The Chicago and Illinois River Railroad was a predecessor of the Alton Railroad that built a line from Joliet southwest through

Coal City, Illinois Coal City is a village in Grundy and Will Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is considered a fringe town of the Chicago metropolitan area. The population was 5,587 at the 2010 census. Its school district serves an area with over 11,000 r ...

, to the

Mazon River The Mazon River or Mazon Creek (), is a tributary of the Illinois River in the United States. The confluence is near Morris, Illinois. The Mazon River is associated with the Mazon Creek fossils of the Francis Creek Shale, which are also exposed i ...

. A portion is now a second main track on the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

's Southern Transcon.

History

The

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...

chartered the Chicago and Illinois River Railroad on February 28, 1867 to build a railroad from Chicago through

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

and

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

(the latter on the

Illinois River The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the D ...

) to the Mississippi River opposite

Keokuk, Iowa Keokuk is a city in and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States, along with Fort Madison. It is Iowa's southernmost city. The population was 9,900 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is named after the Sauk chief Keokuk, who is ...

, with a branch in the vicinity of

Streator Streator is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, LaSalle and Livingston County, Illinois, Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River (Illinois River tributary), Vermilion River approximately so ...

. An amendment passed March 24, 1869 removed the requirement to serve Lisbon and Ottawa. Construction began in 1873 on a route south of the Illinois River between Chicago and

, but in 1875 it ran out of money and leased the unfinished line to the Chicago and Alton Railroad. The grade southwest of the Mazon River crossing at Gorman was sold to the

Chicago, Pekin and Southwestern Railroad 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. History The I ...

that year, and the Alton opened the railroad between Joliet and the Mazon River on July 1. The Alton bought the property at foreclosure sale on September 4, 1879, and in 1881 built a connecting line from Coal City south to its main line at Mazonia (near Braceville), giving it

two tracks 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cul ...

between Chicago and Odell. Beyond the Mazon River, the Chicago, Pekin and Southwestern completed the line to Pekin on May 21, 1876, and obtained trackage rights over the Chicago and Illinois River to Joliet. Successor

Chicago and St. Louis Railway 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. History The Ill ...

, however, opened a parallel line to Chicago on December 21, 1885, and the old Chicago and Illinois River line between Coal City and the Mazon River was subsequently abandoned. In 1905 the Alton and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (Santa Fe) began operating these two parallel tracks as a joint double-track line between Joliet and Pequot, just northeast of Coal City. At some point, Alton successor

Illinois Central Gulf Railroad 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, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A ...

(ICG) sold the line between Plaines and Pequot to the Santa Fe for continued use as a second main track. When the

Chicago, Missouri and Western Railway The Chicago, Missouri and Western Railway (CM&W) was a Class II railroad that operated in the midwest of the United States between 1987 and 1989. Never financially stable, less than a year after it was created it was bankrupt and sold off its lin ...

(CM&W) bought most of the old Alton in 1987, it acquired only a short piece of the ex-Chicago and Illinois River between Joliet and Plaines, as well as Pequot-Coal City and the Coal City-Mazonia connection. Ownership is now split among CM&W successor Union Pacific Railroad (from Joliet part of the way to Plaines, as the Plaines Industrial Lead), ICG successor Illinois Central Railroad (the rest of the way to Plaines, also known as the Plaines Industrial Lead), and Santa Fe successor

(Plaines to Pequot, as one track of the

Chillicothe Subdivision The Chillicothe Subdivision or "Chillicothe Sub" (slang "Chilli Sub") is a railway line running about from Chicago, Illinois to Fort Madison, Iowa in the United States of America. It is operated by BNSF Railway as part of their Southern Transco ...

), and the Union Pacific again (from Pequot to Mazonia, as the Pequot Subdivision Union Pacific Railroad, St. Louis Area Timetable #3, effective July 2, 2006). Illinois Central affiliate Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway leased the IC's segment in 2009. Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway
submission to the Surface Transportation Board
(Finance Docket No. 35224), February 26, 2009STB Finance Docket No. 35224
March 13, 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago Illinois River Railroad Defunct Illinois railroads Predecessors of the Alton Railroad Railway companies established in 1867 Railway companies disestablished in 1879

History

See also

References