View source for Illinois Central Railroad

{{Short description|American railroad}}
{{Distinguish|Central Illinois Railroad}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox rail
| name = Illinois Central Railroad
| logo = Illinois Central Diamond Herald.png
| system_map = Chicago Central and Illinois Central route map 1996.png
| map_caption = Combined route map of the [[Chicago Central and Pacific]] (red) and Illinois Central (blue) railroads in 1996.<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Illinois Central Railroad|year=1997|title=Illinois Central Corporation 1996 Annual Report}}</ref>
| image = IC1004_EMD_SD70.jpg
| caption = Two Illinois Central [[EMD SD70]]s lead a train at [[Homewood, Illinois]]
| headquarters = [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]]
| marks = IC
| locale = [[Midwest]] to [[Gulf Coast]], United States
| founders=[[Robert Rantoul Jr.]]<br />[[Robert Schuyler]]<br />[[Jonathan Sturges (businessman)|Jonathan Sturges]]{{sfn|Ackerman|1900|p=27}}
| start_year = 1851 
| end_year = present (Remains a non-operational subsidiary.)
| successor_line = [[Canadian National Railway]]
| gauge = {{Track gauge|ussg|allk=on}}
| old_gauge = {{Track gauge|5ft|lk=on}}
| length = {{convert|3130.21|mi|abbr=on}}
}}
The '''Illinois Central Railroad''' {{Reporting mark|IC}}, 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, the [[Great Lakes]] to the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. Another line connected Chicago west to [[Sioux City, Iowa]] (1870), while smaller branches reached [[Omaha, Nebraska]] (1899) from [[Fort Dodge, Iowa]], and [[Sioux Falls, South Dakota]] (1887), from [[Cherokee, Iowa]].  The IC also ran service to [[Miami]], Florida, on trackage owned by other railroads.

The IC, founded in 1851, pioneered the financing later used by several long distance U.S. railroads whose construction was partially financed through a [[Land Grant Act of 1850|federal land grant]]. In 1998, the [[Canadian National Railway]], via [[Grand Trunk Corporation]], acquired control of the IC, and absorbed its operations the following year. The Illinois Central Railroad maintains its corporate existence as a non-operating subsidiary.  In 1971, [[Steve Goodman]] released a folk anthem, "[[City of New Orleans (song)|City of New Orleans]]" about riding on Illinois Central's "Monday-morning rail" train and the passing of the "magic carpet" ride of passenger rail service in the United States, which once dominated travel.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Sanders |first=Craig |title=Writing of 'City of New Orleans' |magazine=[[Trains (magazine)|Trains]] |volume=77 |number=9 |pages=34–39 |date=September 2017 |url=https://www.trains.com/trn/magazine/archive-access/trains-september-2017/}}</ref>

==History==
===The first land grant railroad===
The IC was one of the oldest [[Class I railroad]]s in the United States. The company was incorporated by the [[Illinois General Assembly]] on January 16, 1836.<ref>"An Act to Incorporate the Illinois Central Rail Road Company," ''Laws of the State of Illinois passed by the Ninth General Assembly at their Second Session...'', Vandalia: J.Y. Sawyer, 1836, p. 129</ref> Within a few months Rep. [[Zadok Casey]] (D-Illinois) introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives authorizing a [[land grant]] to the company to construct a line from the mouth of the Ohio River to [[Chicago]] and on to [[Galena, Illinois|Galena]].<ref>U.S. House of Representatives,24th Congress, 1st Session, Report No. 1498, 31 March 1836.</ref> Federal support, however, was not approved until 1850, when U.S. President [[Millard Fillmore]] signed a land grant for the construction of the railroad.<ref>{{cite book| page=59| quote=The Illinois Central ... law was approved Sept. 20, 1850 ...| title=Railroad Land Grants 1850-1857; a Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Master of Letters in History and Economics| first=John Bell| last=Sanborn| year=1897| publisher=University of Wisconsin| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C_M7AAAAMAAJ&q=%22Illinois+Central%22+land+grant&pg=PA13| via=Google Books}}</ref> The Illinois Central was the first land-grant railroad in the United States.<ref>{{cite book| page=157| quote=The first land grant ever given by Congress to assist in the construction of a railroad ...| title=History of the Illinois Central Railroad to 1870| first=Howard Gray| last=Brownson| year=1967| edition=first reprint| orig-year=1915| publisher=University of Illinois| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8TwbLkDkHPcC&q=first+land+grant&pg=PA314| via=Google Books}}</ref>

[[File:Illinois Central Railway Ad 1870.jpg|thumb|Illinois Central ad (1870)]]
[[File:Illinois Central RR 1899.jpg|thumb|Illinois Central Rail Road share, issued 1899]]

