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The Rise and Fall of Illinois Central Railroad

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Get free life insurance quotes from America's top insurers and start saving today with Policygenius: policygenius.co.... Thanks to Policygenius for sponsoring this video!
Born from a vision to connect Illinois' north and south, the Illinois Central Railroad rose in the 1850s, fueled by land grants and a booming economy. Its tracks stretched across the state, fostering the growth of cities and industries. It became a prominent player, hauling not only passengers but also the lifeblood of the nation: grain, coal, and manufactured goods. However, the 20th century brought new challenges. Competition from other transportation modes, coupled with economic downturns and mismanagement, chipped away at the railroad's dominance. By the late 1990s, the Illinois Central, once a symbol of progress, merged with another struggling railroad, marking the end of an era. Its legacy lives on in the infrastructure that still crisscrosses the landscape, a testament to a time when the iron horse ruled the American heartland.
» CREDIT
Scriptwriter - Gregory Back
Editor - Karolina Szwata
Host - Ryan Socash
Music/Sound Design: Dave Daddario
» NOTICE
Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only - always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes - retractions will be published in this section.

Опубликовано:

22 авг 2024

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Комментарии : 120

@ITSHISTORY 5 месяцев назад

Get free life insurance quotes from America's top insurers and start saving today with Policygenius: policygenius.com/itshistory. Thanks to Policygenius for sponsoring this video!

@illinoiscentralrailroadfan6015 5 месяцев назад

Thank you for the video on the Illinois Central railroad and the trip down memory lane

@user-rq3gk7xo4j 5 месяцев назад

Lived on a farm growing up on the Kankakee to Bloomington line. Train rolled right past our front yard. Loved running out to wave at engineers, put pennies on the tracks, count the cars. I miss IC

@LunarLightShowProductions 4 месяца назад

Kankakee to Bloomington? do you mean Kankakee to Champaign or is that a line that doesnt exist anymore

@tomfields3682 2 месяца назад

I see.

@uhlijohn 5 месяцев назад

In one Illinois Central case that Abe Lincoln handled successfully, he presented a legal bill to the IC for $5,000! That was probably the largest fee ever demanded by a lawyer up until that time. I recall that the IC balked at paying it so Lincoln sued. The IC lawyer, if my memory serves me, did not show up in court so Lincoln won by default. Also, George B. McClellan, Lincoln's chief general during the early part of the Civil War and his nemesis, became a president of the IC before war broke out.

@EdBrumley 4 месяца назад

My grandfather, Edward Brumley, was an engineer and conductor for the Illinois Central Railroad. He retired in 1955 after 50 years of service, all under the steam engine era.

@SH-th4wy День назад

As a child, I grew up in Flossmoor, Illinois and lived across the street from the mainline. I fell asleep to the sounds of the locomotives every night on a street named Brumley Ave. 🙂

@mrAhollandjr 4 месяца назад

One important thing to mention. In the mid 1920s, the residents along the southern Lakefront in Hyde Park ( Vhicago] complained about the smoke from the trains. The Illinois Central response was to elecate the traxks from 47th Street south and then Separated the commuter trains from the freight trains. Tge IC electrified the commuter train service which operated on different tracks from the freight trains and ling distance service. This elimibated conflucts and today is still the onky commuter lube that operates on separate tracks from the freight and Amtrak servuces.

@garydean0308 5 месяцев назад

I lived in Centralia for 10 years. I remember when IC was bought out by CN. It was a bit of a shock. Both Lincoln and McClellan stayed at the Centralia House, probably not at the same time. It was the premier hotel at that time.

@FarmerJimmyJoe 5 месяцев назад

I grew up in East Hazel Crest where the IC had it's Markham Yards. They had 3 hump yards there and their big engine facilities. That's now called Woodcrest Shops ( combination od Homewood and East Hazel Crest). I rode the IC from Homewood to Champaign to the University of Illinois in the late 1960's, they used light weight and heavy weight cars and pulled by those great E9 engines. If they were running late they would leave Kankakee and do 100 mph down to Champaign, cars would shake and the conductor would always say" we'll make up some time now". Railfanned the IC for many years and took rolls of 35mm slides. Such were some great times. It truly is / was a one of a kind railroad. Nice video.

@bonniewills2814 5 месяцев назад

Will forever be remembered for The City of New Orleans train (Thanks, Arlo!)

