The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio was a

Class I railroad Railroad classes are the system by which Rail freight transport, freight railroads are designated in the United States. Railroads are assigned to Class I, II or III according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportatio ...

in the central

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

whose primary routes extended from

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

, and

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, to

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

and

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, as well as

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. From its two parallel lines through eastern

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, the GM&O also served Montgomery and

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, as well as

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

History

The

Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad The Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad was a railroad in the Southern United States. The first World War had forced government operation upon the company; and in 1919, when it became once more a free agent, it chose Isaac B. Tigrett to chart its ...

was created as the reorganization of the New Orleans, Mobile and Chicago Railroad in 1917. The GM&O was incorporated in 1938 to merge the Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad and the

Mobile and Ohio Railroad Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ...

, which was accomplished in 1940. The GM&O later bought and merged the

Alton Railroad The Alton Railroad was the final name of a railroad linking Chicago to Alton, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; and Kansas City, Missouri. Its predecessor, the Chicago and Alton Railroad , was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1931 an ...

in 1947. Isaac B. Tigrett, a native of

Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis and 130 Miles Southwest of Nashville, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population wa ...

, was president of the GM&N from 1920 and of the GM&O from 1938 to 1952, and oversaw the development of the road from a nearly bankrupt operation into a thriving success. He was the great-uncle of

Hard Rock Cafe Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a chain of theme restaurant, theme bar-restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos, hotels and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll ...

founder Isaac Tigrett, also a native of Jackson.Lesley Barker, ''St. Louis Gateway Rail: The 1970s'', Arcadia Publishing, 2006, p. 51
/ref> From 1952 to 1972 the headquarters of the GM&O were in Mobile, Alabama at 104 St. Francis Street. The President of the GM&O Railroad during this period was Glen Porter Brock, Sr. The Railroad retained the passenger terminal at Beauregard Street for additional offices. At the end of 1944 GM&O operated 1950 miles of road, including NOGN; at the end of 1950 it operated 2898 route-miles. At the end of 1970 route mileage was 2734 (3946 miles of track); GM&O reported 8285 million ton-miles of revenue freight and 44 million passenger-miles for that year. The GM&O Railroad was the first "large" railroad in the United States to replace all its steam locomotives with diesels. On August 10, 1972 the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad merged into the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, ...

, forming the 9600-mile north-south Illinois Central Gulf Railroad. In 1988, the railroad dropped the "Gulf" from its name, reverting its name to the Illinois Central Railroad. In 1996 Illinois Central spun off some of its redundant trackage, including most of the former Gulf, Mobile and Ohio. Most of this trackage was acquired by other railroads. On February 11, 1998 the Illinois Central was purchased by the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

(CN) with the integration of operations beginning on July 1, 1999.

Passenger operations

Gulf Mobile and Ohio streamliner circa 1940s

In addition to the GM&O's most popular train, the streamlined ''Rebel'' (New Orleans -

1935-1941; extended to St. Louis thereafter), the railroad also operated a number of other named trains. These include: * '' Alton Limited'' (later simply ''The Limited''): (Chicago - St. Louis) * ''

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

'': (Chicago - St. Louis) * '' Ann Rutledge'': (Chicago - St. Louis) (operated 1937-1947 by the Alton, 1947-1971 by GM&O, 1971-2009 by Amtrak) * '' Gulf Coast Rebel'': (originally Mobile - Union, Mississippi, later extended to St. Louis) * ''The Mail'': (Chicago - St. Louis) * ''Midnight Special'': (Chicago - St. Louis) * ''Night Hawk'': (St. Louis - Kansas City) * ''Prairie State Express'': (St. Louis - Chicago) * '' ''Rebel'''': (St. Louis - New Orleans)

Preservation

*Gulf, Mobile and Ohio caboose #2825 is on display in Kiroli Park in West Monroe, Louisiana. *Gulf, Mobile and Ohio caboose #2867 is privately owned and on display in Rienzi, Mississippi. *Gulf, Mobile and Ohio caboose #2951 is on display in downtown Madison, Mississippi. *Gulf, Mobile and Ohio caboose #2954: re-numbered by ICG as #199044, preserved by the Monticello Railway Museum in