The Illinois Central was chartered by the Illinois General Assembly on February 10, 1851.<ref name="Steamtown, IC 790">Steamtown National Historic Site, ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20021213094145/http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/steamtown/shs2i.htm Illinois Central Railroad number 790]'' . Retrieved February 10, 2006.</ref> Senator [[Stephen A. Douglas]] and later President [[Abraham Lincoln]] were both Illinois Central men who lobbied for it. Douglas owned land near the terminal in Chicago. Lincoln was a lawyer for the railroad. Illinois legislators appointed [[Samuel D. Lockwood]], recently retired from the [[Illinois Supreme Court]] (who may have given both lawyers the oral examination before admitting them to the Illinois bar), as a trustee on the new railroad's board to guard the public's interest. Lockwood, who would serve more than two decades until his death, had overseen federal land monies shortly after Illinois' statehood, then helped oversee early construction of the recently completed [[Illinois and Michigan Canal]].
===Early operations===
Upon its completion in 1856, the IC was the longest railroad in the world. Its main line went from [[Cairo, Illinois]], at the southern tip of the state, to [[Galena, Illinois|Galena]], in the northwest corner. A branch line went from [[Centralia, Illinois|Centralia]] (named for the railroad), to the rapidly growing city of [[Chicago]]. In Chicago, its tracks were laid along the shore of [[Lake Michigan]] and on an offshore causeway downtown, but land-filling and natural deposition have moved the present-day shore to the east. Track from Centralia north to Freeport would be abandoned in the 1980s, as traffic to Galena was routed via Chicago. During the Civil War Chicago became the supply base for the Western armies. General [[Ulysses S Grant]] took his forces on the Illinois Central—his supply line—down to Cairo. He then he marched south to seize control of Kentucky and Tennessee on his way to victories at [[Battle of Shiloh|Shiloh]], [[Vicksburg campaign|Vicksburg]], and [[Chattanooga campaign|Chattanooga]].<ref>John E. Stover, ''History of the Illinois Central'' (1975) pp.85–107.</ref> For the entire war, the Illinois Central carried 626,000 soldiers back and forth for a total of 128,000,000 passenger miles of military service, for which the War Department paid $1.7 million, plus another $.5 million to move freight.<ref> Stover, p.99.</ref>

In 1867, the Illinois Central extended its track into [[Iowa]]. During the 1870s and 1880s, the IC acquired and expanded railroads in the southern United States. IC lines crisscrossed the state of [[Mississippi]] and went as far south as [[New Orleans, Louisiana]], and east to [[Louisville, Kentucky]]. In the 1880s, northern lines were built to [[Dodgeville, Wisconsin]]; [[Sioux Falls, South Dakota]]; and [[Omaha, Nebraska]]. Further expansion continued into the early twentieth century.

The Illinois Central, and the other "Harriman lines" owned by [[E.H. Harriman]] by the twentieth century, became the target of the [[Illinois Central shopmen's strike of 1911]]. Although marked by violence and sabotage in the southern, midwestern, and western states, the strike was effectively over in a few months. The railroads simply hired replacements, among them African-American strikebreakers, and withstood diminishing union pressure. The strike was eventually called off in 1915.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Revenue freight ton-miles (millions)
|-
! !! IC (incl Y&MV, G&SI)!! [[Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railway|Vicksburg, Shreveport, & Pacific]] !! Alabama & Vicksburg
|- align="right"
! scope="row" | 1925
| 15,050 || 239 || 159
|- align="right"
! scope="row" | 1933
| 7,776 || (into Y&MV) || (into Y&MV)
|- align="right"
! scope="row" | 1944
| 24,012 || ||
|- align="right"
! scope="row" | 1960
| 17,171 || ||
|- align="right"
! scope="row" | 1970
| 22,902 || ||
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Revenue passenger-miles (millions)
|-
! !! IC (incl Y&MV, G&SI)!! Vicksburg Shreveport & Pacific !! Alabama & Vicksburg
|- align="right"
! scope="row" | 1925
| 982 || 22 || 20
|- align="right"
! scope="row" | 1933
| 547 || (into Y&MV) || (into Y&MV)
|- align="right"
! scope="row" | 1944
| 2225 || ||
|- align="right"
! scope="row" | 1960
| 848 || ||
|- align="right"
! scope="row" | 1970
| 764 || ||
|}

The totals above do not include the Waterloo RR, Batesville Southwestern, Peabody Short Line or CofG and its subsidiaries. On December 31, 1925, IC/Y&MV/G&SI operated 6,562 route-miles on 11,030 miles of track; A&V and VS&P added 330 route-miles and 491 track-miles. At the end of 1970, IC operated 6,761 miles of road and 11,159 of track.

In 1960, the railroad retired its last steam locomotive, [[2-8-2]] Mikado #1518. On August 31, 1962, the railroad was incorporated as Illinois Central Industries, Inc. ICI acquired Abex Corporation (formerly American Brake Shoe and Foundry Co.) in 1968.<ref>[https://lipsitzponterio.com/asbestos-job-site/abex-corporation-medina-ny/ ABEX Corporation and asbestos - History]. Accessed 9 June 2022.</ref>

===Illinois Central Gulf Railroad (1972–1988)===
[[File:Illinois Central Gulf Logo.jpg|thumb|Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Logo]]
[[File:ICG hopper with ACI plate.JPG|thumb|ICG hopper with [[KarTrak|ACI]] plate]]

On August 10, 1972, the Illinois Central Railroad merged with the [[Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad]] to form the '''Illinois Central Gulf Railroad''' {{Reporting mark|ICG}}. October 30 of that year saw the [[Illinois Central Gulf commuter rail crash]], the company's deadliest.

