Chicago, Attica and Southern Railroad

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Chicago, Attica and Southern Railroad

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CA&S engine 334 in 1931
Reporting mark CAS
Locale Northwestern and west central Indiana
Dates of operation 19221946
Predecessor Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railway
Headquarters Attica, Indiana

The Chicago, Attica and Southern Railroad( reporting mark CAS), nicknamed the "Dolly Varden Line", was a railroad linking small towns in west central and northwestern Indiana to the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railway (C&EI) near Momence, Illinois (where traffic continued on to Chicago). Never financially strong, the CA&S nevertheless continued operating through World War II before abandonment.

Reporting mark alphabetic code ID used on the North American railroad network

A reporting mark is an alphabetic code of one to four letters used to identify owners or lessees of rolling stock and other equipment used on certain railroad networks.

Indiana State of the United States of America

Indiana is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern and Great Lakes regions of North America. Indiana is the 38th largest by area and the 17th most populous of the 50 United States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th U.S. state on December 11, 1816. Indiana borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north, Ohio to the east, Kentucky to the south and southeast, and Illinois to the west.

Momence, Illinois City in Illinois, United States

Momence is a city in Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,171 at the 2000 census, and 3,310 in 2010. It is part of the Kankakee–Bradley Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Contents

History

In the 1880s the Chicago and Great Southern Railway (C&GS) completed a rail line from the Indiana community of Fair Oaks (where it joined the Monon Railroad) south to the city of Brazil. Primarily a coal hauler, the C&GS later reorganized as the Chicago and Indiana Coal Railway (C&IC) and extended the line further north to La Crosse and Wilders in order to form connections with other railroads.

Fair Oaks, Indiana Unincorporated community in Indiana, United States

Fair Oaks is an unincorporated community in Union Township, Jasper County, Indiana.

Monon Railroad Defunct American Class I railway

The Monon Railroad, also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railway from 1897 to 1956, was an American railroad that operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana. The Monon was merged into the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in 1971, and much of the former Monon right of way is owned today by CSX Transportation. In 1970 it operated 540 miles (870 km) of road on 792 miles (1,275 km) of track; that year it reported 1320 million ton-miles of revenue freight and zero passenger-miles.

Brazil, Indiana City in Indiana, United States

Brazil is a city in Clay County, Indiana, United States. The population was 7,912 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Clay County. It is part of the Terre Haute Metropolitan Statistical Area. The current chief executive of Brazil is Mayor Brian Wyndham (Democrat).

The management of the C&IC "Coal Road" became intertwined with that of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois, and a connection was built between the two that ran from Percy Junction north of Goodland (on the C&IC) northwest to Momence, Illinois (on the C&EI). By 1894 the Chicago and Eastern Illinois had absorbed the smaller C&IC.

Goodland, Indiana Town in Indiana, United States

Goodland is a town in Grant Township, Newton County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 1,043 at the 2010 census.

In 1913 the C&EI went bankrupt. As part of its reorganization over the next several years, it cut free the old "Coal Road" which in turn organized itself into the Chicago, Attica and Southern Railroad, selling to other railroads some of its more valuable lines for cash. The CA&S struggled through the 1920s and found itself bankrupt in 1931. It never left receivership or turned a profit again, and began to abandon its track in increments over the next fifteen years. The CA&S abandoned its connection to the C&EI in 1943, shut down operations in September 1946, and was completely abandoned shortly thereafter. [1]

Communities

At its height, the Chicago, Attica and Southern served the following communities, from north to south: [2]

Morocco, Indiana Town in Indiana, United States

Morocco is a town in Beaver Township, Newton County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 1,129 at the 2010 census.

Beaver City, Indiana Unincorporated community in Indiana, United States

Beaver City is an unincorporated community in Washington Township, Newton County, in the U.S. state of Indiana.

Brook, Indiana Town in Indiana, United States

Brook is a town in Iroquois Township, Newton County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 997 at the 2010 census.

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New York Central Railroad defunct American Class I railroad

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Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway

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Illinois Central Railroad transport company

The Illinois Central Railroad, sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa (1870). There was a significant branch to Omaha, Nebraska (1899), west of Fort Dodge, Iowa, and another branch reaching Sioux Falls, South Dakota (1877), starting from Cherokee, Iowa. The Sioux Falls branch has been abandoned in its entirety.

Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad

The Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad, also known as the South Shore Line, is a Class III freight railroad operating between Chicago, Illinois, and South Bend, Indiana. The railroad serves as a link between Class I railroads and local industries in northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana. It built the South Shore Line electric interurban and operated it until 1990, when it transferred it to the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District. The railroad is owned by the Anacostia Rail Holdings Company.

LaSalle Street Station

LaSalle Street Station is a commuter rail terminal at 414 South LaSalle Street in downtown Chicago. It was a major intercity rail terminal for the New York Central Railroad until 1968, and for the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad until 1978, but now serves only Metra's Rock Island District. The present structure became the fifth station on the site when its predecessor was demolished in 1981 and replaced by the new station and the One Financial Place tower for the Chicago Stock Exchange. The Chicago Board of Trade Building, Willis Tower and Harold Washington Library are nearby.

St. Charles Air Line

The St. Charles Air Line is a rail line in Chicago, Illinois, partially owned by the BNSF Railway, Union Pacific Railroad, and Canadian National Railway.

Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern Railroad

The Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern Railroad Company is a Class III railroad serving agricultural communities in east-central Illinois and west-central Indiana.

Illinois and Midland Railroad

The Illinois and Midland Railroad is a railroad in the U.S. state of Illinois, serving Peoria, Springfield and Taylorville. Until 1996, when Genesee & Wyoming Inc. bought it, the company was named the Chicago and Illinois Midland Railway. It was once a Class I railroad, specializing in the hauling of coal. At the end of 1970 it operated 121 route-miles on 214 miles of track; it reported 255 million ton-miles of revenue freight that year.

Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad defunct American Class I railway

The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago to southern Illinois, St. Louis, and Evansville. Founded in 1877, it grew aggressively and stayed relatively strong throughout the Great Depression and two World Wars before finally being purchased by the Missouri Pacific Railroad and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N). Missouri Pacific merged with the C&EI corporate entity in 1976, and was later acquired itself by the Union Pacific Railroad.

Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad

The Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, commonly called the Pan Handle Route, was a railroad that was part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. Its common name came from its main line, which began at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, crossed the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, and continued west to Bradford, Ohio, where it split into a northern line to Chicago and a southern one through Indianapolis, Indiana, to East St. Louis, Illinois.

Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad railroad in the Chicago area

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The Indiana Rail Road is a United States Class II railroad, originally operating over former Illinois Central Railroad trackage from Newton, Illinois, to Indianapolis, Indiana, a distance of 155 miles (249 km). This line, now known as the Indiana Rail Road's Indianapolis Subdivision, comprises most of the former IC line from Indianapolis to Effingham, Illinois; Illinois Central successor Canadian National Railway retains the portion from Newton to Effingham. INRD also owns a former Milwaukee Road line from Terre Haute, Indiana, to Burns City, Indiana, with trackage rights extending to Chicago, Illinois. INRD serves Louisville, Kentucky, and the Port of Indiana on the Ohio River at Jeffersonville, Indiana, through a haulage agreement with the Louisville & Indiana Railroad (LIRC).

Chicago, Peoria and St. Louis Railroad

The Chicago, Peoria and St. Louis Railroad (CP&StL) was a railroad in the U.S. state of Illinois that operated a main line between Pekin and Madison via Springfield. Its property was sold at foreclosure to several new companies in the 1920s; the portion north of Springfield has since become the Illinois and Midland Railroad, while the remainder has been abandoned, except for a portion near St. Louis that is now owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway.

The following is a brief history of the North American rail system, mainly through major changes to Class I railroads, the largest class by operating revenue.

The Grand Trunk Junction Railway was a subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railway that built a connecting line along 49th Street in Chicago, Illinois. The company was incorporated on June 11, 1880, and opened on August 29, 1881 under lease to the Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway. Its line was double-tracked and began at the Chicago and Grand Trunk's main line at Elsdon, heading east across the Columbus, Chicago and Indiana Central Railway and just south of the Union Stock Yards to a junction with the Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad, a terminal railroad that gave the Chicago and Grand Trunk access to downtown Chicago, and which the Grand Trunk Junction acquired a one-fifth interest in. The Polk and Forty-ninth Streets Junction Railway, which did not construct any railroad, was incorporated on March 27 and merged into the Grand Trunk Junction on June 21, 1889. On January 15, 1901, just after the Chicago and Grand Trunk was reorganized as the Grand Trunk Western Railway, the latter company bought the property of the Grand Trunk Junction.

Chicago Junction Railway

The Chicago Junction Railway operated a switching and terminal railroad in Chicago, connecting the Union Stock Yards with most other railroads in the city. It also briefly operated an outer belt, which became the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad in 1907. The New York Central Railroad acquired control of the company in 1922 and leased it to subsidiary Chicago River and Indiana Railroad. The line is now owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway.

The Baltimore and Ohio and Chicago Railroad (B&O&C) was a subsidiary of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) that owned the line from Willard, Ohio to Chicago, Illinois.

Wabash Railroad transport company

The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary connections included Chicago, Illinois; Kansas City, Missouri; Detroit, Michigan; Buffalo, New York; St. Louis, Missouri; and Toledo, Ohio.

References

  1. Elmer G., Sulzer (1970). Ghost Railroads of Indiana. Indianapolis: Jones and Co.
  2. Rietsch, Pam. "Indiana Map Addendum 1895". The New 11 x 14 Atlas of the World (1895). Rand McNally. Retrieved 2008-11-13.