47-675: The Chicago, Memphis and Gulf Railroad was incorporated in 1904 as the Dyersburg Northern Railroad . It opened from a junction with an Illinois Central Railroad branch line west of Dyersburg north to Tiptonville, Tennessee , in 1907. The name was changed in 1909, and in 1911 the line was extended to Hickman, Kentucky . The intention was to continue to the Metropolis Bridge over the Ohio River near Paducah, Kentucky via Clinton, Kentucky and Moscow, Kentucky , and so create
94-535: A bill in the U.S. House of Representatives authorizing a land grant to the company to construct a line from the mouth of the Ohio River to Chicago and on to Galena . Federal support, however, was not approved until 1850, when U.S. President Millard Fillmore signed a land grant for the construction of the railroad. The Illinois Central was the first land-grant railroad in the United States. The Illinois Central
141-599: A collection of eight engineering structures and segments of the canal between Lockport and LaSalle-Peru, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964. Portions of the canal have been filled in. Much of the former canal, near the Heritage Corridor transit line, has been preserved as part of the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor . In the 19th century, canals were an important mode of transportation. The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected
188-511: 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. The IC was one of the oldest Class I railroads in the United States. The company was incorporated by the Illinois General Assembly on January 16, 1836. Within a few months Rep. Zadok Casey (D-Illinois) introduced
235-633: A low-level trunk line from Memphis . The IC was still promoting the scheme in 1915. The line became the Hickman Division of the Illinois Central Railroad , which sold the branch to the Tennken Railroad in 1983. The track remains in service today. Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad ( reporting mark IC ), sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America ,
282-635: A plan to construct channels and canals to reverse the flow of the rivers away from Lake Michigan and divert the contaminated water downstream where it could be diluted as it flowed into the Des Plaines River and eventually the Mississippi. In 1892, the direction of part of the Chicago River was reversed by the Army Corps of Engineers with the result that the river and much of Chicago's sewage flowed into
329-528: A significantly degraded shoreline (water levels can fluctuate as much as 5 feet). Today much of the canal is a long, thin linear park with canoeing and a 62.5-mile (100.6 km) hiking and biking trail (constructed on the alignment of the mule tow paths). It also includes museums and historical canal buildings. It was designated the first National Heritage Corridor by US Congress in 1984. Many towns in Northern Illinois owe their existence directly to
376-511: A specific proposal for a canal. With several slave states recently admitted to the Union, Nathaniel Pope and Ninian Edwards saw the opportunity to make Illinois a state. They proposed moving the border northward from the southern tip of Lake Michigan to allow the canal to be within a single state. They believed that the canal would firmly align Illinois with the free states and so Congress granted them statehood even though Illinois did not meet
423-667: A sub-class and were treated very poorly by other citizens of the city. The canal was finished in 1848 at a total cost of $ 6,170,226. Chicago Mayor James Hutchinson Woodworth presided over the opening ceremony. Pumps were used to draw water to fill the canal near Chicago, which was soon supplemented by water from the Calumet Feeder Canal . The feeder was supplied by water from the Calumet River and originated in Blue Island, Il . The DuPage River provided water farther south. In 1871
470-555: 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
517-516: The Chicago Portage , and helped establish Chicago as the transportation hub of the United States, before the railroad era. It was opened in 1848. Its function was partially replaced by the wider and deeper Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in 1900, and it ceased transportation operations with the completion of the Illinois Waterway in 1933. Illinois and Michigan Canal Locks and Towpath ,
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#1732848533482564-618: The Illinois Central Gulf Railroad ( reporting mark ICG ). 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
611-578: The Memphis and Charleston Railroad at Grand Junction, Tennessee and the Mobile 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. 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
658-681: The Mississippi Basin to the Great Lakes Basin . The potential canal route influenced Illinois's north border. The Erie Canal and the Illinois and Michigan Canal cemented cultural and trade ties to the Northeast rather than the South . Before the canal, agriculture in the region was limited to subsistence farming . The canal made agriculture in northern Illinois profitable by opening connections to eastern markets. The first known Europeans to travel
705-670: 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 ) 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,
752-451: The area , Father Marquette and Louis Joliet , went through the Chicago Portage on their return trip. Joliet remarked that with a canal they could remove the need to portage and the French could create an empire spanning the continent. The first quantitative survey of the portage was performed in 1816 by Stephen H. Long . It was on the basis of these measurements that he was able to make
799-588: The "Pearl and Leaf Rivers Railroad" was built by the J.J. Newman Lumber Company from Hattiesburg , to Sumrall . In 1904 the name was changed to the Mississippi Central Railroad ( reporting mark MSC ). 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,
846-508: The 140-foot (43 m) height difference between Lake Michigan and the Illinois River. From 1848 to 1852 the canal was a popular passenger route, but passenger service ended in 1853 with the opening of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad that ran parallel to the canal. The canal had its peak shipping year in 1882 and remained in use until 1933. Experiencing a remarkable recovery from
893-502: The 1880s, northern lines were built to Dodgeville, Wisconsin ; Sioux Falls, South Dakota ; and Omaha, Nebraska . 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,
940-622: The Illinois Central Railroad was important enough that the IC installed a Nutter hoist at Cairo, Illinois to interchange between its standard gauge 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. 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. A line started in 1897 as
987-534: The United States. The original Mississippi Central line was chartered in 1852. Construction of the 255 miles (410 km) 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) gauge line began in 1853 and was completed in 1860, just prior to the Civil War , from Canton, Mississippi to Jackson, Tennessee . The southern terminus of the line connected to the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad at Canton. It also connected to