At the end of 1980, ICG operated 8,366 miles of railroad on 13,532 miles of track; that year it reported 33,276 million ton-miles of revenue freight and 323 million passenger-miles. Later in that decade, the railroad spun off most of its east–west lines and many of its redundant north–south lines, including much of the former GM&O. Most of these lines were bought by other railroads, including entirely new railroads such as the [[Chicago, Missouri and Western Railway]]; [[Paducah and Louisville Railway]]; [[Chicago Central and Pacific Railroad]]; and [[MidSouth Rail Corporation]].

In 1988, the railroad's parent company, IC Industries, spun off its remaining rail assets and changed its name to Whitman Corporation.<ref>ICI, Pepsi organization OK merger ''[[Railway Age]]'' January 5, 1970 page 8</ref> On February 29, 1988, the newly separated ICG dropped the "Gulf" from its name and again became the Illinois Central Railroad.

===Canadian National Railway (1998–present)===
On February 11, 1998, the IC was purchased for about $2.4 billion in cash and shares by [[Canadian National Railway]] (CN). Integration of operations began July 1, 1999.

In November 2020, as part of celebrations for the 25th anniversary of CN's privatization, the company unveiled a series of locomotives repainted in the schemes of the company's predecessor and subsidiary railroads. [[GE Evolution Series|GE ET44AC]] No.&nbsp;3008, which was repainted in the black livery of IC, along with the logos of that company.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schweitzer |first=Rene |date=November 17, 2020 |title=CN celebrates 25th anniversary of privatization, unveils heritage locomotives |language=en-US |work=[[Trains (magazine)|Trains]] |url=https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/cn-celebrates-25th-anniversary-of-privatization-unveils-heritage-locomotives/ |access-date=2025-02-04}}</ref>

==Locomotives==
<gallery>
File:Locomotive ICRR LOC det.8d23306.jpg|An IC steam locomotive taking on coal at a [[Chicago]] rail yard in November 1942
File:Illinois Central 1234 (SW9) crossing B&O - C&EI crossing at Tuscola, IL on switching run. Tower is a C&EI tower. May 7, 1966 (27111081984).jpg|IC 1234, an [[EMD SW9]], switching at [[Tuscola, Illinois]] in 1966
File:Illinois Central diesel.jpg|A preserved Illinois Central [[EMD GP11]] locomotive on static display in downtown [[Carbondale, Illinois]]
File:Foreign Power on NS (4599474599).jpg|Illinois Central 1018, an [[EMD SD70]], leads a [[Norfolk Southern]] mixed freight
File:IC 3115.jpg|IC 3115, an EMD GP40R, sitting in [[Waukesha, Wisconsin]]
</gallery>

==Passenger train service==
[[Image:1850 IC.jpg|thumb|200px|Illinois Central 1850 planned Route Map]]
[[Image:1892 IC.jpg|thumb|200px|Illinois Central 1892 Route Map]]
Illinois Central was the major carrier of passengers on its Chicago-to-New Orleans mainline and between Chicago and St. Louis. IC also ran passengers on its Chicago-to-Omaha line, though it was never among the top performers on this route. Illinois Central's largest passenger terminal, [[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Central Station]], stood at 12th Street east of Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Due to the railroad's north–south route from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes, Illinois Central passenger trains were one means of transport during the [[African American]] [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]] of the 1920s.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Devil's Music|author=Giles Oakley|publisher=[[Da Capo Press]]|page=[https://archive.org/details/devilsmusichisto00oakl_0/page/76 76]|isbn=978-0-306-80743-5|date=1997|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/devilsmusichisto00oakl_0/page/76}}</ref>

Illinois Central's most famous train was the ''[[Panama Limited]]'', a premier all-Pullman car service between Chicago and New Orleans, with a section breaking off at Carbondale to serve St. Louis. In 1949, it added a daytime all-coach companion, the ''[[City of New Orleans (train)|City of New Orleans]],'' which operated with a St. Louis section breaking off at Carbondale and a [[Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville]] section breaking off at [[Fulton, Kentucky]]. In 1967, due to losses incurred by the operation of the train, the Illinois Central combined the Panama Limited with a coach-only train called the ''[[Magnolia Star]]''.

On May 1, 1971, Amtrak took over intercity rail service. It retained service over the IC mainline, but dropped the ''Panama Limited'' in favor of the ''City of New Orleans.'' However, since it did not connect with any other trains in either New Orleans or Chicago, Amtrak moved the route to an overnight schedule and brought back the ''Panama Limited'' name. However, it restored the ''City of New Orleans'' name in 1981, while retaining the overnight schedule. This was to capitalize on the popularity of a song about the train, called [[City of New Orleans (song)]] written by [[Steve Goodman]] and performed by [[Arlo Guthrie]]. [[Willie Nelson]]'s recording of the song was #1 on the Hot Country Charts in 1984.

Illinois Central ran several other trains along the main route including ''The Creole'' and ''The Louisiane''.