@wesw9586 5 месяцев назад

I have always loved the fact that the City is the less glamorous equivalent to the stately Panama Limited but the City is the every-mans version and the one romanticized/immortalized in song.

@MrKrinkly 5 месяцев назад

You know, Chicago native Steve Goodman wrote the song and recorded it first... Arlo just got a hit from his cover.

@bonniewills2814 5 месяцев назад

Thank you, I couldn't remember his name!@@MrKrinkly

@jimhays4711 5 месяцев назад

True. And Willie Nelson's cover might have been bigger than Arlo Guthrie's.

@redjohnson4859 5 месяцев назад

Did he do it in F Sharp, or was that just the record company speeding it up?@@MrKrinkly

@Ben-bb7mi 5 месяцев назад

IC's main legacy today is that their former line is the only electrified Metra commuter line

@0fficialdregs 5 месяцев назад

and i use to commute on it all the time!

@jetsons101 5 месяцев назад

Nothing like a video on vintage rail, a very enjoyable watch. Ryan, thanks for your time, work and posting.....

@ITSHISTORY 5 месяцев назад

Many thanks!

@TheGbelcher 5 месяцев назад

The only problem with this channel is it doesn’t release content everyday. This is great stuff!

@randycox1101 5 месяцев назад

My grandpa retired from the IC as a Forman.., he raised five children with grandma and they were always being relocated from one place to another while he overseen Maintenance of Way workers during the Great Depression They had some good stories about that as they got older

@dwoods1113 5 месяцев назад

My father worked for the IC. Office was in Chicago, but spent a lot of time at the Woodcrest shops which is where the CN’s US headquarters is at now. Drive by there every day. Miss the IC days.

@user-de1hg8cf6b 5 месяцев назад

I lived in Elmhurst Illinois which is right along the Iowa Division of the Illinois Central which was the first look i got of trains and the Illinois Central railroad was always one of my favorite Railroad lines. Thanks for posting this. Have a blessed weekend everyone

@ITSHISTORY 5 месяцев назад

Thanks for sharing!

@rivitedrailfan 5 месяцев назад

Great video! The IC is my favorite railroad (Possibly obviously by the green diamond logo that I made my logo as well lol) I’ve railfanned on the CN/IC for a while now, amd it’s always cool to see people actually give it some attention lol. It should be noted that while the ICRR is gone, many parts of it still 😊exist. The company still exists on paper, meaning all old IC units have to be patched because they still don’t technically fully belong to CN. Employees still get IC branded things as well. And there’s still a good few ICRR painted locomotives out there running around CN lines!

@bigj200016 5 месяцев назад

I still run intermodal freight through one of old IC route, which is now part of Canadian National

@LukeHolberg-kw8rr 5 месяцев назад

Fun fact I live on part of the old route here in Iowa!

@scenariomckinney 5 месяцев назад

I grew up in Memphis, on yet another old line.

@LukeHolberg-kw8rr 5 месяцев назад

@@scenariomckinney nice!

@donl1410 5 месяцев назад

"Riding on the City of New Orleans Illinois Central, Monday morning rail 15 cars and 15 restless riders Three conductors, 25 sacks of mail…"

@jamesleyda365 5 месяцев назад

👍awesome song!

@donl1410 5 месяцев назад

@@jamesleyda365 ❤👍

@andthepoetliftshispen5752 5 месяцев назад

At one of Arlo's concerts, he said people would always come to him and ask him to listen to their songs. Arlo would say "Buy me a beer. If I'm still here when you finish your song, you've got a winner". Steve Goodman walks up. "Best beer I ever had."

@JenniferinIllinois 5 месяцев назад

I have the old IC main line through Bloomington/Normal turned bike trail in my back yard.

@Buchananfarms 5 месяцев назад

3 things that brought the IC to its knees: 1. The merger with the Gulf, Mobile, and Ohio. A lot of trackage the GM&O operated on was redundant to what the IC already possessed. The merger never should’ve happened and the IC should’ve looked for a different merge partner that offered a point to point connection with different ports. 2. IC Industries. IC’s parent company would often invest the railroads money into new ventures such as Pepsi and Taco Bell to name a few, not returning the money invested back to the railroad 3. Hunter Harrison. IC’s last President was seeking a merger with other railroads during his tenure. Once the deal fell through with the Kansas City Southern, CN came in and swooped them up.