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#17328485334821034-510: The canal instead of into Lake Michigan . The complete reversal of the river's flow was accomplished when the Sanitary and Ship Canal was opened in 1900. It was replaced in 1933 by the Illinois Waterway , which remains in use. The actual origin site of the Illinois and Michigan Canal has been converted into a nature park that integrates history, ecology and art to communicate the Canal's importance in
1081-461: The canal was deepened to speed up the current and to improve sewage disposal. The canal was eventually 60 feet (18 m) wide and 6 feet (1.8 m) deep, with towpaths constructed along each edge to permit mules to be harnessed to tow barges along the canal. Towns were planned out along the path of the canal spaced at intervals corresponding to the length that the mules could haul the barges. It had seventeen locks and four aqueducts to cover
1128-463: The construction. Still, money had to be borrowed from Eastern United States and British investors to finish the canal. Most of the canal work was done by Irish immigrants who previously worked on the Erie Canal . The work was considered dangerous and many workers died, although no official records exist to indicate how many. The Irish immigrants who toiled to build the canal were often derided as
1175-410: The devastating Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Chicago rebuilt rapidly along the shores of the Chicago River. The river was especially important to the development of the city since all wastes from houses, farms, the stockyards, and other industries could be dumped into the river and carried out into Lake Michigan. The lake, however, was also the source of drinking water. During a tremendous storm in 1885,
1222-549: The development of Chicago. In 2003 the Chicago Park District, in cooperation with the I & M Canal Association, hired Conservation Design Forum to develop plans to convert the brownfield site into a landscape that provided for passive recreational uses in a landscape setting with native plant species. Interpretive panels built into a wall along a bike trail were designed by local high school art students. The plans also called on landscape stabilization techniques to repair
1269-479: 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. On August 10, 1972, the Illinois Central Railroad merged with the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad to form
1316-416: The financing later used by several long distance U.S. railroads whose construction was partially financed through a federal land grant . The Canadian National Railway , via Grand Trunk Corporation , acquired control of the IC in 1998, 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
1363-425: 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,
1410-517: The line operated a service named "The Natchez Route", running trains from Natchez to Mobile, Alabama through trackage agreements with the Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad . At Natchez, freight cars were ferried across the Mississippi River to connect with the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway to institute through traffic into Shreveport, Louisiana . In 1967 the property of the Mississippi Central
1457-687: 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 Illinois Central
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1504-466: 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 by Canadian National Railway (CN). Integration of operations began July 1, 1999. 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
1551-563: 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
1598-404: 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 . Upon its completion in 1856, the IC
1645-544: The population requirements. In 1824, Samuel D. Lockwood , one of the first commissioners of the canal, was given the authorization to hire contractors to survey a route for the canal to follow. Construction on the canal began in 1836, although it was stopped for several years due to an Illinois state financial crisis related to the Panic of 1837 . The Canal Commission had a grant of 284,000 acres (115,000 ha) of federal land which it sold at $ 1.25 per acre ($ 310/km ) to finance
1692-452: 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 . During the 1870s and 1880s, the IC acquired and expanded railroads in the southern United States. IC lines crisscrossed the state of Mississippi and went as far south as New Orleans, Louisiana , and east to Louisville, Kentucky . In
1739-476: The rainfall washed refuse from the river, especially from the highly polluted Bubbly Creek , far out into the lake (the city water intakes are located 2 miles (3.2 km) offshore). Although no epidemics occurred , the Chicago Sanitary District (now The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District ) was created by the Illinois legislature in 1889 in response to this close call. This new agency devised
1786-501: 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 written by Steve Goodman and performed by Arlo Guthrie . Willie Nelson 's recording of the song was #1 on the Hot Country Charts in 1984. Illinois Central ran several other trains along
1833-460: 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. Presidents of the Illinois Central Railroad have included: Several locomotives and rolling stock formerly owned and used by Illinois Central are preserved, and many of them reside in parks and museums across
1880-563: 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
1927-652: Was a railroad in the Central United States . Its primary routes connected Chicago , Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana , and Mobile, Alabama , and thus, the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico . Another line connected Chicago west to Sioux City, Iowa (1870), while smaller branches reached Omaha, Nebraska (1899) from Fort Dodge, Iowa , and Sioux Falls, South Dakota (1877), from Cherokee, Iowa . The IC also ran service to Miami , Florida, on trackage owned by other railroads. The IC, founded in 1851, pioneered
Chicago, Memphis and Gulf Railroad - Misplaced Pages Continue
1974-564: 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 , who operates it as the Metra Electric District . It still operates out of what is now Millennium Station , which is still called "Randolph Street Terminal" by many longtime Chicago-area residents. In honor of
2021-544: Was chartered by the Illinois General Assembly on February 10, 1851. Senator Stephen A. Douglas and later President Abraham 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 appointed Samuel D. Lockwood , recently retired from the Illinois Supreme Court (who may have given both lawyers
2068-595: 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 the African American Great Migration of the 1920s. Illinois Central's most famous train
2115-567: Was sold to the Illinois Central Railroad. Notes Bibliography Further reading 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 96 miles (154 km) from the Chicago River in Bridgeport , Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle - Peru . The canal crossed
2162-454: 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 section breaking off at Fulton, Kentucky . In 1967, due to losses incurred by
2209-414: Was the longest railroad in the world. Its main line went from Cairo, Illinois , at the southern tip of the state, to Galena , in the northwest corner. A branch line went from Centralia (named for the railroad), to the rapidly growing city of Chicago . In Chicago, its tracks were laid along the shore of Lake Michigan and on an offshore causeway downtown, but land-filling and natural deposition have moved
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