The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

in the

Central United States The Central United States is sometimes conceived as between the Eastern United States, Eastern and Western United States, Western as part of a three-region model, roughly coincident with the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau's d ...

. Its primary routes connected

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois, with

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, and

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

, and thus, the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. Another line connected Chicago west to

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury County, Iowa, Woodbury and Plymouth County, Iowa, Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, fo ...

(1870), while smaller branches reached

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

(1899) from

Fort Dodge, Iowa Fort Dodge is a city in and the county seat of Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 24,871 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a decrease from 25,136 in 2000 United States Census, 2000. F ...

, and

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha Coun ...

(1877), from Cherokee, Iowa. The IC also ran service to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, 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 a federal land grant. In 1998, the

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 ...

, via

Grand Trunk Corporation The Grand Trunk Corporation is the subsidiary holding company for the Canadian National Railway's properties in the United States, and Canada. It is named for CN subsidiary railroad Grand Trunk Western Railroad. The Association of American Railr ...

, 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 Steven Benjamin Goodman (July 25, 1948 – September 20, 1984) was an American folk and country singer-songwriter from Chicago. He wrote the song " City of New Orleans", which was recorded by artists including Arlo Guthrie, John Denver, The ...

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.

History

The IC was one of the oldest

Class I railroad Railroad classes are the system by which Rail freight transport, 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 Transportatio ...

s in the United States. The company was incorporated by the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in ...

on January 16, 1836. Within a few months Rep. Zadok Casey (D-Illinois) introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives authorizing a

land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

to the company to construct a line from the mouth of the Ohio River to

and on to

Galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crysta ...

. Federal support, however, was not approved until 1850, when U.S. President

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853. He was the last president to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House, and the last to be neither a De ...

signed a land grant for the construction of the railroad. The Illinois Central was the first land-grant railroad in the United States. Illinois Central Railway Ad 1870

The Illinois Central was chartered by the Illinois General Assembly on February 10, 1851.Steamtown National Historic Site,
Illinois Central Railroad number 790
' . Retrieved February 10, 2006. Senator

Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (né Douglass; April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. As a United States Senate, U.S. senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party (United States) ...

and later President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

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 appointed Samuel D. Lockwood, recently retired from the

Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the judiciary of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the fiv ...

(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 completed

Illinois and Michigan Canal The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. In Illinois, it ran from the Chicago River in Bridgeport, Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru. The canal crossed the Chicago ...

. Upon its completion in 1856, the IC was the longest railroad in the world. Its main line went from

Cairo, Illinois Cairo ( , sometimes ) is the southernmost city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County, Illinois, Alexander County. A river city, Cairo has the lowest elevation of any location in Illinois and is the only Illinoi ...

, at the southern tip of the state, to

, in the northwest corner. A branch line went from Centralia (named for the railroad), to the rapidly growing city of

. In Chicago, its tracks were laid along the shore of

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

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. In 1867, the Illinois Central extended its track into

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. During the 1870s and 1880s, the IC acquired and expanded railroads in the southern United States. IC lines crisscrossed the state of

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

and went as far south as

, and east to

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. In the 1880s, northern lines were built to Dodgeville, Wisconsin;

; and

. Further expansion continued into the early twentieth century. The Illinois Central, and the other "Harriman lines" owned by E.H. Harriman by the twentieth century, became the target of the Illinois 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. 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 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wh ...

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.

Illinois Central Gulf Railroad (1972–1988)

On August 10, 1972, the Illinois Central Railroad merged with the

Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio was a Class I railroad in the central United States whose primary routes extended from Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana, to St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as Chicago, Illin ...

to form the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad . October 30 of that year saw the Illinois 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 the Chicago, Missouri and Western Railway; Paducah and Louisville Railway; Chicago Central and Pacific Railroad; and MidSouth Rail Corporation. In 1988, the railroad's parent company, IC Industries, spun off its remaining rail assets and changed its name to Whitman Corporation. On February 29, 1988, the newly separated ICG dropped the "Gulf" from its name and again became the Illinois Central Railroad.

Canadian National Railway (1998–present)

On February 11, 1998, the IC was purchased for about $2.4 billion in cash and shares by

(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.

Locomotives

File:Locomotive ICRR LOC det.8d23306.jpg, An IC steam locomotive taking on coal at a

rail yard in November 1942 File:Illinois Central 1234 (SW9) crossing B&O - C&EI crossing at Tuscola, IL on switching run. Tower is a C&EI tower. May 7, 1966 (27111081984).jpg, IC 1234, an EMD SW9, switching at Tuscola, Illinois in 1966 File:Illinois Central diesel.jpg, A preserved Illinois Central EMD GP11 locomotive on static display in downtown

Carbondale, Illinois Carbondale is a city in Jackson County, Illinois, United States, within the Southern Illinois region informally known as "Little Egypt". As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 25,083, making it the most po ...

