlorida East Coast. In 1968 the C&EI terminated its Chicago to Evansville passenger operations, resulting in the loss of the Chicago leg of the remaining trains among those mentioned above, theGeorgian and theHumming Bird. TheGeorgian was discontinued as a named train at this point. The C&EI's sole remaining train was the two and a half hour Chicago - Danville, IllinoisDanville-Chicago Flyer.^[5]

Miles of road operated at year end: 945 in 1925, 863 in 1967, 643 in 1970 after L&N took over its piece. Track-miles operated: 1928 in 1925, 1435 in 1967, 1067 in 1970. In 1967 it reported 3173 million ton-miles of revenue freight and 41 million passenger-miles.

• Lyford, Will H. (1913).History of Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad Company to June 30, 1913. Chicago: The Gunthorp-Warren Printing Company. Retrieved2012-01-14.

• Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society (includes predecessor roads)
• A Brief History of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad
• Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad System Map
• 1953 Chicago and Eastern Illinois timetable
• Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad Company Records atthe Newberry Library

• Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad
• Railway companies established in 1877
• Railway companies disestablished in 1921
• Railway companies established in 1940
• Railway companies disestablished in 1976
• Predecessors of the Missouri Pacific Railroad
• Defunct Illinois railroads
• Defunct Indiana railroads
• Defunct Missouri railroads
• Railroads in the Chicago metropolitan area
• Former Class I railroads in the United States
• American companies established in 1940
• 1877 establishments in Illinois

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• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles needing additional references from July 2015
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