Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is 45 miles (72 km) northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Knox and Warren counties.
Chillicothe is a city on the Illinois River in Peoria County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,097 at the 2010 census. Chillicothe is just north of the city of Peoria and is part of the Peoria Metropolitan Statistical Area.
BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, 32,500 miles (52,300 km) of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide rail connections between the western and eastern United States. BNSF trains traveled over 169 million miles in 2010, more than any other North American railroad.
The Southwest Chief is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a 2,265-mile (3,645 km) route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and Southwest via Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Flagstaff. Amtrak bills the route as one of its most scenic, with views of the Painted Desert and the Red Cliffs of Sedona, as well as the plains of Iowa, Kansas, and Colorado.
The Coast Starlight is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, which has operated continuously since Amtrak's formation in 1971, was the first to offer direct service between Seattle and Los Angeles. Its name is a combination of two prior Southern Pacific (SP) trains, the Coast Daylight and the Starlight.
The BNSF Line is a Metra commuter rail line operated by the BNSF Railway in Chicago and its western suburbs, running from Chicago Union Station to Aurora, Illinois. In 2010, the BNSF Line continued to have the highest weekday ridership of the 11 Metra lines. While Metra does not refer to its lines by particular colors, the BNSF line's color on Metra timetables is "Cascade Green," in honor of the Burlington Northern Railroad.
The Lone Star was an Amtrak passenger train that ran between Chicago and Houston, or Dallas via Kansas City, Wichita, Oklahoma City, and Fort Worth. The train was renamed from the Texas Chief, which the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway had introduced in 1948. Amtrak discontinued the Lone Star in 1979.
The Northern Transcon, a route operated by the BNSF Railway, traverses the most northerly route of any railroad in the western United States. This route was originally part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, Northern Pacific Railway, Great Northern Railway and Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway systems, merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad system in 1970.
Galesburg is an Amtrak intercity train station in Galesburg, Illinois, United States. The station was originally built in 1984, after the razing of the large depot just south of the current site. It is located north of the large BNSF Classification yard. Just south the Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg diverge via the Quincy main line which bypasses the yard on the east side. The California Zephyr and the Southwest Chief continue to the southwest side of Galesburg near Knox College.
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Passenger and Freight Complex is a nationally recognized historic district located in Fort Madison, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. At the time of its nomination it contained three resources, all of which are contributing buildings. The buildings were constructed over a 24-year time period, and reflect the styles that were popular when they were built. The facility currently houses a local history museum, and after renovations a portion of it was converted back to a passenger train depot for Amtrak, which opened on December 15, 2021.
The Southern Transcon is a main line of BNSF Railway comprising 11 subdivisions between Southern California and Chicago, Illinois. Completed in its current alignment in 1908 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, when it opened the Belen Cutoff in New Mexico and bypassed the steep grades of Raton Pass, it now serves as a mostly double-tracked intermodal corridor.
The Prairie Marksman was a daily passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago's Union Station and East Peoria, Illinois. The route was an indirect successor to the Rock Island's Peoria Rocket.
The Chicago and St. Louis Railway was a predecessor of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway that owned a line between Chicago and Pekin, Illinois. More than half of the line is now part of the BNSF Railway's Southern Transcon.
The Chicago and Aurora Railroad was an early predecessor of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad that built a line from West Chicago to Mendota via Aurora, Illinois.
Cameron is an unincorporated community in Warren County, Illinois, United States. Cameron is 7 miles (11 km) east-southeast of Monmouth. Cameron has a post office with ZIP code 61423. Cameron is at the junction of the old Chicago, Burlington and Quincy and Santa Fe Railroads, both now owned by BNSF.
Streator Station was a train station located in Streator, Illinois, United States. It was served by numerous Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) passenger trains during its heyday. Amtrak served the station until 1996 with the Southwest Chief between Chicago and Los Angeles daily. When the Burlington Northern and the AT&SF railways merged, BNSF built a connecting track between the two main lines east of Cameron, Illinois,. This allowed passenger trains to change from the former Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) main line to the Southern Transcon freely. This along with the amendment of a stretch of track that was essential for getting to Chicago Union Station forced Amtrak to reroute the Southwest Chief to bypass Chillicothe and Streator.
Galesburg Santa Fe Station was a railway station in the west central Illinois town of Galesburg. The station was along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's main line and served trains such as the Super Chief and El Captain. After Amtrak took over intercity rail in the United States, it was served by trains such as the Lone Star (1971–1979) and the Southwest Chief (1971–1996).
The Cameron connector is a section of track built in 1995–1996 which connects the former Burlington Northern Railroad and the former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway tracks, both which are now part of the BNSF Railway, to each other near Cameron, Illinois.
The Chillicothe Subdivision or "Chillicothe Sub" is a railway line running about 229 miles (369 km) from Chicago, Illinois to Fort Madison, Iowa in the United States of America. It is operated by BNSF Railway as part of their Southern Transcon route from Chicago to Los Angeles. The Chillicothe Subdivision is a high volume route connecting three principal yards in Chicago in the east and the Marceline Subdivision in the west which continues to Kansas City.
The California Zephyr is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area, via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At 2,438 miles (3,924 km), it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overall after the Texas Eagle's triweekly continuation from San Antonio to Los Angeles, with travel time between the termini taking approximately 511⁄2 hours. Amtrak claims the route as one of its most scenic, with views of the upper Colorado River valley in the Rocky Mountains, and the Sierra Nevada. The modern train is the second iteration of a train named California Zephyr; the original train was privately operated and ran on a different route through Nevada and California.
United States 