@richardparisi9747 5 месяцев назад

I never knew that they had tried to merge with the Kansas City Southern. Those are the two lines that run parallel on the east bank of the Mississippi west of New Orleans (with the Union Pacific route on the west bank and the former Southern Pacific route towards the southwest).

@Buchananfarms 5 месяцев назад

@@richardparisi9747 Yeah a lot of people forgot this was going to happen. It was reported by the New York Times, LA Times, and Chicago Tribune in 1994 and the deal was supposedly valued at $1.63 billion. IC was going around trying to repurchase a lot of its old trackage that IC Industries decided to spinoff. Hence the buyout of the Chicago Central and the failed attempt of MidSouth Rail who was bought out by KCS in the early 1990s.

@dknowles60 4 месяца назад

the Merger mess over the Gulf Mobile and Ohio, the GM&O was making money

@Steven_Williams 5 месяцев назад

This was my favorite rail line as a child. I used to travel with my grandmother one The City of New Orleans from the 63rd and Woodlawn station to the south.

@jimjohnstonreviewstheworld 5 месяцев назад

Oh man. I grew up taking the IC Rock Island line from New Lenox to downtown to go hang out around the loop. Late 1990’s. Good safe times.

@fredboiandfriends5486 5 месяцев назад

I live near Bardwell in western Kentucky. I can hear the City of New Orleans passing through on some nights.

@TropicalThunder21 5 месяцев назад

I live in Jackson TN, I pass over the IC tracks currently used by CSX and the West TN Railroad with the occasional UP engines coming through we have an old train depot that used to be a museum, but it’s beautiful and sits along those very tracks

@OriginalBongoliath 5 месяцев назад

You forgot to mention this was the railroad Casey Jones worked on that made him a railroad legend. Also, possibly the only railroad where meat trains had priority over passenger trains whereas most railroads had freight yield to passengers. It was mostly true here except the meat had priority.

@samr.m.7709 5 месяцев назад

Great video on the IC! Thank you!

@edholmwood2263 5 месяцев назад

Another very well done video. Thank you.

@dennisingalls7776 4 месяца назад

I was hired by ICRR in the late 60s. Thought I had found a really good job with a future. However, despite working very hard to be a good railroad worker I was laid off on day89. I would have had a permanent position on day 90. So much for a “good job with a good future “

@kennethtiller7916 5 месяцев назад

Excellent video. GM&O your next documentary?

@rob5914 5 месяцев назад

Yes., please do a segment on GM&O. It is an interesting story. My grandfather was from Mobile, and was the chief solicitor at the now former he chief soliciter of the Interstate Commerce Commission in Washington. DC, and handled many complex railroad legal issues, some ending up in the US Supreme Court. He had been involved with these issues since WWII, when railroads were vital to the war effort. After retiring from DC, he moved back home to Mobile and worked there as the head attorney for GM&O, working largely on the merger with Illinios Central. I recall him talking often about the need for consolidation and cooperation between the many railroads to be able to continue to provide vital transportation services. He passed many years ago now, but he would be pleased to know GM&O. Illinois Central, Illinois Gulf now survives as part of Canadian Nstional and the freight, and even some passenger service still thrives today.

@ITSHISTORY 5 месяцев назад

Possibly!

@hungrymoose7627 5 месяцев назад

The Illinois Central still technically exists. Most of the railroads that CN has absorbed still exist to allow duplicate numbers and as paper companies for operating in the US. If you look at a lot of CN rolling stock it will say IC, GTW, WC, etc on the side and locomotives will sometimes have it under the unit number on the side of the cab. Thats because this equipment was either originally owned by those railroads or purchased under that reporting mark. CN also has an Illinois Central heritage unit, CN 3008. They also have some ex-IC heritage equipment. The EMD E8s that used to haul their business train were IC units, and the most of the passenger coaches that make up that train are IC as well, still retaining the ornate "Illinois Central" brass carvings on the vestibule railings.

@johnkeviljr9625 17 дней назад

The IC tracks from Iowa to Chicago run through my hometown of Elmhurst Illinois close to my childhood home. It was a big part of our lives as kids.

@IllinoisCentral 5 месяцев назад

This video shall be of interest to me

@usmcvet0313 5 месяцев назад

My grandfather retired from the Illinois Central.

@naturelvr123 5 месяцев назад

Many of my ancestors worked for the Illinois Central RR. One, an uncle of mine died in an accident in Decatur, Ill in 1914 by decapitation. As a kid my dad would show me where it happened & of course I wasn't too interested. But, Ill Central RR carries a lot of history for me personally. :) Thanks for the video.

