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The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad
The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was a Midwest Class I system that operated almost entirely in Illinois connecting St. Louis and southern Missouri/Illinois with Chicago to the north. A well-managed property throughout much of its history (although it did slip into bankruptcy a few times) the C&EI’s traffic was heavily made up of coal (in southern Illinois) and interchange with the many other Class I systems it connected with (i.e., bridge traffic). While the railroad floated in and out of control by other larger systems, like the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (the Frisco), it was finally purchased by the Missouri Pacific in the early 1960s with the Louisville & Nashville Railway also acquiring ownership of its Evansville route. Today, virtually all of the C&EI’s former routes are still intact, most of which are operated by MoPac successor Union Pacific and L&N successor CSX Transportation.
After the C&EI also built extensions into southern Illinois and Missouri (Thebes and Chaffee), and connected to St. Louis in the late 19th century and early 20th century the railroad had a north-south upside-down “Y”-shaped system (which also connected Woodland, Illinois and Evansville, Indiana) that was over 1,000 miles in length and began moving considerable amounts of traffic.
Two primary means of traffic made up the majority of the C&EI’s traffic base, coal from the large deposits located in southern Illinois and interchange with several Class I systems. For instance, the railroad’s connections with the large eastern and western systems of the day included the Nickel Plate; Pennsylvania; Frisco; New York Central; Gulf, Mobile & Ohio; Illinois Central; the Katy (Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad); Missouri Pacific; Rock Island; Baltimore & Ohio; and Louisville & Nashville. Even though the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was a well-managed and profitable company throughout much of its history it did have some hiccups along the way. First, in 1902 after being perceived as a threat the C&EI was taken over by the Frisco and literally run into the ground, so much so that by 1913 it was in bankruptcy and its physical plant in shambles. While the railroad was able to pull out of that rough stretch in the 1920s it again fell into receivership in 1933, although once again was able to get back on its feet after 1940. After this point for the next 20+ years the C&EI prospered and did relatively well, reaching St. Louis on its own in 1954, dieseling its motive power fleet by 1950, double-tracking its main line between Chicago and Woodland, and installing Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) in 1947 over its core main lines. It was during the latter 1960s that the railroad finally lost its independence forever when first the Missouri Pacific gained control of the railroad in 1967 and then the Louisville & Nashville purchased its 206-mile line between Woodland Junction, Illinois and Evansville, Indiana giving the railroad direct access to Chicago (via trackage rights). Finally in the fall of 1976 the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad disappeared forever when it was formally merged into the Missouri Pacific. Since then the MoPac has become part of the Union Pacific system but the original C&EI lines still play an important part in the UP’s network today (even the L&N line is presently still used by successor CSX). Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad All-Time Locomotive Rosters
Also, for more reading on the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad you might want to consider the book Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad In Color from author Ed DeRouin. The book gives a colorful pictorial history of the C&EI dating from the 1940s through the 1970s and its purchase by the L&N and Missouri Pacific. If you have any interest in the Midwestern system or would simply like to learn more about it Mr. DeRouin’s book is an excellent resource. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing this book please visit The Railroad Diamond by clicking the tab in the menu to your left marked "TRD Store".
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