The Bloomer Shippers Connecting Railroad (or Bloomer Line) , headquartered in

Gibson City, Illinois Gibson City is a city in Ford County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,475 at the 2020 census. History The site of Gibson City was purchased and platted by Jonathan B. Lott in 1869. In 1870, Lott built a home and a post office there ...

, is a

Class III railroad Railroad classes are the system by which freight railroads are designated in the United States. Railroads are assigned to Class I, II or III according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With a ...

serving agricultural communities in east-central Illinois.

History

In June 1985, the

Illinois Central Gulf Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, ...

(ICG) sold a portion of its circuitous route between Kankakee and Bloomington to a new spin-off railroad company which called itself "The Bloomer Line" (after the ex-

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, ...

division it had purchased). Specifically, the Bloomer Line purchased the right-of-way between Herscher and

Barnes Barnes may refer to: People *Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name) Places United Kingdom * Barnes, London, England ** Barnes railway station **Barnes Bridge railway station ** Barnes High Stree ...

. The railroad has since taken the line between Herscher and Kempton and Barnes and Colfax out of service. At Chatsworth, the Bloomer Line makes a connection with the

Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway The Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway , formerly nicknamed the "Tip-Up", is a shortline railroad that operates of trackage between Mapleton and Peoria in Illinois, and Logansport, Indiana. TP&W also interchanges with multiple surrounding railr ...

. In May 1990, the railroad purchased from the

Norfolk and Western Railway The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...

its ex-

Wabash Railway The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary con ...

line from near

Risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environ ...

south to Gibson City. Connections to N&W successor

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

and ICG successor

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

are made at Gibson City.

Operations

The Bloomer Line is owned by Alliance Grain Company, which owns the eight grain elevators served by the railroad. It is primarily a grain transporter, shipping carloads of

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

soybeans The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source of f ...

and

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

from these locations to the connecting railroads, but also serves several other industries, including a soybean processing plant in Gibson City and a fertilizer distribution facility in Colfax. Bloomer Line locomotives are painted bright red and labeled in a font which looks very similar to that used on the former

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwest, Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of ...

. Locomotive maintenance was conducted at Chatsworth until shops were constructed at Gibson City after that line was purchased.

Locomotive Roster

External links

Alliance Grain
Official Bloomer Line Website
Bloomer Line
Unofficial Website
Bloomer Line Roster
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloomer Shippers Connecting Railroad Illinois railroads Spin-offs of the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad