Illinois Central Railroad History

The IC was one of the earlier Class I railroads in the US. Its roots stretch back to abortive attempts by the Illinois General Assembly to charter a railroad linking the northern and southern parts of the state of Illinois. In 1850 U.S. President Millard Fillmore signed a land grant for the construction of the railroad, making the Illinois Central the first land-grant railroad in the United States.

The Illinois Central was officially chartered by the Illinois General Assembly on February 10, 1851. 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, in the northwest corner. A branch line went from 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 landfilling and natural deposition have moved the present day shore to the east.

In 1867 the Illinois Central extended its track into Iowa. Throughout the 1870s, and 1880s the IC acquired and expanded railroads throughout the southern United States. IC lines crisscrossed the state of Mississippi and went as far as New Orleans, Louisiana to the south and Louisville, Kentucky in the east. 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 following link provides as complete March 1906 Railway Guide. Illinois Central and Y&MV listings

The Illinois Central route thorugh Indiana and Illinois in 1906 just before the route with the trestle was completed.

In 1906 the Indianapolis Southern Railroad, an IC subsidiary, completed a line from Effingham, Ill., to Indianapolis. Part of the line was of new construction and part was a rework of existing narrow gauge lines

The construction of the railroad was from Indianapolis to Switz City in Grant and Fairplay townships, Bloomfield and Solsberry in the eastern townships to Indianapolis and began passenger service December 1906. Then in 1908 it became the Illinois Central system.

Illinois Central Shipping yards were at Solsberry, in Beech Creek township. In the early 1900's railroads were used to ship lumber cattle and other produce all over the United States. Below is a picture of the railway cars at Solsberry and the shipping yards.

Below is an example of an Illinois Central Train that could of ran through Greene county an the local tracks.

Railroad Collections in the Bentley Historical Library

Below is the depot at Bloomfield about the turn of the cenutry.

Illinois Central Railroad bridge over White river at Elliston while under construction.

At Elliston in Section 1 until the late 1920's a three way crossing of the railroads existed; in 1935 it was reduced to a two-way crossing. The Illinois Central east and west was establishedd in 1906 with and eleated track as to be above the flood waters of the White river in the Elliston area; the Monon east and west awas established in 1896 by the Bedford-Bloomfield line which became the Cleveland Cincinnati Chicago & St. Louis railroad junction north and south; and all with a common depot.

and below what remained of the crossing a few years ago.

It took great orginization to construct the trestle and the first needed item was money. It was first owned by the Indiana Southern Railroad, and Illinois Central Gulf, another railroad company is said to have secretly financed it.

Work on the bridge started on May 22, 1905 with a ground breaking ceremony. But work was suspended at the work camps in early December. Work resumed in May and excavation was completed and the grade work between Tulip and the trestle site was underway. Rail line was also laid to gain access to the site in order to move the steel materials. By mid-August 1906, rail cars were running work trains to the site. The contract for grading work from the White River to Tulip was completed.It was built in just three months and is offically known as Bridge X75-6, at one point it is 157 feet high [one account says 180 feet high] and 2,295 feet long and some say 2,307 feet to be exact, which is one-half miles long. It was said to be completed at a cost of $1,000. The total cost of this project is said to have been about $246.504; and a bridge engineer from Chicago estimated that to construct it today would be around $10,000 per foot or over $20 million

The first and the first train went across the bridge in Nov. 1907 on a run from Indianapolis to Effingham, Illinois.
> The Illinois Central Railroad continued to expand in the twentieth century. In 1906 the Indianapolis Southern Railroad, an Illinois Central subsidiary, completed a line from Effingham, Ill., to Indianapolis.

With the compeletion of the ndianapolis Southern Railroad, a subsidiary of Illinois Central Railroad from Indianapolis to Effingham, Illinois and the connection with the main line from Chicago to New Orleans also realized the goal of the two other railroads running through Greene county in a southwesterly direction, they were the Pennsylvania and the Cleveland Cincinnati Chicago & St. Louis [CCC & St. R.R.].

The coal mined in the Linton area was moved via the Illinois Central to the Chicago market by way of the connection to the mainline at Effingham, Illinois. When there were some 200 or more mines in operation in the early part of the century there was a maze of railroad spurs to the various mine tipples in Stockton and Wright townships. This construction of railroads was from 1869 to 1906 in Greene county. The coal industry in Greene county was the reason for the expansion of the railway system and as the ore from the deep shaft mines mines was exhausted brought the decline of the railroad system of Greene county.

The railroads were constructed to promote commerical interests; the passenger trains were a by-product and the also carried the Railway Express and the United States mail cars.

Engine 587 was built for the Lake Erie & Western Railroad as Engine No. 5541 and assumed its present number when LE&W became a part of the Nickel Plate Railroad in 1922. It operated in the Midwest until 1955 when it was retired at Indianpolis Broad Ripple Park. A crew of volunteers began restoring it in 1983 and when it was completed it was put in operation at the Indiana Transportation Museum in Noblesville.

On August 10, 1972 the Illinois Central Railroad merged with the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad to form the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad. On February 29, 1988, the ICG dropped the "Gulf" from its name and again became known as the Illinois Central Railroad.

Indiana Rail Road completed a $1 million, state-of-the-art locomotive shop, fueling facility and office complex at Switz City in Greene County, Indiana in 1997.

Presidents of the Illinois Central Railroad have included:

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