The ''[[Green Diamond]]'' was the Illinois Central's premier train between Chicago, Springfield and St. Louis. Other important trains included the ''Hawkeye'' which ran daily between Chicago and Sioux City and the ''[[City of Miami (train)|City of Miami]]'' eventually running every other day between Chicago and Miami via the [[Atlantic Coast Line Railroad|Atlantic Coast Line]], the [[Central of Georgia Railroad]] and [[Florida East Coast Railway]].

The Illinois Central was also a major operator of [[commuter rail|commuter trains]] in the Chicago area, operating what eventually became the "IC Electric" line from Randolph Street Terminal in downtown Chicago to the southeast suburbs. In 1987, IC sold this line to [[Metra]], who operates it as the [[Metra Electric District]]. It still operates out of what is now [[Millennium Station]], which is still called "Randolph Street Terminal" by many longtime Chicago-area residents. In honor of the ''Panama Limited,'' the Electric District appears as "Panama Orange" on Metra system maps and timetables. Additionally, the IC operated a second commuter line out of Chicago (the [[Illinois Central West Line|West Line]]) which served Chicago's western suburbs. Unlike the electrified commuter service, the West Line did not generate much traffic and was eliminated in 1931.

Amtrak presently runs three trains daily over this route, the ''[[City of New Orleans (train)|City of New Orleans]]'' and the [[Illini and Saluki|''Illini'' and ''Saluki'']] between Chicago and Carbondale. Another Illinois corridor service is planned for the former ''Black Hawk'' route between Chicago, Rockford and Dubuque. Amtrak, at the state of Illinois' request, did a feasibility study to reinstate the ''Black Hawk'' route to Rockford and Dubuque. Initial capital costs range from $32 million to $55 million, depending on the route. Once in operation, the service would require roughly $5 million a year in subsidies from the state.<ref>{{cite web | title=Amtrak-Illinois dot feasibility study determines most direct route best for service to Rockford, northwestern Illinois and Dubuque, Iowa | url=http://www.returnthetrain.com/files/ATK_07_057_Rockford_route_decision_1_.pdf | work=[[Amtrak]] | date=May 16, 2007 | access-date=2008-05-02 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

On December 10, 2010, IDOT announced the route choice for the resumption of service to begin in 2014 going over mostly [[Canadian National Railway|CN]] railway.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://members.trainorders.com/dr04/BlackHawk|title=Amtrak Black Hawk Service Restoration Status Updates|date=April 7, 2011|website=Trainorders|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618182024/http://members.trainorders.com/dr04/BlackHawk/|archive-date=June 18, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=2011-04-07}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=December 2019}}