File:Foreign Power on NS (4599474599).jpg, Illinois Central 1018, an EMD SD70, leads a

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 ...

mixed freight File:IC 3115.jpg, IC 3115, an EMD GP40R, sitting in

Waukesha, Wisconsin Waukesha ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 71,158 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River adjacent to th ...

Passenger train service

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 Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

, 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 the

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

Great Migration of the 1920s. Illinois Central's most famous train was the '' Panama 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, the '' City of New Orleans,'' which operated with a St. Louis section breaking off at Carbondale and a

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

section breaking off at Fulton, 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 the '' Magnolia Star''. On May 1, 1971, Amtrak took over intercity rail service. It retained service over the IC mainline, but dropped the ''Panama Limited'' in favor of the ''City 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 the ''Panama Limited'' name. However, it restored the ''City of New Orleans'' name in 1981, while retaining the overnight schedule. This was to capitalize on the popularity of a song about the train, called City of New Orleans (song) written by

and performed by

Arlo Guthrie Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk music, folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing protest song, songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his fa ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

's recording of the song was #1 on the Hot Country Charts in 1984. Illinois Central ran several other trains along the main route including ''The Creole'' and ''The Louisiane''. The '' Green Diamond'' was the Illinois Central's premier train between Chicago, Springfield and St. Louis. Other important trains included the ''Hawkeye'' which ran daily between Chicago and Sioux City and the '' City of Miami'' eventually running every other day between Chicago and Miami via the Atlantic Coast Line, the Central of Georgia Railroad and

Florida East Coast Railway The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida, currently owned by Grupo México. Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a p ...

. The Illinois Central was also a major operator of commuter 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 to

Metra Metra is the primary 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 243 train station, stati ...

, who operates it as the

Metra Electric District The Metra Electric District is an electrified commuter rail line owned and operated by Metra which connects Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Station), in downtown Chicago, with the city's southern suburbs. As of 2018, it is the fif ...

. It still operates out of what is now

Millennium Station Millennium Station, (previously known as Randolph Street Terminal and occasionally referred to as Randolph Street station or Randolph/South Water Street station) is a commuter rail terminal located in the Chicago Loop, Loop area of Chicago, do ...

, which is still called "Randolph Street Terminal" by many longtime Chicago-area residents. In honor of the ''Panama 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 (the

West Line West Line or Westline may refer to: * Milwaukee District West Line, Metra commuter rail line, United States * Union Pacific West Line, Metra commuter rail line, United States * West Line, Chennai Suburban, a railway line in India * West Line, Misso ...

) 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, the '' City of New Orleans'' and the ''Illini'' and ''Saluki'' between Chicago and Carbondale. Another Illinois corridor service is planned for the former ''Black Hawk'' route between Chicago, Rockford and Dubuque. Amtrak, at the state of Illinois' request, did a feasibility study to reinstate the ''Black 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. On December 10, 2010, IDOT announced the route choice for the resumption of service to begin in 2014 going over mostly CN railway.

Illinois Central named trains

Company officers

Presidents of the Illinois Central Railroad have included: * Sidney Breese, Father of the Illinois Central Railroad * Robert Schuyler, 1851–1853 * William P. Burrall, 1853–1854 * John N. A. Griswold, 1855 * William H. Osborn, 1855–1865 * John M. Douglas, 1865–1871, 1875–1876 * John Newell, 1871–1874 * Wilson G. Hunt, 1874–1875 * William K. Ackerman, 1876–1883 * James C. Clarke, 1883–1887 * Stuyvesant Fish, 1887–1906 * James Theodore Harahan, 1906–1911 * Charles H. Markham, 1911–1918 * Charles A. Peabody, 1918–1919 * Charles H. Markham, 1919–1926 * Lawrence A. Downs, 1926–1938 * John L. Beven, 1938–1945 * Wayne A. Johnston, 1945–1966 (chairman of Illinois Central Industries to 1967) * William B. Johnson, 1967–1969 (chairman of IC Industries to 1987) * Alan Stephenson Boyd, 1969–1972 * William J Taylor, 1976–1983 * Harry J Bruce, 1983–1990 * Edward L. Moyers, 1990–1993 * E. Hunter Harrison, 1993–1998

Preservation

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. * No. 201, a 2-4-4 suburban tank locomotive that participated in the "Wheels A-Rolling" pageant at the Chicago Railroad Fair, is displayed at Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois. * No. 268, an 0-6-0 switcher, resides in

Laurel, Mississippi Laurel is a city in and the second county seat of Jones County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,161. Laurel is northeast of Ellisville, the first county seat, which contains the first county ...

