W'- lit^tlp in the iifht The Story of ^Uinois (Qvntrul MAIN LINE OF MID -AMERICA ^^>^hisae in the "^ight We've all heard it. A friendly sound, speaking of far-away farms and factories, of friends and relatives in distant places. It also speaks for a train crew working- through the night, hurry- ing products from farms and mines and fac- tories, bringing your local merchants fresh beef and baby shoes, fashions with the new look, fresh fruits and seafoods. Whenever the people along the Illinois Central hear a whistle in the night, they know that it's a signal that men are working around the clock along 6,500 miles of railroad to bring all the world to their doors. t^SlQK^ • •••••••*••• Prairie^ to (Ea^ou^ IL very morning-, one of the nation's finest streamliners — the brown and orange "City of New Orleans" — leaves the Illinois Central Sta- tion in Chicago. This beautiful Dayliner moves southward through the maze of tracks and switches that mark Chicago as the rail- road capital of the world. The steel mills and factories are left behind and the "City of New Orleans" picks up speed over level prairie lands. The fertile soil supports some of the most produc- tive farms in the country. The Illinois Central Main Line goes through the small western tip of Kentucky and the Dayliner is soon in Tennessee. South of Memphis, cotton fields come into view- through the wide windows. On through Mississippi the brown and orange train flashes past more cotton fields and fast growing south- em pines. In Louisiana, the speeding wheels travel through the heart of the strawberry belt, skirt the shores of Lake Ponchartrain and come to a smooth stop in Union Station, New Orleans. In 15 hours and 55 minutes we have traveled over the 921-mile "Main Line of Mid- America" from Chicago and the prairies of Illinois to New Orleans and the bayous of Louisiana. All along the Main Line, agriculture, mining and industry are producing and growing. What we have seen is taken for granted today, but the story of the Illinois Central goes back to the time when the Mississippi River was the frontier of the United States. How the nation's greatest north and south railroad (and a great western line as well) was built, is told briefly in the next few pages. It is a story of strug- gle, failure, and, of course, success in the development of the "Main Line of Mid-America," the shortest, most direct route between the great industrial and commercial area of Chicago and the thriving city of New Orleans, the nation's second port. Page 1 1818 TO 1837 In 1818, the Mississippi River was the frontier of the nation, and in that year, Illinois was ad- mitted to the Union. The popu- lation was 40,000, most of it concentrated in the southern part of the state near the banks of the Mississippi and Ohio Riv- ers. Here was a state of level prairie land, ideal for farming — rich and fertile, with none of the rocks and forests that made hard going for Eastern fanners. Hills in the northwest comer of the state held generous lead deposits and the southern part was un- derlaid with untouched veins of coal. Why was all this wealth unclaimed? One essential was lacking — transportation. The few muddy, rutted wagon trails, passable only during the sum- mer, were completely inade- quate. Canals were recommended at first, but a few more far- sighted citizens urged the use of steam locomotives. They were being tried out in Baltimore, Charleston and New Orleans and news of these experiments had reached Illinois. The issue be- came a political football and was bounced back and forth in the state legislature. In the meantime, the Eastern railroads had developed, and the iron horse proved its superiority over the canals. With this en- couragement, the legislature, having satisfied those who wanted a canal, passed another railroad bill creating the "Illinois Central Railroad Company." One of the supporters of the bill was Abraham Lincoln, then a representative in the Illinois leg- islature. 1837 TO 1850 To meet the demand for rail- road service from many com- munities, the legislature passed the Internal Improvement Act of 1837. It called for a network of 1,341 miles of state-owned rail- roads, costing 20 million dollars — a staggering amount for such a sparsely populated state. A year later the first smoking monster rolled over the rails in Illinois. The Rogers, as it was named, was a midget with an unexplain- able source of power. This loco- motive was built in Paterson, New Jersey. Shipping it West was a problem — rails from the East had not yet reached Illinois. The Rogers took to the sea for a round-about voyage to New Orleans. From there it went by river boat up the Mississippi to Meredosia, Illinois. The first trip on its own rails was made in November, 1838 from Meredosia, half way to Jacksonville, Illinois. In 1840 the route was ex- tended to Jacksonville. The Rogers continued to rattle over the 24-mile track, and, in 1842, sufficient money was raised to Page 2 -^■•^^i^yjir :s^ Building ross the Illinois prairies was nnanpower in the early days. extend the tracks to Springfield. The Rogers frequently left the rails and turned over in the ditch. Finally, after a series of these mishaps, the Rogers was sold and her chugging noise re- placed by the crack of a mule skinnei-'s whip. 1850 TO 11873 The Federal government de- sired a railroad in Illinois to open up its 11 million acres of pub- lic land. This land had been of- fered for sale at $2.50 an acre and then reduced to $1.25. Even at that price no one would buy. Stephen A. Douglas, aided by Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun and Jefferson Davis, introduced a railroad bill in Congress. It was passed in 1850, authorizing a grant of public lands to Illinois for the construction of a rail- road. The purpose of the bill was to aid the settlement of Illi- nois and speed the sale of gov- ernment lands so that they could be converted into taxable lands. This time, Illinois was not so enthusiastic. The collapse of the 1837 railroad venture was kept fresh in the minds of the legis- lators by a 17 million dollar debt, 3 million of which was overdue. The solution was to let private capital assume the risk, but the legislature soon found that there was not enough private capital in Illinois. The charter was awarded to business leaders from New York and New Eng- land. It took effect February 10, 1851, authorizing a railroad from Cairo, in the southern tip of the .«tate, to East Dubuq'ie in the northwest corner. A branch line was to extend from Centralia, north to Chicago for a total dis- tance, including both lines, of 705 miles, more than twice the distance of any other railroad then existing. The Illinois Central was the first land grant railroad. The Federal Government held Page 3 voodburner that opened service o 9/lOths of the land in Illinois and of this, 21/2 million acres were turned over to the Illinois Central to aid in financing the railroad. There were no mechanized aids to construction in 1851, tracks had to be laid across wild prairie country with very few towns along the way to supply the workmen. Labor was recruited from all parts of the United States, and one contractor brought 1,000 men from Ireland. During the 5 years that the railroad was under construction, at least 100,000 men were brought to Illinois to help in laying the rail. Hundreds of horse and ox teams were used to transport supplies and equip- ment. Lumber for cross-ties and bridge timbers was brought from Michigan and Wisconsin. Iron rails were not manufactured in the United States; they had to be imported from England. One sailing ship sank in mid- Atlantic with a load of rails for the Illinois Central. In spite of all the difficulties, the railroad was finished before the time specified in the charter. For the entrance into Chicago, the Illinois Central requested a route along the south branch of the Chicago River. Lake Michi- gan had been eating away the shoreline south of Randolph Street and a severe storm caused further damage while the rail- road and the city were negotiat- ing. Chicago's population was only 30,000, and the city could not afford to maintain its shore- line. The City Council gave the Illinois Central a lake front en- trance, instead of the route it had requested, and required the railroad to build a breakwater and assume all further expenses required to protect the shore- line. Even before the construction was completed, the government sold its land for double the for- Page 4 mer price. Then, as agreed in the charter, the Illinois Central was allowed to sell its own land to help finance the construction costs. A huge advertising cam- paign was launched, the first large scale advertising by any railroad. It was printed in five languages and went to all parts of the United States, England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Sweden and Norway. The rail- road used newspapers, maga- zines, pamphlets and handbills. Agents and lecturers were sent year period, the 32 counties served by the Illinois Central in- creased in population from 248,- 000 to 609,000 — an increase of 145%. All along the railway, va- cant prairie land was converted into towns in a matter of months. A typical example was Centralia. In 1854, a station was built beside the tracks. When built, it was surrounded only by waving prairie grass. Within a few months it became a rapidly growing town of 1,900 people. The government was pleased ta^ f cti; .xM ^^ -iK^y ^ i\^^ i» ^sT;::-.-- ^^^''^L^ CHICAGO IN 1853— The Illinois Central originally entered the city on a trestle in the lake. This location was designed by the city council in order to relieve the city of the heavy expense of protecting the shore line against lake storms. The railroad built a breakwater at a cost to irself, and a saving to the city, of millions of dollars. out to do personal selling. Illi- nois was described as the "Garden State of America" and long term credit was offered. The promise of fertile land and dependable, year-round trans- portation brought an immediate response. In 1850, only 14% of Illinois land was classified improved. By 1860, 67,000 new farms had been established and 37% of Illinois land was then in the improved classi- fication. During that same 10 with the profits and the rapid sale of its land. After that, land grants were given to other rail- roads to encourage them to open up the West. With the completion of the Illinois Central, coal mines began opening in southern Illinois. At that time all railroads in the state burned wood and experi- enced railroad men said that Illi- nois coal could not be burned in a locomotive. The Illinois Central experimented and proved that it Page 5 could. Within a few years, the Illinois Central became the best customer of the Illinois coal mines. The first trains over the Ilh- nois Central tracks became the streamlined "City of New Or- leans" now makes this trip in only 5 hours and 43 minutes. While the Illinois Central was being built, a New Orleans com- pany was formed to build a rail- n operating between Waterloo, la., and Albert Lea, Minn. welcome friends of people along the route. The shrill whistle of the locomotive was a pleasing punctuation for the howling wind of the prairie ; it meant an end to the isolation of the lonely, rolling country. The fastest passenger trains, in those early days, traveled from Chicago to Cairo in 24 hours or more. The I ?