===Illinois Central named trains===
[[File:Illinois Central E8A 4025 (24606949091).jpg|thumb|The ''[[City of New Orleans (train)|City of New Orleans]]'' at Champaign, IL station on October 27, 1962.]]
[[File:Kankakee IC Aug 1964 3-03 (cropped).jpg|thumb|IC's ''[[City of New Orleans (train)|City of New Orleans]]'' at [[Kankakee station|Kankakee, Illinois]] in 1964]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Train
! <!--North/East-->Northern Terminus 
! Southern Terminus<!--South/West-->
|-
|[[Cannonball Express (Illinois Central train)|''Cannonball Express'' or ''Illinois Central Fast Mail'']]
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]]
|[[New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal|New Orleans]]
|-
|''[[Chickasaw (train)|Chickasaw]]''
|[[Union Station (St. Louis)|St. Louis]]
|[[New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal|New Orleans]]
|-
|''[[City of Miami (train)|City of Miami]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]]
|[[Miami]]
|-
|''[[City of New Orleans (train)|City of New Orleans]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]]
|[[New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal|New Orleans]]
|-
|''[[Creole (train)|Creole]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]], [[Central Station (Louisville)|Louisville]] and [[Union Station (St. Louis)|St. Louis]]
|[[New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal|New Orleans]]
|-
|''[[Daylight (Illinois Central train)|Daylight]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]]
|[[Union Station (St. Louis)|St. Louis]]
|-
|''[[Delta Express (train)|Delta Express]]''
|[[Memphis Central Station|Memphis, Tennessee]]
|[[Greenville, Mississippi]]
|-
|''[[Floridan (train)|Floridan]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]] and [[Union Station (St. Louis)|St. Louis]]
|[[Miami]]
|-
|''[[Green Diamond]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]]
|[[Union Station (St. Louis)|St. Louis]]
|-
|''[[Governor's Special]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]]
|[[Springfield Union Station (Illinois)|Springfield, Illinois]]
|-
|''[[Hawkeye (train)|Hawkeye]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]]
|[[Sioux City, Iowa]]/[[Sioux Falls, South Dakota]]
|-
|''[[Illini and Saluki|Illini]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]]
|[[Carbondale, Illinois]]
|-
|''[[Iowan (train)|Iowan]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]]
|[[Sioux City, Iowa]]
|-
|''[[Irvin S. Cobb (train)|Irvin S. Cobb]]''
|[[Central Station (Louisville)|Louisville, Kentucky]]
|[[Memphis Central Station|Memphis, Tennessee]]
|-
|''[[Kentucky Cardinal (train)|Kentucky Cardinal]]''
|[[Central Station (Louisville)|Louisville, Kentucky]]
|[[Memphis Central Station|Memphis, Tennessee]]
|-
|''[[Land O'Corn]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]]
|[[Waterloo, Iowa]]
|-
|''[[Louisiane (train)|Louisiane]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]] and [[Central Station (Louisville)|Louisville]]
|[[New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal|New Orleans]]
|-
|''[[Magnolia Star]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]]
|[[New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal|New Orleans]]
|-
|''[[Mid-American]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]]
|[[Union Station (St. Louis)|St. Louis]]/[[Memphis Central Station|Memphis, Tennessee]]
|-
|''[[Miss Lou (train)|Miss Lou]]''
|[[Union Station (Jackson, Mississippi)|Jackson, Mississippi]]
|[[New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal|New Orleans]]
|-
|''[[Night Diamond]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]]
|[[Union Station (St. Louis)|St. Louis]]
|-
|''[[Northern Express (Illinois Central train)|Northern Express]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]]
|[[New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal|New Orleans]]
|-
|''[[Northeastern Limited (IC train)|Northeastern Limited]]''
|[[Shreveport, Louisiana]]
|[[Union Station (Meridian, Mississippi)|Meridian, Mississippi]] with continuing sleepers to New York City on the Southern Railway's ''[[Pelican (train)|Pelican]]''
|-
|''[[Panama Limited]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]]
|[[New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal|New Orleans]]
|-
|''[[Planter (train)|Planter]]''
|[[Memphis Central Station|Memphis, Tennessee]]
|[[New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal|New Orleans]]
|-
|''[[Seminole (train)|Seminole]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]] and [[Union Station (St. Louis)|St. Louis]]
|[[Jacksonville Terminal Complex|Jacksonville, Florida]]
|-
|''[[Shawnee (train)|Shawnee]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]]
|[[Carbondale station|Carbondale, Illinois]]
|-
|''[[Sinnissippi (train)|Sinnissippi]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]]
|[[Freeport, Iowa]]
|-
|''[[Southern Express (Illinois Central train)|Southern Express]]''
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]]
|[[New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal|New Orleans]]
|-
|''[[Southwestern Limited (IC train)|Southwestern Limited]]''
|[[Union Station (Meridian, Mississippi)|Meridian, Mississippi]] with continuing sleepers from New York City on the Southern Railway's ''[[Pelican (train)|Pelican]]''
|[[Shreveport, Louisiana]]
|-
|''[[Sunchaser (train)|Sunchaser]]'' (winter only)
|[[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Chicago]] and [[Union Station (St. Louis)|St. Louis]]
|[[Miami, Florida]]
|}

==Company officers==
Presidents of the Illinois Central Railroad have included:
{{inc-transport|date=August 2008}}
{{div col|colwidth=23em}}
* [[Sidney Breese]], Father of the Illinois Central Railroad
* Robert Schuyler, 1851–1853
* [[William P. Burrall]], 1853–1854
* [[John N. A. Griswold]], 1855
* [[William H. Osborn]], 1855–1865<ref name="History of the Illinois Central Railroad Company">{{cite book| author=Ackerman, William K., Railroad Historical Company, Illinois Central Railroad Company
| url=https://archive.org/details/historyillinois00compgoog |title=History of the Illinois Central Railroad Company and Representative Employes By William K. Ackerman, Railroad Historical Company, Illinois Central Railroad Company | publisher=Railroad Historical Company
| year=1900
|access-date=9 February 2009}}</ref>
* John M. Douglas, 1865–1871, 1875–1876
* John Newell, 1871–1874
* [[Wilson G. Hunt]], 1874–1875
* William K. Ackerman, 1876–1883
* [[James C. Clarke]], 1883–1887
* [[Stuyvesant Fish]], 1887–1906
* [[James Theodore Harahan]], 1906–1911
* Charles H. Markham, 1911–1918
* Charles A. Peabody, 1918–1919
* Charles H. Markham, 1919–1926
* Lawrence A. Downs, 1926–1938
* John L. Beven, 1938–1945
* [[Wayne A. Johnston]], 1945–1966 (chairman of Illinois Central Industries to 1967)
* William B. Johnson, 1967–1969 (chairman of IC Industries to 1987)
* [[Alan Stephenson Boyd]], 1969–1972<ref name="Stover, IC Management">{{cite web |author=Stover, John F., Purdue University |url=http://www.h-net.org/~business/bhcweb/publications/BEHprint/v008/p0055-p0060.pdf |access-date=9 February 2006 |title=The Management of the Illinois Central Railroad in the 20th Century}}</ref>
* William J Taylor, 1976–1983
* Harry J Bruce, 1983–1990
* [[Edward L. Moyers]], 1990–1993<ref name=ChicagonIC>{{Downey-Chicago | page=10}}</ref><ref name=RyAge1993>{{cite journal| title=Harrison succeeds Ed Moyers at IC| journal=Railway Age| date=March 1993| volume=194| issue=3| page=14}}</ref>
* [[E. Hunter Harrison]], 1993–1998
{{Div col end}}

==Preservation==
[[Image:IC 201 20050716 IL Union.jpg|thumb|IC No. 201 on display at the Illinois Railway Museum]]
[[Image:IC333.JPG|thumb|220px|IC No. 333 on display at Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad Company Depot]]
Several locomotives and rolling stock formerly owned and used by Illinois Central are preserved, and many of them reside in parks and museums across the United States.

