The ''Shawnee'' was a passenger train operated first by then

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, ...

and then by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

between

Chicago, Illinois 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 ...

and

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 ...

. It operated from 1969 until 1986.

History

The ''Shawnee'' took its name from the

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

, an Algonquian-speaking people native to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

who formerly lived in southern

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. The train made its first run on June 3, 1969. It replaced the ''

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, ...

'', a long-distance train which had operated between Chicago and Jacksonville since 1909. At the dawn of Amtrak the ''Shawnee'' was one of several trains the Illinois Central operated over the Chicago—Carbondale corridor, including the ''Southern Express'', ''Creole'', and ''Louisiane''. Along with the ''

Panama Limited The ''Panama Limited'' was a passenger train operated from 1911 to 1971 between Chicago, Illinois, and New Orleans, Louisiana. The flagship train of the Illinois Central Railroad, it took its name from the Panama Canal, which in 1911 was three y ...

'', also retained from the IC, the ''Shawnee'' continued to use

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 ...

instead of

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

in downtown Chicago. The train was one of the few Illinois Central trains Amtrak retained after the end of most private-sector passenger service in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on May 1, 1971. Its rolling stock consisted of inherited Illinois Central Gulf locomotives and passenger cars, but in 1976 they were replaced with

GE P30CH The GE P30CH was one of the first brand-new diesel-electric locomotives built for Amtrak by General Electric during Amtrak's early years. The design was based on the GE U30C, but had a cowl carbody like its EMD competitors. Amtrak operated the ...

es and

Amfleet Amfleet is a fleet of single-level intercity railroad passenger car (rail), passenger cars built by the Budd Company for American company Amtrak in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Budd based the Amfleet design on its earlier Budd Metroliner, Me ...

s and for a brief time, they used Superliner cars. The 1980s most likely saw introduction of

EMD F40PH The EMD F40PH is a four-axle B-B diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division in several variants from 1975 to 1992. Intended for use on Amtrak's short-haul passenger routes, it became the backbone of Amtrak's ...

s and retaining of Amfleets, as the Superliners were sent on other routes. On October 12, 1979, a northbound train was involved in an accident at Harvey, Illinois, when the train collided with a stationary ICG freight train due to misaligned switches, claiming the lives of two people. The ''Shawnee'' operated until January 12, 1986, when budget cuts led to its consolidation with the '' Illini''. A second round trip was added back in 2006, renamed the ''Saluki''.

References

External links

April 28, 1985 timetable
{{IC named trains Former Amtrak routes Passenger trains of the Illinois Central Railroad Railway services introduced in 1969 Passenger rail transportation in Illinois Railway services discontinued in 1986