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary residence and plantation of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third president of the United States. Jefferson began designing Monticello after inheriting l ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. *Gulf, Mobile and Ohio caboose #2994 is on display at the depot in downtown

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

, Mississippi. *Gulf, Mobile and Ohio caboose #2997 is on display at the depot in downtown Booneville, Mississippi. *Gulf, Mobile and Ohio

SD40 SD40 may refer to: * Canon PowerShot SD40, a digital camera * EMD SD40, a diesel-electric locomotive * South Dakota Highway 40 * SD-40 alcohol, ethanol denatured alcohol, denatured by adding denatonium benzoate * School District 40 New Westminster, ...

#950: the first SD40, currently in Illinois Central marking as #6071, donated to the Monticello Railway Museum in Monticello, Illinois. *Gulf, Mobile and Ohio GP35 #631 currently owned by the SARM in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The unit is non-operational and in much disrepair. *Gulf, Mobile & Ohio parlor-observation #5998 from the 1935 "Abraham Lincoln" train is on display at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. *Gulf, Mobile & Ohio EMD AA Boxcab #1200 is currently on display at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri as B&O 50. *Gulf, Mobile, & Ohio ALCO RS1 #1053 is currently preserved at the Danbury Railroad Museum in

Danbury, Connecticut Danbury ( ) is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2020 was 86,518. It is the third-largest city in Western Connecticut, and the seventh-largest ...

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

#0673. *Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Pullman "Judge Milton Brown" is on display and used by American Family Radio at the Casey Jones Village in Jackson,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. * Gulf, Mobile and Ohio #580, originally Gulf, Mobile and Northern #425, is currently operational at the Blue Mountain and Reading Railroad in Port Clinton,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. *Gulf, Mobile and Ohio F3 #800A is currently inoperable on display as the Seaboard Air line #4033 at the Gold Coast Railroad Museum, in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. *Gulf, Mobile and Ohio F3 #883A which was later rebuilt and converted into an FP10 by MBTA and renumbered to #1153 is currently on display at the Edaville Railroad, in South Carver,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. *Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Azalea Passenger car located in Liberty, New Jersey 1421 US-46 visible on Google Maps.

In popular culture

Sonny Boy Williamson recorded the song ''GM&O Blues'' in 1945. A GM&O

EMD E7 The E7 was a , A1A-A1A passenger train locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois. 428 cab versions, or E7As, were built from February 1945 to April 1949; 82 booster E7Bs were built from March 1945 t ...

and passenger cars were featured in the 1967 film '' In the Heat of the Night''. In popular music, the GM&O line is referenced in

Adrian Belew Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew (born December 23, 1949) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist primarily known as a guitarist and singer, he is noted for his unusual approach to the instrument, his ...

's "The Rail Song," a nostalgic song about the heyday and subsequent decline of the American railroads. Originally on 1983's '' Twang Bar King'' album, the song can also be found on the '' Desire of the Rhino King'' compilation and in an acoustic version on both '' The Acoustic Adrian Belew'' and the '' Salad Days'' compilation. The album cover of the 1989

Traveling Wilburys The Traveling Wilburys were a British-American supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 1988, consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. They were a roots rock band and described as "perhaps the biggest sup ...

song '' End of the Line'' features an upside down photograph of the '' Ann Rutledge'' at Lincoln, Illinois in 1953.

References

External links

The Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Historical Society

The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio (book)
*
James Childers Railroad Collection
McLean County Museum of History
Steve Gossard Railroad Collection
, McLean County Museum of History {{DEFAULTSORT:Gulf Mobile Ohio Railroad Railway companies established in 1938 Railway companies disestablished in 1972 Predecessors of the Illinois Central Railroad Former Class I railroads in the United States Defunct Alabama railroads Defunct Illinois railroads Defunct Kentucky railroads Defunct Louisiana railroads Defunct Mississippi railroads Defunct Missouri railroads Defunct Tennessee railroads American companies established in 1938