 | |
 Combined route map of theChicago Central and Pacific (red) and Illinois Central (blue) railroads in 1996.[1] | |
 Two Illinois CentralEMD SD70s lead a train atHomewood, Illinois | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Chicago,Illinois |
| Founders | Robert Rantoul Jr. Robert Schuyler Jonathan Sturges[2] |
| Reporting mark | IC |
| Locale | Midwest toGulf Coast, United States |
| Dates of operation | 1851–present (Remains a non-operational subsidiary.) |
| Successor | Canadian National Railway |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge |
| Previous gauge | 5 ft (1,524 mm) |
| Length | 3,130.21 mi (5,037.58 km) |
TheIllinois Central Railroad (reporting markIC), sometimes called theMain Line of Mid-America, is arailroad in theCentral United States. Its primary routes connectedChicago, Illinois, withNew Orleans, Louisiana, andMobile, Alabama, and thus, theGreat Lakes to theGulf of Mexico. Another line connected Chicago west toSioux City, Iowa (1870), while smaller branches reachedOmaha, Nebraska (1899) fromFort Dodge, Iowa, andSioux Falls, South Dakota (1887), fromCherokee, Iowa. The IC also ran service toMiami, Florida, on trackage owned by other railroads.
The IC, founded in 1851, pioneered the financing later used by several long distance U.S. railroads whose construction was partially financed through afederal land grant. In 1998, theCanadian National Railway, viaGrand Trunk Corporation, acquired control of the IC, and absorbed its operations the following year. The Illinois Central Railroad maintains its corporate existence as a non-operating subsidiary. In 1971,Steve Goodman released a folk anthem, "City of New Orleans" about riding on Illinois Central's "Monday-morning rail" train and the passing of the "magic carpet" ride of passenger rail service in the United States, which once dominated travel.[3]
The IC was one of the oldestClass I railroads in the United States. The company was incorporated by theIllinois General Assembly on January 16, 1836.[4] Within a few months Rep.Zadok Casey (D-Illinois) introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives authorizing aland grant to the company to construct a line from the mouth of the Ohio River toChicago and on toGalena.[5] Federal support, however, was not approved until 1850, when U.S. PresidentMillard Fillmore signed a land grant for the construction of the railroad.[6] The Illinois Central was the first land-grant railroad in the United States.[7]
The Illinois Central was chartered by the Illinois General Assembly on February 10, 1851.[8] SenatorStephen A. Douglas and later PresidentAbraham Lincoln were both Illinois Central men who lobbied for it. Douglas owned land near the terminal in Chicago. Lincoln was a lawyer for the railroad. Illinois legislators appointedSamuel D. Lockwood, recently retired from theIllinois Supreme Court (who may have given both lawyers the oral examination before admitting them to the Illinois bar), as a trustee on the new railroad's board to guard the public's interest. Lockwood, who would serve more than two decades until his death, had overseen federal land monies shortly after Illinois' statehood, then helped oversee early construction of the recently completedIllinois and Michigan Canal.
Upon its completion in 1856, the IC was the longest railroad in the world. Its main line went fromCairo, Illinois, at the southern tip of the state, toGalena, in the northwest corner. A branch line went fromCentralia (named for the railroad), to the rapidly growing city ofChicago. In Chicago, its tracks were laid along the shore ofLake Michigan and on an offshore causeway downtown, but land-filling and natural deposition have moved the present-day shore to the east. Track from Centralia north to Freeport would be abandoned in the 1980s, as traffic to Galena was routed via Chicago. During the Civil War Chicago became the supply base for the Western armies. GeneralUlysses S Grant took his forces on the Illinois Central—his supply line—down to Cairo. He then he marched south to seize control of Kentucky and Tennessee on his way to victories atShiloh,Vicksburg, andChattanooga.[9] For the entire war, the Illinois Central carried 626,000 soldiers back and forth for a total of 128,000,000 passenger miles of military service, for which the War Department paid $1.7 million, plus another $.5 million to move freight.[10]
In 1867, the Illinois Central extended its track intoIowa. During the 1870s and 1880s, the IC acquired and expanded railroads in the southern United States. IC lines crisscrossed the state ofMississippi and went as far south asNew Orleans, Louisiana, and east toLouisville, Kentucky. In the 1880s, northern lines were built toDodgeville, Wisconsin;Sioux Falls, South Dakota; andOmaha, Nebraska. Further expansion continued into the early twentieth century.