@TheMischief9 12 дней назад

I remember growing up in Gilman , the City of Miami and the City of New Orleans screaming through Gilman in those beautiful steam engines .

@TheMischief9 12 дней назад

My father and Myself both worked for the Illinois Central ..... We both lived in Gilman , Illinois .... my father was a machine operator , I worked on a signal gang .

@doc1007 5 месяцев назад

Excellent Video. Makes me wish to visit some of the classical US railroad towns. Thx

@TropicalThunder21 5 месяцев назад

I love this channel can’t believe my city was talked about! Jackson Tn, been in that train station many times!

@rwg1811 5 месяцев назад

If the government supported the railroad system like they do the interstate system, we would have rail everywhere in the country and wouldn't have to spend 5 to 10 grand a year on a car just to go somewhere.

@paulsmith5398 5 месяцев назад

Two things have me intrigued here, #1, i model the I.C.R.R.in several scales, along with its partner in demise, the GM&O. #2, my son-in-law is a CN engineer, on the Iowa division, he has gone from Dubuque, where he is based, to both Chicago and Omaha on that line, but not on one trip.

@gino9895 5 месяцев назад

Another great video.

@ITSHISTORY 5 месяцев назад

Thanks again!

@roberthuron9160 5 месяцев назад

You forgot the Edison Cars on the electrification,and the tie in to the DL&W! Alan Lind had a book on the Chicago suburban operations of the IC,and its worthy of its own video! Comparable to the NYC electrification,just not as well known! Thank you 😇 😊!

@MILD-BILL 4 месяца назад

AS A LIFE TIME (62) YRS ...CHICAGOAN...AND TRAIN YARD HOSTLER FOR MY LAST 20 YRS THIS WAS VERY INTERESTING TO ME.....WELL PRESENTED ...I ENJOYED VIEWING

@0fficialdregs 5 месяцев назад

Top 3 favorite railroad they didnt really fall, they were too profitable to be independent for long

@jackoesterlejr.3454 5 месяцев назад

I.C. Industries I was born & raised in Belleville, Illinois We had the Illinois Central Railroad.

@jopiaspieder1184 5 месяцев назад

I wish that railroad was still running today

@turkeytrac1 5 месяцев назад

Great bit of history. Very cool that your first CN picture is of a GMD/EMD canadian only loco ( they've since been spread far and wide after their retirement) the GMD-1. Developed for CN and NAR to be used on lightly laid priarie rail lines.

@chiron14pl 5 месяцев назад

I'm told that locals pronounce the name of Cairo as "Kay'-row"

@illinoiscentralrailroadfan6015 5 месяцев назад

I grew up with the ILLINOIS CENTRAL in Bardwell and Paducah Kentucky from 1984-2005

@MetroCSN 5 месяцев назад

You mispronounced the city in Illinois. It is KAY-row, not KI-Row, like in Egypt.

@DeanStephen 5 месяцев назад

Thank you!!!

@ITSHISTORY 5 месяцев назад

You're welcome!

@ICGravityPacific1146 5 месяцев назад

Do we have a source for the comment made about the IC having considered Steam Turbine Motive power? I am a fairly big IC guy and never heard mention anywhere that the IC was entertaining the idea. Would love to be shown that and to dive down the rabbit hole.

@johndonlon1611 5 месяцев назад

Rode the City of Miami and the Hawkeye. Two trains different as night and day but both did their jobs very well providing regular and safe service.. Thanks for sharing and doing the research.

@ITSHISTORY 5 месяцев назад

Thanks for the info!

@marymartin-schreiber7678 5 месяцев назад

Seen one of the sd45_2 operation lifesaver a couple of years ago sitting on a siding north of Byron Wisconsin , wished I could have stopped to take a photo.

@bennetfox 5 месяцев назад

When I was in college in the mid-90s I had a friend who was an engineer for Illinois Central.

@ChuckLawson-tg7bq 3 дня назад

Thanks!

@cruzcontrol1504 5 месяцев назад

Always great stuff, especially RR topics. You should look itno the New York, Westchester and Boston, an Electrified subsidiary of the Hew Haven that served westchester county into the south bronx and ceased operations due to bankruptcy in 1938. I used to investigate the derelict station in my neighborhood when young and found out years later the building was designed by Cass Gilbert ! There are many ruins of the system still in existence, a station was actually turned into a luxurious home

@ITSHISTORY 5 месяцев назад

I'll check it out!