* [[Illinois Central 201|No. 201]], a [[2-4-4]] suburban tank locomotive that participated in the "Wheels A-Rolling" pageant at the [[Chicago Railroad Fair]], is displayed at [[Illinois Railway Museum]] in [[Union, Illinois]].
* No. 268, an [[0-6-0]] switcher, resides in [[Laurel, Mississippi]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine |last=Downey |first=Cliff |date=January 1998 |title=The Last Decade of Illinois Central Steam |magazine=[[Railfan & Railroad]] |publisher=[[Carstens Publications]] |pages=48–49 |volume=17 |issue=1}}</ref>
* No. 333, an 0-6-0 switcher, and several passenger cars are on display just outside the historic [[Baton Rouge station|Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad Company Depot]] in [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]].
* No. 764, a 651 class [[2-8-0]] "Consolidation", was donated to the [[National Museum of Transportation]] in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1956.
* [[Illinois Central 790|No. 790]] is on static display at [[Steamtown National Historic Site]] in [[Scranton, Pennsylvania]].
* No. 1518, a 1500 series [[2-8-2]] "Mikado", is on static display in [[Paducah, Kentucky]]. It was built by the [[Lima Locomotive Works]] in 1923.
* No. 2500, the first of 2500 class [[4-8-2]] "Mountain" types, is on static display in the Age of Steam Memorial in Centralia, Illinois.
* No. 2542, a 2500 class 4-8-2, is on static display at [[McComb, Mississippi]].
* No. 3525, an 0-8-0 switcher, is displayed at Tanglewood Park in [[Clemmons, North Carolina]] while painted as a [[Southern Railway (U.S.)|Southern Railway]] locomotive & was renumbered to 1894.<ref name=":0" />
* No. 3706, a 2-6-0 "Mogul", resides at the Illinois Railway Museum.<ref name=":0" />
* A yard office and a coal-fueling tower remain at the Illinois Central yards in [[Council Bluffs, Iowa]].
* IC No. 8408 GP10 locomotive/IC 9426 caboose static display Homewood, IL
* Illinois Central [[GP11]] #8701, along with an IC caboose, preserved on static display at the Carbondale passenger station in [[Carbondale, Illinois]].
* Illinois Central [[GP11]] #8733 preserved at the [[Monticello Railway Museum]] in [[Monticello, Illinois]].
* Several pieces of IC rolling stock also reside at the Monticello Railway Museum: IC combine No. 892, IC Day Coaches Nos. 2920, 2855, and 2612, IC Business Car No. 7, IC 10-6 sleeper Nos. 3531 "Council Bluffs", IC Dorm-baggage No. 1906, IC No. 518 (MAIL STORAGE), IC Panama Limited Observation "Gulfport", ICG cement hopper No. 100040, IC No. 65018, IC bridge crane No. X238, IC No. X1957 Boxcar, IC No. X2000 Idler Flat, IC's No. X4342 and X4352 tenders, IC X9151 Jordan Spreader, and IC cabooses Nos. 9926, 9831, and 9880.
* An Illinois Central caboose and banana car are preserved at the Casey Jones Railroad Museum in [[Water Valley, Mississippi]].[[File:Chicago IC Oct 1967 3-32.jpg|thumb|Illinois Central "Wickerliner" in Chicago, Illinois, 1967]]
* An Illinois Central caboose is privately owned and preserved in [[Raymond, Mississippi]] at the old train depot in the center of the town.
*Illinois Central SD40X No. 6071 (Ex-Gulf, Mobile and Ohio) at the Monticello Railway Museum in Monticello, Illinois
*Illinois Central Gulf GP8 No. 7738 at the [[Bluegrass Railroad Museum]] in [[Versailles, Kentucky]]
*1974 Illinois Central Gulf caboose (No. 199422) in service as IRM 9422 at the [[Indiana Railway Museum]] in [[French Lick, Indiana]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2580220|title=French Lick West Baden & Southern Rwy Caboose 9422 (Indiana Railway Museum)|website=www.rrpicturearchives.net}}</ref>
*Illinois Central caboose on historic main street in [[Palestine, Illinois]].
*One Illinois Central Caboose resides in [[Grayville, Illinois]].[[File:Metra Electric train.jpg|thumb|Former Illinois Central "[[Highliner]]" built by Bombardier on the [[Metra Electric District|Metra Electric]], 2002]]
*IC Nos. 1198 and 1380 "Wickerliner" (built by Pullman 1926) electric commuter cars at [[Illinois Railway Museum]]
*IC Nos. 1534 and 1630 "Highliner" (built by St Louis 1971–1972) electric commuter cars at [[Illinois Railway Museum]] (these cars were renamed "Highliner I" in 2005 well into their [[Metra Electric District|Metra Electric]] when [[Metra]] ordered the all-new "Highliner II")
*IC Nos. 1637 and 1645  "Highliner" (built by Bombardier 1978–1979) electric commuter cars at [[Illinois Railway Museum]] (these cars were renamed "Highliner I" in 2005 well into their [[Metra Electric District|Metra Electric]] when [[Metra]] ordered the all-new "Highliner II")