. * No. 333, an 0-6-0 switcher, and several passenger cars are on display just outside the historic Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad Company Depot in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

. * No. 764, a 651 class 2-8-0 "Consolidation", was donated to the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1956. * No. 790 is on static display at

Steamtown National Historic Site Steamtown National Historic Site (NHS) is a List of railway museums, railroad museum and Heritage railway, heritage railroad located on in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and ...

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

. * No. 1518, a 1500 series

"Mikado", is on static display in

Paducah, Kentucky Paducah ( ) is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in the Upland South, and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located in the Southeastern Unit ...

. It was built by the

Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works (LLW) was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company's name is derived from the location of its main manufacturing plant in Lima, Ohio ( ). The shops were located be ...

in 1923. * No. 2500, the first of 2500 class 4-8-2 "Mountain" types, is on static display in the Age of Steam Memorial in Centralia, Illinois. * No. 2542, a 2500 class 4-8-2, is on static display at McComb, Mississippi. * No. 3525, an 0-8-0 switcher, is displayed at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, North Carolina while painted as a Southern Railway locomotive & was renumbered to 1894. * No. 3706, a 2-6-0 "Mogul", resides at the Illinois Railway Museum. * A yard office and a coal-fueling tower remain at the Illinois Central yards in

Council Bluffs, Iowa Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The population was 62,799 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, te ...

. * IC No. 8408 GP10 locomotive/IC 9426 caboose static display Homewood, IL * Illinois Central GP11 #8701, along with an IC caboose, preserved on static display at the Carbondale passenger station in

. * Illinois Central GP11 #8733 preserved at the Monticello Railway Museum in Monticello, Illinois. * Several pieces of IC rolling stock also reside at the Monticello Railway Museum: IC combine No. 892, IC Day Coaches Nos. 2920, 2855, and 2612, IC Business Car No. 7, IC 10-6 sleeper Nos. 3531 "Council Bluffs", IC Dorm-baggage No. 1906, IC No. 518 (MAIL STORAGE), IC Panama Limited Observation "Gulfport", ICG cement hopper No. 100040, IC No. 65018, IC bridge crane No. X238, IC No. X1957 Boxcar, IC No. X2000 Idler Flat, IC's No. X4342 and X4352 tenders, IC X9151 Jordan Spreader, and IC cabooses Nos. 9926, 9831, and 9880. * An Illinois Central caboose and banana car are preserved at the Casey Jones Railroad Museum in Water Valley, Mississippi. Chicago IC Oct 1967 3-32

* An Illinois Central caboose is privately owned and preserved in Raymond, Mississippi at the old train depot in the center of the town. *Illinois Central SD40X No. 6071 (Ex-Gulf, Mobile and Ohio) at the Monticello Railway Museum in Monticello, Illinois *Illinois Central Gulf GP8 No. 7738 at the Bluegrass Railroad Museum in Versailles, Kentucky *1974 Illinois Central Gulf caboose (No. 199422) in service as IRM 9422 at the Indiana Railway Museum in French Lick, Indiana. *Illinois Central caboose on historic main street in Palestine, Illinois. *One Illinois Central Caboose resides in Grayville, Illinois. Metra Electric train

*IC Nos. 1198 and 1380 "Wickerliner" (built by Pullman 1926) electric commuter cars at Illinois Railway Museum *IC Nos. 1534 and 1630 "Highliner" (built by St Louis 1971–1972) electric commuter cars at Illinois Railway Museum (these cars were renamed "Highliner I" in 2005 well into their

Metra Electric The Metra Electric District is an Railway electrification system, electrified commuter rail line owned and operated by Metra which connects Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Station), in downtown Chicago, with the city's southern Chic ...

when

ordered the all-new "Highliner II") *IC Nos. 1637 and 1645 "Highliner" (built by Bombardier 1978–1979) electric commuter cars at Illinois Railway Museum (these cars were renamed "Highliner I" in 2005 well into their

when

ordered the all-new "Highliner II")

Mississippi Central (1852–1878)

The original Mississippi Central line was chartered in 1852. Construction of the

gauge Gauge ( ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, especia ...

line began in 1853 and was completed in 1860, just prior to the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, from

Canton, Mississippi The city of Canton is the county seat of Madison County, Mississippi, United States, and is situated in the northern part of the Jackson, Mississippi metropolitan area, metropolitan area surrounding the state capital, Jackson, Mississippi, Jackso ...

Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis and 130 Miles Southwest of Nashville, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population wa ...