^'Wl#i\oi ►- ^^ Cuiil Oil-. SX, ImT^ uiJl»»« othes»«f orUeftd. ^ ov. Abraham Lincoln's Illinois Centr road north from that city to connect with the Illinois Central at Cairo, Illinois, The Civil War interrupted this project, but later it was completed to East Cairo, across the Ohio River from Cairo. One of the first attorneys for the Illinois Central was Abraham Lincoln. He represented the company in many ,,^-«^^^^ cases from the early 1850's until he went to the White House in 1860. Probably the most important case of his legal ca- reer was the Mc- Lean County Tax Case. He asked for and received a fee of $5,000, a record amount at that time. Page 6 1873 TO 1947 The first addition to the orig- inal Illinois Central lines was a line from Dubuque, on the east- ern border of Iowa, to Sioux City on the west. In 1877, a di- rect line from Chicago to Spring- field was opened. During the Civil War, most of the line that had been built north from New Orleans was de- stroyed. After the war, the fa- mous Confederate General, Beauregard, directed the rebuild- ing of this line and the Illinois Central purchased it in 1883. Six years later the bridge over the Ohio River was completed, connecting Cairo to East Cairo. This gave the IlHnois Central its 921-mile Main Line from Chicago to New Orleans. It was the first railroad under one management from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. The next import- ant addition to the System was the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad — another route be- tween Memphis and New Or- leans. By 1893, the Illinois Cen- tral had a total of 8,696 miles of track. The story of Casey Jones orig- inated in 1900. Since then it has been told in song and poem so many times that people have come to regard Casey as a mythi- cal figure. He did exist though, as an Illinois Central engineer. The train that was wrecked while Casey was trying to make up lost time, was the Cannonball Express, one of the early fast freight trains pioneered by the Illinois Central. Since 1900, more lines were added, and the Illinois Central System now totals 6,581 miles. In addition, the Illinois Central op- erates over certain lines of other railroads. An example of this is the fast, direct service from Chi- cago to Florida on the Illinois Central's "City of Miami," "Sun- chaser" and "Seminole." Most railroads were con- structed to follow the move- ments of the pioneers from east to west. Because the Illinois Cen- tral is one of the few north and south lines, it has many connec- tions with other railroads. In all, there are 500 connections with 150 railroads. In Chicago alone, the Illinois Central has connec- tions with 22 other railroads. Continued growth is shown by the following figures taken from the 1947 Annual Report of the Illinois Central Railroad: Em- ployees — 40,700 ; steam locomo- tives — 1,250; diesel passenger locomotives — 19; passenger cars _ 1,157 ; freight cars — 49,585. Additional equipment for diesel- powered streamliners is on order and will be placed in service dur- ing 1948. Suburban Service The Chicago suburban service of the Illinois Central is worth Page 7 noting because it is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The grandfather of IlHnois Central suburban trains was one pulled by a small wood burn- ing locomotive. The first trip, in 1856, covered the 6V2-mile stretch between Randolph Street and Hyde Park. There were no passengers either way, but the little wood-burner faithfully con- tinued to make 3 trips a day and business began to increase. By 1900, there were 218 trains daily, sei-ving three suburbs. An electrification progi-am was com- pleted in 1926. 280 cars are operated in trains of 2, 4, 6 or 8 cars. In 1947, these trains carried well over 46 million pass- engers. Because of the cleanli- ness, speed and frequency of the all-electric service, Chicago has grown rapidly along the subur- ban lines of the Illinois Central. The story of the Illinois Cen- tral is typical of the far-seeing vision of pioneer America. From the day, more than 100 years ago when the Illinois railroad project was first talked about in Page 8 the Illinois legislature, and the state had only 40,000 inhabi- tants, the Illinois Central has grown into a 6,581-mile railroad — one of the world's great trans- portation systems. Today the Illinois Central serves 14 mid- American states with lines run- ning north and south, east and west. Over these lines travel many of America's finest passen- ger trains and a vast number of fast freights. The Illinois Central also participates in the business and civic af- fairs of hundreds of communities along its lines, buying supplies, paying taxes, helping farmers and distribut- ing payroll dollars to 40,700 Illinois Central workers. Since the end of the war, the Illinois Central has added new and finer equipment and trains to its streamliner fleet, bringing increased comfort and more lux- uries to passengers. Fast freight schedules have been stepped up to make them even faster. Dur- ing 1947, Illinois Central repre- sentatives helped to locate 123 new industrial plants along the railroad. In these and in many other ways, the Illinois Central is constantly improving its serv- ice to Md-America. By striving to set the pace for modern trans- portation, the Illinois Central in- tends to earn the continued friendship and patronage of all those who live along its lines. • ••••••••••• • • • • • •••••• All the World^s oods at Your IPoorstep ^ *"«i.'