@yardmstr 5 месяцев назад

The first railroad in Chicago was the Galena & Chicago Union, which was chartered in 1836 to build tracks to the lead mines at Galena in northwestern Illinois. The first tracks were laid in 1848, and then not to Galena but to a point known as Oak Ridge (now Oak Park ).

@yardmstr 5 месяцев назад

I thought I heard you say the IC was the first railroad in Chicago, but that is incorrect. Thnx

@Red1Wollip 29 дней назад

It would be nice to explore the ICRR engine facilities in Princeton Indiana.

@randystevens8683 5 месяцев назад

I wish you would do one on the Missouri Pacific. That would be neat too. I like the Illinois Central very much too.

@user-lq4mo8dw1p 5 месяцев назад

I worked for CC then IC, then CN....whats not stated here was the grade crossing accident in bloomingdale that put IC in debt. The lady lived but is now a human vegetable, if she is still living i dint know. The attorney asked for a amount and it turned out to be the largest lawsuit in railroading at the time. CC was bought back as IC took the CNW UP merger as a threat.

@pravoslavn 4 месяца назад

Long Live the Great Name of Casey Jones, Illlinois Central Hog Head ! And of his faithful Fireman, Simeon T. Webb.

@ricksadler797 5 месяцев назад

What about the C&EI rr ?? They played a large part of making Illinois mapworthy

@drewhuff3457 5 месяцев назад

Where was the depot at 8:21 located? Can't hardly red the name of the town. Looks like Clarksdale maybe. Nice looking depot though. Like the picture.

@trollndatrollaz9743 5 месяцев назад

Part of Amtrak’s City Of New Orleans still part of the Illinois Central route?

@magnumfrank9819 5 месяцев назад

Ryan, being from Chicago, the people native to Southern Illinois pronounce Cairo as KARO.

@YJRail 5 месяцев назад

0:11 The other is the Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific which went from Cincinnati to Chattanooga and became part of the Southern Railway

@LunarLightShowProductions 4 месяца назад

its fine they still have plenty of locomotives operating today under CN

@lawrencecalfee3769 5 месяцев назад

Life insurance.. come on Ryan lol. Great research as always.👍

@tom99790 5 месяцев назад

What was the RR that passed through Wenona, Il in the early 50’s..steam engines pulling coal cars?

@lucassalisbury4820 5 месяцев назад

I see a newer illinois central go through my town!

@IllinoisCentral 5 месяцев назад

I wish thed kept their Pontiac division

@gregobern6084 5 месяцев назад

CN owns the connection through Chicago from Canada to the gulf coast, Canadian Pacific has access to Mexico, BNSF connects the Pacific to the Gulf. Seeming competitive along the way to a mega corporate railroad until ships can bypass Canada or through the northeast passage

@gregsells8549 5 месяцев назад

CP (now CPKC) got its access to Mexico by merging with Kansas City Southern, the other north-south line. KCS had bought a portion of the Mexican rail system when that country privatized its railroads

@ThatNerd. 5 месяцев назад

Lesson learned, Canadian National kills and takes over most early American railroads that are left. What a shame.

@uscguis 5 месяцев назад

Listen to the Music.

@mrstranger4156 5 месяцев назад

Engine is like Big Alex of snow piercer

@timothykeith1367 5 месяцев назад

The "Banana Train"

@440camelback6 2 месяца назад

That's a goofy ahh back up head light 11:37

@rus0004 5 месяцев назад

6:40 Jamie Hyneman?

@latyrisday665 5 месяцев назад

I found an old train the looks like this not to far from where I live n Chicago

@DLeadVox 5 месяцев назад

💛💛💛

@willwozniak2826 5 месяцев назад

The original main line of America was the Amboy and Clinton districts i always thought.....Abe would be rolloing over in his grave...at least the IC Bridge still stands and is used across the Illinois River at LaSalle, IL....nice vide.o sir..👉🏻

@ChuckLawson-tg7bq 3 дня назад

Clinton Illinois there alot it's history here this is number one (ICRR)Clinton Illinois

@Mark-dk2zd 2 месяца назад

The first rail road in Illinois was at my hometown of meredosia Illinois it was called the Northern Cross rail road. It is documented so get your history straight before posting anything about Illinois r r history