==Mississippi Central (1852–1878)==
The original Mississippi Central line was chartered in 1852. Construction of the {{convert|255|mi}} {{Track gauge|5ft|lk=on}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csa-railroads.com/Mississippi_Central.htm|title=Mississippi Central Railroad|website=CSA Railroads|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618182309/http://www.csa-railroads.com/Mississippi_Central.htm|archive-date=June 18, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=27 March 2018}}</ref> [[track gauge|gauge]] line began in 1853 and was completed in 1860, just prior to the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], from [[Canton, Mississippi]] to [[Jackson, Tennessee]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csa-railroads.com/Confederate%20Railroads.htm|title=Confederate Railroads – History, Maps & Equipment<!-- Bot generated title -->|website=csa-railroads.com|access-date=27 March 2018}}</ref> The southern terminus of the line connected to the [[New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad]] at Canton. It also connected to the [[Memphis and Charleston Railroad]] at [[Grand Junction, Tennessee]] and the [[Mobile and Ohio Railroad]] at Jackson, Tennessee. The Mississippi Central was the scene of several military actions from 1862 to 1863 and was severely damaged during the fighting.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.angelfire.com/ms2/grantshilohvicksburg/|title=The Mississippi Central Railroad Campaign|website=[[Angelfire]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618182701/http://www.angelfire.com/ms2/grantshilohvicksburg/|archive-date=June 18, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=27 March 2018}}</ref> Company president, [[Absolom M. West]] succeeded in repairing the damage and returning it to operating condition soon after the end of the War.

By 1874, interchange traffic with the Illinois Central Railroad was important enough that the IC installed a Nutter hoist at [[Cairo, Illinois]] to interchange between its [[standard gauge]] equipment broad gauge used by the Mississippi Central. This allowed the [[Bogie exchange|trucks to be exchanged]] on 16-18 [[freight car]]s per hour; a [[Pullman car]] could be changed in 15 minutes.<ref name=Vernon1874>Edward Vernon, The Decline in Railroad Construction, Editorial, [https://books.google.com/books?id=9U4tX97gWGUC&pg=PR52 American Railroad Manual] New York, 1874; page li.</ref> The original Mississippi Central line was merged into the Illinois Central Railroad subsidiary [[Chicago, St. Louis and New Orleans Railroad]] in several transactions finally completed in 1878.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://icrrhistorical.org/icrr.history.html|title=A Brief Historical Sketch of the Illinois Central Railroad|website=Illinois Central Historical Society|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111034131/http://icrrhistorical.org/icrr.history.html|archive-date=January 11, 2012|access-date=27 March 2018}}</ref><ref>No. 1737, Grafton T. Nutter, Jersey City, N.J., U.S., 2nd November, 1872, for 10 years: "A Railway Wagon Lifting Machine", [https://books.google.com/books?id=MbpQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA8 The Canadian Patent Office Record, Vol. 1], No. 1 (March, 1873); page 8.</ref>

==Mississippi Central (1897–1967)==
[[File:Mississippi Central Railroad Passenger Train, Sumrall, Mississippi (circa early 1900s).jpg |thumb|right|Mississippi Central Railroad passenger train in [[Sumrall, Mississippi]], early 1900s.]]
A line started in 1897 as the "Pearl and Leaf Rivers Railroad" was built by the J.J. Newman Lumber Company from [[Hattiesburg, Mississippi|Hattiesburg]], to [[Sumrall, Mississippi|Sumrall]]. In 1904 the name was changed to the Mississippi Central Railroad {{reporting mark|MSC}}. In 1906 the Natchez and Eastern Railway was formed to build a rail line from [[Natchez, Mississippi|Natchez]] to [[Brookhaven, Mississippi|Brookhaven]]. In 1909 this line was absorbed by the Mississippi Central.

For a short time during the 1920s, the line operated a service named "The Natchez Route", running trains from Natchez to [[Mobile, Alabama]] through trackage agreements with the [[Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad]]. At Natchez, freight cars were ferried across the [[Mississippi River]] to connect with the [[Louisiana and Arkansas Railway]] to institute through traffic into [[Shreveport, Louisiana]]. In 1967 the property of the Mississippi Central was sold to the Illinois Central Railroad.<ref>[[Moody's Transportation Manual]] (1975), p. xxx</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Trains|Railways}}
*[[Edward Turner Jeffery]], general manager, Illinois Central Railroad
*[[David L. Gunn]]
*[[Tammany Trace]]
*[[Billups Neon Crossing Signal]] A unique railroad crossing signal erected in [[Grenada, MS]]
*[[Illinois Central Missouri River Bridge]], the world's longest swing bridge when constructed
* [[History of rail transportation in the United States]]
* [[Railroad land grants in the United States]]