^ Pi This is a new Illinois Central freight car. It carries automobiles or packaged merchandise with equal ease and efficiency. Last year the Illinois Central built 2,359 freight cars in its own shops and purchased 130 more. Altogether the Illinois Central owns nearly 50,000 freight cars of various kinds in order that it may serve the people of Mid-America efficiently and economically. Page 10 M v »i:>.^-'*> ^lie year-round Nowhere except in the United States do people enjoy a varied abundance of fresh fruits the year round, fruits brought from all points of the compass by railroad. Last year the Illinois Central hauled 52,250 cars of bananas and many thousands of cars of straw- berries, grapes, melons, peaches, citrus fruits and apples. Page 11 * • • •••••• [^reakfast rvr^^ai r \ HJ^^J^g Most family dinner tables would be bare of many foods if the railroads stopped running:. Just how bare is indicated by the fact that last year tho Illinois Central alone carried 12 million tons of fanii products, including eggs for l)reakfast. lamb chops for dinner and peanuts for the circus. F'age 12 JigSLT from Americans Sugarbou^l ...MiMi^obacco In the heart of the Louisiana sugar lands, many of the nation's finest sugar-refineries are served by the Ilhnois Central, which last year handled more than 850,000 tons of sugar, enough to fill a good many million sugar bowls and make a sizable mountain of candy bars. . . . The Illinois Central also does lots of business with the tobacco people — important business to those who like cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco. Page 13 \en omes... This year hmidfeds of thousands of new homes are going up an oTer tiie United States. And to help bofld them the Illinois Central will hanl many millions of tons of lumber, cement, lime and plaster, brick, buflding tile, stone, glass and many other building materials. PajEe 14 • and Home Ipurnishings Inside the new homes built this year will go many millions of dollars worth of furniture, rugs, draperies and all the other things that make America's homes the best in the world. Most of these things will travel by rail from plants like the one pictured above to your local merchants. Page 15 • * • • • )pashions utid Footwear Whenever you shop for cloth iii^t* %'^i'k(m.' ''•^'(^/■■.^, Page 21 • • * (^ommerce iritu M^'orvifin hands Hc'cause all the people of the I'nited States benefit, directly or indirectly, from U. S. trade with other nations, the Illinois Central for years has conducted a canipaijrn to increase trade between the area it serves and other countries. Last year an Illinois Central representative spent seven months in South America encouraging- the development of trade through New Oilcans, the nation's second Dort. I'«K.- 22 eepmg the Trains Rolling Keeping the Illinois Central's equipment in first-class running order is a large and important job. Last year some 30 million dol- lars was spent on locomotive and car repairs. The total cost of maintaining equipment during the year was nearly 42 million dollars. Page 23 • ••••••••••• New [freight Equipment One of the most important railroad needs is for rore and better freig"ht cars. The Illinois Central recently built he five aluminum hopper cars pictured above. It has also expeimented with new-type refrigerator cars and purchased a number f light- weight Cor-Ten steel hopper cars. This year the railroa has on order 4,875 hopper cars, and 1,500 box cars are being contructed in the Illinois Central's own shops. Page 24 • ••••••••••• Progress On May 17, 1936 — more than 12 years ago .the diesel-powered streamhner "Green Diamond" set a record for fast service between Chicago and St. Louis. That was the beginning of the Illinois Cen- tral's modem passenger fleet, which now includes nine swift stream- liners with another flashing new "Green Diamond" to come this year. Page 25 peed auii ^af ety by Day ami by \ight inois Central Streamliners Panama Limited City of New Orleans City of Miami The Daylight Land O' Corn Miss Lou Coming soon: A new Green Diamond The Illinois Central today offers modern, streamlined passenger service between Chicago and New Orleans, Chicago and Florida, Chicago and St. Lx)uis, Chicago and Waterloo, la., and between New Orleans and Jackson, ]\Iiss. Tlie Ilhnois Central fleet includes the famous all-pullman oveniight "Panama Limited" between Chicago and New Orleans; the record-breaking all-coach Dayliner "City of New Orleans'' between the same cities, and the s^ift "City of Miami" between Chicago and Florida. Page 26 • ••••• Luxurious accommodations and fine •Mi meals are a feature of all Illinois Page 27 • ••••••••••-*t 40 Million uburban Passengers Many people who have visited other great cities of the world have been kind enough to rate the Illinois Central's suburban elec- tric service with the world's best. This reputation is based upon quality of equipment, frequency of service, speed, comfort, safety and economy. The Illinois Central is now running 481 regular suburban trains on week days and 297 on Sundays. Page 28 The )poundation of Good Railroading Under the wheels of your speeding train and along the right- of-way that rushes silently past your window, the Illinois Central spends some $100,000 every 24 hours for upkeep of rails and ties and signals, bridges and building and ballast, and many other items that stand still that the trains may move swiftly and safely. f-.