The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway

The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway (EJE) is, sadly, yet another fallen flag now part of the burgeoning Canadian National system. The railroad was a Class II, regional based in Joliet, Illinois and had been in operation since the late 19th century. Today the former EJ&E serves the area and region surrounding Chicago to the northwest and southwest and its strength always lay in its ability to provide switching operations to the dozens of once major Class I systems that reached the Windy City as well as acting as a bypass around it.  During this time the line almost always remained a profitable, albeit rather small, operation.  Canadian National, after a long, drawn out fight with neighboring communities finally purchased the EJ&E in early 2009 for this very reason.  Today, while the road's main line is now an important asset in the CN system classic orange and green locomotives are disappearing in favor of ubiquitous red, white, and black.

Some of the EJ&E's more powerful models are seen here; two SD38-2s lay over at the engine terminal in Joliet, Illinois during August of 1978.

The railroad itself saw a lot of history happen around it throughout its years of operation. For example, because the railroad is located in the area once served by dozens of granger roads it has seen the passing of famous names (a number of which it had connections with) such as the Milwaukee Road, Chicago & North Western, Chicago Great Western, and Rock Island. Also because the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway was located in the Chicago area it had connections with numerous railroads including nearly all of the major Class Is. These include CSX, Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, BNSF Railway, now-parent Canadian National, and Canadian Pacific.

To give a brief history of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway, the railroad has its official beginning dating to December 4, 1888 although its history actually goes all of the back to 1884 when the Joliet, Aurora & Northern Railway was incorporated to connect Aurora and Joliet with the Mississippi River.  Although the railroad only made it as far as connecting both cities (Aurora and Joliet) its segment was picked up by the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Company of Illinois which connected Valparaiso, Indiana with Joliet, Illinois and then built to Elgin, Illinois to interchange traffic with the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific (The Milwaukee Road). The other half of the EJ&E was the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Company of Indiana which connected Griffith and Hobart, Indiana with McCool. These two lines were merged on December 4th of 1888 to form the modern-day Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway.

As is typical with railroading of that time, the EJ&E grew and expanded through ownership and takeovers of smaller systems. Some of these systems included the Waukegan & Southwestern Railway; Gardner, Coal City & Northern Railway; Western Indiana Railroad; and the Chicago, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway. In total the railroad's system stretched to reach points such as Waukegan, Dyer, Hammond, Caster, and Chicago, Illinois; and Porter, Indiana.  In all, the EJ&E system map formed a rough "L" shape, bypassing downtown Chicago and connecting points east like Porter, Illinois with Joliet to the west and Elgin/North Chicago to the north. Due to the railroad’s age it had an interesting and diverse locomotive fleet over the years. It no longer rosters any steam locomotives although it does still retain a number of classic diesel models such as Alcos and Baldwins. It's unclear whether these will be retained by CN or sold off.

The EJ&E became a hotbed for railfans when it purchased Baldwin's unique and monstrous transfer switcher, the DT-6-6-2000. Seen here is #920 rolling through Griffith, Indiana with a caboose on December 31, 1964. After being re-engined these units remained in service on the railroad for many years.

Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Diesel Locomotive Roster
Please note that as you may notice, the below all-time EJ&E diesel roster includes overlapping locomotive numbers. In the interest of time and space, these have not been distinguished here. However, for more information regarding this please click here.

Builder	Model Type	Road Number	Date Built/Notes	Quantity
Baldwin	DT-6-6-2000	100-126	1946-1948	27
EMC	SW	200-208	1936-1937	9
Alco	HH-600	209	1937	1
Alco	HH-660	210-212	1940	3
Alco	S1	213-217	1940-1941	5
EMC/EMD	SW1	220-246, 249	1940-1949	28
Baldwin	VO-660	270-272	1940-1941	3
EMD	SW1200	300-307, 310-324,	1960, Ex-KCT, Ex-MP	23
EMD	TR5Am/Bm	308-309	Ex-UP	2
EMC	NW1	400-401	1937	2
Alco	HH-900	402	1937	1
EMC	NC	402, 408	1937, Ex-Y&N	2
EMC/EMD	NW2	403-443, 446-452, 454-455, 458	1939-1952, Some Ex-Monon/UP/AT&SF/LTE/C&O	5
EMD	SW1001	444-446	1968 (Ex-LT), 1971	3
Alco	S2	451-461	1940-1944	11
EMD	SSB1200	451	1943, Ex-AT&SF	1
EMD	SW1001	444-445	1971	2
EMD	SW900	453	1956, Ex-GTW	1
EMD	SW1001	444-445	1971	2
EMD	SW9	456	1951, Ex-P&LE	1
EMD	SW8	457	1952, Ex-NKP	1
EMD	SW1000	459	1971, Ex-NOPB	1
EMD	SW1500	460	1968, Ex-SSW	1
Baldwin	VO-1000	475-484	1940-1944	10
Baldwin	VO-1000	475-484	1940-1944	10
Baldwin	DRS-6-6-1500	500-501	1949, Ex-B&LE	2
EMD	SD9	600-605	1956-1957, Some Ex-DM&IR	6
EMD	SD18	606-616, 851-852	1957-1962, Ex-DM&IR/B&LE	13
EMD	SD38	650-655	1970	6
EMD	SD38-2	656-675	1973-1975, Some Ex-B&LE	20
Baldwin	DR-4-4-1500	700A-701A	1949, BLW Demonstrators	2
Baldwin	DR-4-4-1500B	700B-701B	1949, BLW Demonstrators	2
EMD	GP38-2	700-704	1972-1973	5
EMD	SD40M-3	750-751	Ex-C&O	2
EMD	SD40M-2	752	Ex-WM	1
Alco	RS2	800-809	1948-1949	10
EMD	SDM	802, 804, 809, 811, 813-815, 818, 820	Ex-DM&IR SD9s	9

Witnessed here is another of the J's Baldwin models, DRS-6-6-1500 #501 pulling a single boxcar and caboose through Joliet on September 1, 1969.

Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Steam Locomotive Roster
For a more information regarding Elgin, Joliet & Eastern steam locomotives please click here.

Road Number/Class	Type	Wheel Arrangement	Quantity/Notes
1, 5, 11, 23, 25, 27, 32	Switcher	0-6-0	7
150, 156	Switcher	0-4-0	2
300, 302, 312, 329	Switcher	0-8-0	4
528, 541, 545, 549, 555	Consolidation	0-8-0	5, Rebuilt From 2-8-0s
410	American	4-4-0	1
450, 455	Ten-Wheeler	4-6-0	2
528, 541, 545, 549, 555	Consolidation	2-8-0	5
AB	Mikado	2-8-2	4

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A trio of newer power on the EJ&E, two SD38s and an SD38-2, power a freight at speed through Schererville, Indiana on July 23, 1987.

For more information regarding the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway's roster please click here. Finally, for more reading on the EJ&E consider the book Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern Railway by authors Paul Jaenicke and Ralph Eisenbrandt. Typically the "Images of Rail" series by Arcadia Publishing is more noted for its fabulous historic photographs than in-depth information so if you're looking for the latter you may not be interested in the book. However, if this is not really of great concern to you, you should very much enjoy the book. In any event, if you are interested in perhaps purchasing this book please visit the link below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.

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