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last=Ackerman |first=W.K. |date=1900 |editor=Railroad Historical Company |title=History of the Illinois Central Railroad Company and representative employes : a history of the growth and development of one of the leading arteries of transportation in the United States, from inception to its present mammoth proportions, together with the biographies of many of the men who have been and are identified with the varied interests of the Illinois Central Railroad |publisher= |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyillinois00compgoog/page/n15 11]–63 |chapter=Chapter 1: History of the Illinois Central Railroad Company |isbn=}}
* Stover, John F., Purdue University, ''[http://www.h-net.org/~business/bhcweb/publications/BEHprint/v008/p0055-p0060.pdf The Management of the Illinois Central Railroad in the 20th Century]'' ([[Portable Document Format|PDF]]). Retrieved February 9, 2006.
* University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Archives, ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20020607015301/http://web.library.uiuc.edu/ahx/uaccard/UAControlCard.asp?RG=1&SG=20&RS=3 Wayne A. Johnston Papers, 1945–1967]''. Retrieved February 9, 2006.
*{{Cite book|last=Murray|first=Tom|year=2006|title=Illinois Central Railroad|series=MBI Railroad Color History|edition=1st|publisher=Voyageur Press|isbn=978-0-7603-2254-3}}
{{Refend}}

'''Further reading'''
* Daly, Aiden Thomas. "Homes for the Industrious in the Garden State of the West: The Illinois Central Railroad's Role in the Economic, Environmental, and Agricultural Development of Illinois, 1850–1861" (PhD dissertation, Iowa State University; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  2022. 29261430).
* Downey, Clifford J. ''Chicago and the Illinois Central Railroad'' (Arcadia, 2007), popular history.
* Gates, Paul Wallace. "The promotion of agriculture by the Illinois Central Railroad, 1855-1870." ''Agricultural History'' 5.2 (1931): 57–76. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3739427 online]
* Gates, Paul Wallace. '' The Illinois Central Railroad and its Colonization Work'' (Harvard UP, 1934) [https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Illinois_Central_Railroad_and_Its_Co.html?id=Oq8rAAAAYAAJ excerpt]
* Lightner, David L. ''Labor on the Illinois Central Railroad, 1852-1900 : the evolution of an industrial environment'' (1977) [https://archive.org/details/laboronillinoisc0000ligh/page/n5/mode/2up online]
* Murray, Tom. ''Illinois Central Railroad'' (2006), photographs, many in color, with brief text [https://archive.org/details/illinoiscentralr0000murr online]
* Stover, John. ''History of the Illinois Central Railroad'' (1975), a  standard scholarly history [https://archive.org/details/historyofillinoi0000stov online]
* Stover, John F. "The Illinois Central and the Growth of Illinois and Chicago in the 1850s." ''Railroad History'' 159 (1988): 39–50. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/43521321 online]
* Stover, John F. "The Management of the Illinois Central Railroad in the 20th Century." ''Business and Economic History'' (1979): 55–60. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/23702590 online]
* Sutton, Robert M. ''The Illinois Central Railroad in peace and war, 1858–1868'' (1948).

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/19990220143549/http://www.icrr.com/ Official website, archived 1999]
<!--https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4041p.rr004310/?r=0.054,1.051,0.389,0.203,0
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https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/online_exhibits/100_documents/1851-il-central-railroad.html
https://vimeo.com/18216743-->
*[http://icrrhistorical.org/ Illinois Central Historical Society]
*[http://www.trainweb.org/icrr/ Illinois Central Railroad On-Line]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050405022517/http://www.icgphotos.com/plainindex.htm Illinois Central Resource Page]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051018204856/http://stb.dot.gov/Decisions/readingroom.nsf/25d4614badd6d27585257087006eb723/6ae2eda1784a01e38525677b006e9de2?OpenDocument STB decision, docket number FD_33556_0] (granting CN control of the IC)
* [https://archives.newberry.org/repositories/2/resources/601 Illinois Central Railroad Company Archives] at [[the Newberry Library]]
*[https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/ead/htmldocs/KCL05197.html Guide to the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad. Memorabilia, 1857–1971. 5197. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Martin P. Catherwood Library, Cornell University.]
*[http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/627.html Encyclopedia of Chicago "Illinois Central Railroad".]
* [http://www.mchistory.org/perch/resources/Finding%20Aid%20PDFs/illinois-central-railroad-1.pdf Illinois Central Railroad Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180318120626/http://www.mchistory.org/perch/resources/Finding%20Aid%20PDFs/illinois-central-railroad-1.pdf |date=March 18, 2018 }}, McLean County Museum of History
*[https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.CRMS198 Guide to Tracy W. Simpson, Electrification Project : The Illinois Central Railroad Company Suburban Service at Chicago, Ill. 1909] at the [https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/scrc/ University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center]

{{IC named trains}}
{{Chicago Rail}}
{{Illinois railroads}}
{{Former Class I}}
{{Millard Fillmore}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Illinois Central Railroad}}
[[Category:Illinois Central Railroad| ]]
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