Central Station was an intercity passenger terminal in downtown

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, at the southern end of Grant Park near Roosevelt Road and Michigan Avenue. Owned by the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also ...

, it also served other companies via

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may c ...

. It opened in 1893, replacing Great Central Station (on the site of the current Millennium Station), and closed in 1972 when

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

rerouted services to Union Station. The station building was demolished in 1974. It is now the site of a redevelopment called Central Station, Chicago. Adjoining platforms at Roosevelt served the Illinois Central's suburban trains for both the Electric and

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

lines, in addition to the South Shore Line interurban railroad. All three lines continued north to Randolph Street.

History

Illinois Central

The Romanesque Revival structure, designed by Bradford L. Gilbert and built by the Illinois Central Railroad, opened April 17, 1893 to meet the traffic demands of the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, h ...

. The nine-story building featured a 13-story clock tower and housed the general offices of the railroad. It boasted the largest

train shed A train shed is a building adjacent to a station building where the tracks and platforms of a railway station are covered by a roof. It is also known as an overall roof. Its primary purpose is to store and protect from the elements train ca ...

in the world at the time, which measured 140 by 610 feet. Gremley & Bierdermann Inc. was contracted to provide land survey services and determine the boundary line configuration for the "Central Station Substation". The station was built, owned and used by the Illinois Central Railroad for intercity trains, with connections to commuter trains and the South Shore Line across an adjacent bridge. It was also used by the Illinois Central's Chicago, Madison and Northern Railroad, merged into the IC in 1902, which reached the station via the St. Charles Air Line Railroad, meeting the IC main line just south of the station. Michigan Boulevard at Night pm1912 F

Also sharing the station was the Michigan Central Railroad, part of the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mi ...

system, which had shared the IC's terminal from its opening in 1852. The Michigan Central connected with the Illinois Central at Kensington. The

Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway The Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, also known as the Big Four Railroad and commonly abbreviated CCC&StL, was a railroad company in the Midwestern United States. It operated in affiliation with the New York Central system. ...

(Big Four), also a New York Central line, joined the IC at Kankakee and also used Central Station. Using the station from the beginning was the Chicago and West Michigan Railway, consolidated into the Pere Marquette Railroad in 1900. At the time it used the Michigan Central west from New Buffalo, Michigan. Illinois Central E8A 4027 (24332790279)

The Wisconsin Central Railway (part of the

Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway The Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (MStP&SSM) was a Class I railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the Midwestern United States. Commonly known since its opening in 1884 as the Soo Line after the phonetic s ...

(Soo Line) after 1909) switched from Grand Central Station to Central in 1899 due to disagreements with the

Chicago Terminal Transfer Railroad (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, which owned Grand Central. To get to Central it used a portion of the recently opened Chicago, Hammond and Western Railroad (later the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad) from Franklin Park to Broadview, and the Illinois Central's Chicago, Madison and Northern Railroad from Broadview to the terminal. On December 15, 1903, the Pere Marquette Railroad's line to Porter, Indiana opened, and its trains were rerouted from Central to Grand Central. 1971 Central Station

The Soo Line switched back to Grand Central Station in 1912. On March 1, 1925 the

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond ...

began using Central, switching from

Dearborn Station Dearborn Station (also referred to as Polk Street Depot) was, beginning in the late 1800s, one of six intercity train stations serving downtown Chicago, Illinois. It remained in operation until May 1, 1971. Built in 1883, it is located at ...

. Its new alignment used the allied New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate Road) from Hammond, Indiana north to

Grand Crossing, Illinois Greater Grand Crossing is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, Illinois. It is located on the city's South Side. History Etymology The name "Grand Crossing" comes from an 1853 right-of-way feud between the Lake Shore and Michigan Sout ...

, where it joined the Illinois Central to its terminal. In 1963 the Soo Line once again switched stations, moving back into Central for its final years of passenger service. The New York Central Railroad moved its Michigan Central Railroad trains from Central to the NYC's LaSalle Street Station on January 18, 1957. The Illinois Central Railroad sued the Michigan Central, which had used the Illinois Central's Chicago terminal since 1852, for

breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other par ...

, settling out of court for $5 million.

Amtrak

By May 1, 1971, the startup date of

, Central was used only by trains of the Illinois Central Railroad (including the '' City of Miami'', '' City of New Orleans'' and '' Panama Limited'' on the line south from Chicago, and the '' Hawkeye'' on the line to the west) and the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway (Big Four) (including the '' James Whitcomb Riley''. Amtrak continued only the ''City of New Orleans'', ''James Whitcomb Riley'' and moved the ''South Wind'' to Central Station as part of a rerouting on the Penn Central from former Pennsylvania trackage in Indiana to the former Big Four, as well as the IC's local ''

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

''. On January 23, 1972 Amtrak moved the '' Floridian'' (renamed from the ''South Wind'' in November 1971) to Union Station due to poor track conditions on its route in