. The southern terminus of the line connected to the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad at Canton. It also connected to the Memphis and Charleston Railroad at Grand Junction, Tennessee and the

Mobile and Ohio Railroad Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ...

at Jackson, Tennessee. The Mississippi Central was the scene of several military actions from 1862 to 1863 and was severely damaged during the fighting. 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 at

to interchange between its

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

equipment broad gauge used by the Mississippi Central. This allowed the trucks to be exchanged on 16-18 freight cars per hour; a Pullman car could be changed in 15 minutes.Edward Vernon, The Decline in Railroad Construction, Editorial
American Railroad Manual
New York, 1874; page li. The original Mississippi Central line was merged into the Illinois Central Railroad subsidiary Chicago, St. Louis and New Orleans Railroad in several transactions finally completed in 1878.

Mississippi Central (1897–1967)

A line started in 1897 as the "Pearl and Leaf Rivers Railroad" was built by the J.J. Newman Lumber Company from

Hattiesburg Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County (where it is the county seat and most populous city) and extending west into Lamar County. The city population was 48,730 in 2020, making it the 5th m ...

, to Sumrall. In 1904 the name was changed to the Mississippi Central Railroad . In 1906 the Natchez and Eastern Railway was formed to build a rail line from Natchez to Brookhaven. 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 to

through trackage agreements with the

Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad The Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad was a railroad in the Southern United States. The first World War had forced government operation upon the company; and in 1919, when it became once more a free agent, it chose Isaac B. Tigrett to chart its ...

. At Natchez, freight cars were ferried across the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

to connect with the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway to institute through traffic into

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

. In 1967 the property of the Mississippi Central was sold to the Illinois Central Railroad. Moody's Transportation Manual (1975), p. xxx

References

Notes Bibliography * * Stover, John F., Purdue University,
The Management of the Illinois Central Railroad in the 20th Century
' (

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

). Retrieved February 9, 2006. * University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Archives,
Wayne A. Johnston Papers, 1945–1967
'. Retrieved February 9, 2006. * Further reading * Daly, Aiden Thomas. "Homes for the Industrious in the Garden State of the West: The Illinois Central Railroad's Role in the Economic, Environmental, and Agricultural Development of Illinois, 1850–1861" (PhD dissertation, Iowa State University; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2022. 29261430). * Downey, Clifford J. ''Chicago and the Illinois Central Railroad'' (Arcadia, 2007), popular history. * Gates, Paul Wallace. "The promotion of agriculture by the Illinois Central Railroad, 1855-1870." ''Agricultural History'' 5.2 (1931): 57–76
online
* Gates, Paul Wallace. '' The Illinois Central Railroad and its Colonization Work'' (Harvard UP, 1934

* Lightner, David L. ''Labor on the Illinois Central Railroad, 1852-1900 : the evolution of an industrial environment'' (1977
online
* Murray, Tom. ''Illinois Central Railroad'' (2006), photographs, many in color, with brief tex
online
* Stover, John. ''History of the Illinois Central Railroad'' (1975), a standard scholarly histor
online
* Stover, John F. "The Illinois Central and the Growth of Illinois and Chicago in the 1850s." ''Railroad History'' 159 (1988): 39–50
online
* Stover, John F. "The Management of the Illinois Central Railroad in the 20th Century." ''Business and Economic History'' (1979): 55–60
online
* Sutton, Robert M. ''The Illinois Central Railroad in peace and war, 1858–1868'' (1948).

External links

Official website, archived 1999

Illinois Central Historical SocietyIllinois Central Railroad On-LineSTB decision, docket number FD_33556_0
(granting CN control of the IC)
Illinois Central Railroad Company Archives
at the Newberry Library
Guide to the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad. Memorabilia, 1857–1971. 5197. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Martin P. Catherwood Library, Cornell University.

Illinois Central Railroad Collection
, McLean County Museum of History
Guide to Tracy W. Simpson, Electrification Project : The Illinois Central Railroad Company Suburban Service at Chicago, Ill. 1909
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Illinois Central Railroad Railway companies established in 1851 Railway companies disestablished in 1972 Railway companies established in 1988 Canadian National Railway subsidiaries Predecessors of the Canadian National Railway Former Class I railroads in the United States Railroads in the Chicago metropolitan area Rail lines receiving land grants Defunct companies based in Chicago Defunct Alabama railroads Defunct Arkansas railroads Defunct Illinois railroads Defunct Indiana railroads Defunct Iowa railroads Defunct Kentucky railroads Defunct Louisiana railroads Defunct Minnesota railroads Defunct Mississippi railroads Defunct Missouri railroads Defunct Nebraska railroads Defunct South Dakota railroads Defunct Tennessee railroads Defunct Wisconsin railroads Superfund sites in Tennessee Non-operating common carrier freight railroads in the United States 1851 establishments in Illinois American companies established in 1851 1998 mergers and acquisitions