The Illinois Central, and the other "Harriman lines" owned byE.H. Harriman by the twentieth century, became the target of theIllinois Central shopmen's strike of 1911. Although marked by violence and sabotage in the southern, midwestern, and western states, the strike was effectively over in a few months. The railroads simply hired replacements, among them African-American strikebreakers, and withstood diminishing union pressure. The strike was eventually called off in 1915.
| IC (incl Y&MV, G&SI) | Vicksburg, Shreveport, & Pacific | Alabama & Vicksburg | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925 | 15,050 | 239 | 159 |
| 1933 | 7,776 | (into Y&MV) | (into Y&MV) |
| 1944 | 24,012 | ||
| 1960 | 17,171 | ||
| 1970 | 22,902 |
| IC (incl Y&MV, G&SI) | Vicksburg Shreveport & Pacific | Alabama & Vicksburg | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925 | 982 | 22 | 20 |
| 1933 | 547 | (into Y&MV) | (into Y&MV) |
| 1944 | 2225 | ||
| 1960 | 848 | ||
| 1970 | 764 |
The totals above do not include the Waterloo RR, Batesville Southwestern, Peabody Short Line or CofG and its subsidiaries. On December 31, 1925, IC/Y&MV/G&SI operated 6,562 route-miles on 11,030 miles of track; A&V and VS&P added 330 route-miles and 491 track-miles. At the end of 1970, IC operated 6,761 miles of road and 11,159 of track.
In 1960, the railroad retired its last steam locomotive,2-8-2 Mikado #1518. On August 31, 1962, the railroad was incorporated as Illinois Central Industries, Inc. ICI acquired Abex Corporation (formerly American Brake Shoe and Foundry Co.) in 1968.[11]
On August 10, 1972, the Illinois Central Railroad merged with theGulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad to form theIllinois Central Gulf Railroad (reporting markICG). October 30 of that year saw theIllinois Central Gulf commuter rail crash, the company's deadliest.
At the end of 1980, ICG operated 8,366 miles of railroad on 13,532 miles of track; that year it reported 33,276 million ton-miles of revenue freight and 323 million passenger-miles. Later in that decade, the railroad spun off most of its east–west lines and many of its redundant north–south lines, including much of the former GM&O. Most of these lines were bought by other railroads, including entirely new railroads such as theChicago, Missouri and Western Railway;Paducah and Louisville Railway;Chicago Central and Pacific Railroad; andMidSouth Rail Corporation.
In 1988, the railroad's parent company, IC Industries, spun off its remaining rail assets and changed its name to Whitman Corporation.[12] On February 29, 1988, the newly separated ICG dropped the "Gulf" from its name and again became the Illinois Central Railroad.
On February 11, 1998, the IC was purchased for about $2.4 billion in cash and shares byCanadian National Railway (CN). Integration of operations began July 1, 1999.
In November 2020, as part of celebrations for the 25th anniversary of CN's privatization, the company unveiled a series of locomotives repainted in the schemes of the company's predecessor and subsidiary railroads.GE ET44AC No. 3008, which was repainted in the black livery of IC, along with the logos of that company.[13]
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Illinois Central was the major carrier of passengers on its Chicago-to-New Orleans mainline and between Chicago and St. Louis. IC also ran passengers on its Chicago-to-Omaha line, though it was never among the top performers on this route. Illinois Central's largest passenger terminal,Central Station, stood at 12th Street east of Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Due to the railroad's north–south route from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes, Illinois Central passenger trains were one means of transport during theAfrican AmericanGreat Migration of the 1920s.[14]
Illinois Central's most famous train was thePanama Limited, a premier all-Pullman car service between Chicago and New Orleans, with a section breaking off at Carbondale to serve St. Louis. In 1949, it added a daytime all-coach companion, theCity of New Orleans, which operated with a St. Louis section breaking off at Carbondale and aLouisville section breaking off atFulton, Kentucky. In 1967, due to losses incurred by the operation of the train, the Illinois Central combined the Panama Limited with a coach-only train called theMagnolia Star.
