The Chicago, Attica and Southern Railroad , 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.
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
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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(C&IC) and extended the line further north to
La Crosse
La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's populat ...
and
Wilders in order to form connections with other railroads.
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.
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.
Communities
At its height, the Chicago, Attica and Southern served the following communities, from north to south:
*
Momence, Illinois
*
Pogue
Pogue is American pejorative military slang for non-infantry MOS (military occupational specialty) staff, and other rear-echelon or support units.
History and etymology
The term was used as early as the First World War by US Marines to refer t ...
*
Morocco
*
Beaver City
*
Brook
A brook is a small river or natural stream of fresh water. It may also refer to:
Computing
*Brook, a programming language for GPU programming based on C
*Brook+, an explicit data-parallel C compiler
* BrookGPU, a framework for GPGPU programm ...
*
Goodland
*
Wadena
*
Lochiel
*
Swanington
*
Oxford
*
Pine Village
*
Winthrop
*
Kickapoo
Kickapoo may refer to:
People
* Kickapoo people, a Native American nation
** Kickapoo language, spoken by that people
** Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas, a federally recognized tribe of Kickapoo people
** Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma, a federally recog ...
*
Attica
*
Rob Roy
*
Aylesworth
*
Stone Bluff
*
Veedersburg
*
Steam Corner
*
Kingman
*
Tangier
*
Sylvania
*
West Union
*
Mecca Mills
*
Coxville
*
Rosedale
*
Coal Bluff
*
Brazil
Gallery
image:Goodland,IN CA&S depot.JPG, Goodland, Indiana, CA&S Depot
References
External links
Map of the Chicago, Attica and Southern Railroad
Defunct Indiana railroads
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