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

. The rest of the trains - the '' George Washington'', ''James Whitcomb Riley'', ''Panama Limited'' (temporarily renamed from the ''City of New Orleans'', also in November 1971), and the ''Shawnee'' - last served Central Station March 5, 1972, after which they were rerouted to Union Station. The ''Panama Limited'' and ''Shawnee'' continued to use the IC to just south of Central Station, where they turned west onto the St. Charles Air Line as a realigned junction and ran west to Union Station, including at least one reversal to reach the station, a practice which continues today. In late 1973, the Illinois Central relocated its general offices to the new Illinois Center. Demolition of Central Station and its train shed began on June 3, 1974. The commuter platforms remained until Spring 2009, serving the Metra Electric Line and NICTD's South Shore Line, when they were replaced with more modern structures and renamed

Museum Campus/11th Street station Museum Campus/11th Street (formerly Roosevelt Road) is a commuter rail station in downtown Chicago that serves the Metra Electric Line north to Millennium Station and south to University Park, Blue Island and South Chicago; and the South Sh ...

. The railyards south of the station are the site of ongoing redevelopment as the Central Station project.

Services

Six of Roger Puta's Illinois Central Photos (23728641439)

Central Station was a terminal for the following lines and intercity trains: *

(March 1, 1925 to ca. 1930s) *

(Big Four) **'' Carolina Special'' to Asheville, Charlotte, and Charleston **'' James Whitcomb Riley'' to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

**'' Royal Palm'' and ''

Ponce de Leon Ponce may refer to: * Ponce (surname) * * Ponce, Puerto Rico, a city in Puerto Rico ** Ponce High School ** Ponce massacre, 1937 * USS ''Ponce'', several ships of the US Navy * Manuel Ponce, a Mexican composer active in the 20th century * Britis ...

'' trains to Georgia and Florida *

**'' City of Miami'' to

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

**'' City of New Orleans'' and '' Panama Limited'' to

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Diamond Special Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

'' to St. Louis, Missouri **'' Hawkeye'' to

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...

**''

Iowan This is a list of notable people who were born in or closely associated with the American state of Iowa. People not born in Iowa are marked with §. A * Dudley W. Adams, horticulturalist * John T. Adams, former Republican committee head ...

'' to

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

**''

Land O'Corn The ''Land O'Corn'' was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Illinois Central Railroad between Chicago, Illinois, and Waterloo, Iowa, from 1941 until 1967. Its inception was due in no small part to John W. Rath of Ackley, IA and part own ...

'' to

Waterloo, Iowa Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 67,314, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. The city is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Fall ...

**''

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

'' to

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

**''

'' to

Carbondale, Illinois Carbondale is a city in Jackson and Williamson Counties, Illinois, United States, within the Southern Illinois region informally known as "Little Egypt". The city developed from 1853 because of the stimulation of railroad construction into the ...

**'' Sinnissippi'' to

Freeport, Iowa Freeport is an unincorporated community in northeastern Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. History A post office was established in April 1854, and remained in operation until being discontinued in November 1905. William H. Strayer (186 ...

* Michigan Central Railroad (up to January 17, 1957) **''

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

'' to

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

, and later to

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

**'' Mercury'' to

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, Cleveland, Ohio and

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

**''

North Shore Limited North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''no ...

'' to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

**''

Motor City Special An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

'' to

**''

Niagara Niagara may refer to: Geography Niagara Falls and nearby places In both the United States and Canada *Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls in the Niagara River *Niagara River, part of the U.S.–Canada border *Niagara Escarpment, the cliff ov ...

'' to

(cut back to Niagara Falls to NYC in 1940s) **'' Wolverine'' to

(Soo Line) (1899 to 1912 and after 1965) **'' Laker'' to

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

* Pere Marquette Railroad (up to December 15, 1903) *

(through March 5, 1972) **'' Floridian'' **'' George Washington''/'' James Whitcomb Riley'' **'' Panama Limited'' **''

'' The following

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are co ...

services operated through the station (southern line

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...

after 1926) en route to Randolph Street Terminal (now Millennium Station) approximately 1.5 miles to the north: *

- serving mostly local stops to South Chicago, Blue Island and Richton Park, later extended to University Park *Illinois Central Railroad - serving local stops to Addison (abandoned 1931) *

Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad The Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad , also known as the South Shore Line, is a Class III freight railroad operating between Chicago, Illinois, and South Bend, Indiana. The railroad serves as a link between Class I railroads and ...

(beginning August 29, 1926) -

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 ...

electric trains to

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

The former Illinois Central electric commuter service is operated by

Metra Metra is the commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 242 stations on 11 rail lines. ...

as its Electric Line and the former South Shore interurban is operated by the

Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District The South Shore Line is an electrically powered interurban commuter rail line operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago and the South Bend International Airport in ...

References

PRR Chronology

External links

{{Chicago Railway stations in Chicago Central Chicago Demolished buildings and structures in Chicago Demolished railway stations in the United States Former Amtrak stations in Illinois

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Chicago Central Chicago Central Former South Shore Line stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1893 Railway stations closed in 1972 Clock towers in Illinois 1893 establishments in Illinois 1972 disestablishments in Illinois Chicago Central Chicago Central Romanesque Revival architecture in Illinois Buildings and structures demolished in 1974