On May 1, 1971, Amtrak took over intercity rail service. It retained service over the IC mainline, but dropped thePanama Limited in favor of theCity of New Orleans. However, since it did not connect with any other trains in either New Orleans or Chicago, Amtrak moved the route to an overnight schedule and brought back thePanama Limited name. However, it restored theCity of New Orleans name in 1981, while retaining the overnight schedule. This was to capitalize on the popularity of a song about the train, calledCity of New Orleans (song) written bySteve Goodman and performed byArlo Guthrie.Willie Nelson's recording of the song was #1 on the Hot Country Charts in 1984.
Illinois Central ran several other trains along the main route includingThe Creole andThe Louisiane.
TheGreen Diamond was the Illinois Central's premier train between Chicago, Springfield and St. Louis. Other important trains included theHawkeye which ran daily between Chicago and Sioux City and theCity of Miami eventually running every other day between Chicago and Miami via theAtlantic Coast Line, theCentral of Georgia Railroad andFlorida East Coast Railway.
The Illinois Central was also a major operator ofcommuter trains in the Chicago area, operating what eventually became the "IC Electric" line from Randolph Street Terminal in downtown Chicago to the southeast suburbs. In 1987, IC sold this line toMetra, who operates it as theMetra Electric District. It still operates out of what is nowMillennium Station, which is still called "Randolph Street Terminal" by many longtime Chicago-area residents. In honor of thePanama Limited, the Electric District appears as "Panama Orange" on Metra system maps and timetables. Additionally, the IC operated a second commuter line out of Chicago (theWest Line) which served Chicago's western suburbs. Unlike the electrified commuter service, the West Line did not generate much traffic and was eliminated in 1931.
Amtrak presently runs three trains daily over this route, theCity of New Orleans and theIllini andSaluki between Chicago and Carbondale. Another Illinois corridor service is planned for the formerBlack Hawk route between Chicago, Rockford and Dubuque. Amtrak, at the state of Illinois' request, did a feasibility study to reinstate theBlack Hawk route to Rockford and Dubuque. Initial capital costs range from $32 million to $55 million, depending on the route. Once in operation, the service would require roughly $5 million a year in subsidies from the state.[15]
On December 10, 2010, IDOT announced the route choice for the resumption of service to begin in 2014 going over mostlyCN railway.[16][better source needed]
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Presidents of the Illinois Central Railroad have included:
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Several locomotives and rolling stock formerly owned and used by Illinois Central are preserved, and many of them reside in parks and museums across the United States.
The original Mississippi Central line was chartered in 1852. Construction of the 255 miles (410 km)5 ft (1,524 mm)[23]gauge line began in 1853 and was completed in 1860, just prior to theCivil War, fromCanton, Mississippi toJackson, Tennessee.[24] The southern terminus of the line connected to theNew Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad at Canton. It also connected to theMemphis and Charleston Railroad atGrand Junction, Tennessee and theMobile and Ohio Railroad at Jackson, Tennessee. The Mississippi Central was the scene of several military actions from 1862 to 1863 and was severely damaged during the fighting.[25] Company president,Absolom M. West succeeded in repairing the damage and returning it to operating condition soon after the end of the War.
By 1874, interchange traffic with the Illinois Central Railroad was important enough that the IC installed a Nutter hoist atCairo, Illinois to interchange between itsstandard gauge equipment broad gauge used by the Mississippi Central. This allowed thetrucks to be exchanged on 16-18freight cars per hour; aPullman car could be changed in 15 minutes.[26] The original Mississippi Central line was merged into the Illinois Central Railroad subsidiaryChicago, St. Louis and New Orleans Railroad in several transactions finally completed in 1878.[27][28]
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A line started in 1897 as the "Pearl and Leaf Rivers Railroad" was built by the J.J. Newman Lumber Company fromHattiesburg, toSumrall. In 1904 the name was changed to the Mississippi Central Railroad (reporting markMSC). In 1906 the Natchez and Eastern Railway was formed to build a rail line fromNatchez toBrookhaven. In 1909 this line was absorbed by the Mississippi Central.
For a short time during the 1920s, the line operated a service named "The Natchez Route", running trains from Natchez toMobile, Alabama through trackage agreements with theGulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad. At Natchez, freight cars were ferried across theMississippi River to connect with theLouisiana and Arkansas Railway to institute through traffic intoShreveport, Louisiana. In 1967 the property of the Mississippi Central was sold to the Illinois Central Railroad.[29]
Notes
The Illinois Central ... law was approved Sept. 20, 1850 ...
The first land grant ever given by Congress to assist in the construction of a railroad ...
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Further reading
Named trains of theIllinois Central Railroad | ||
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