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ICG Overview

When the Illinois Central Railroad started to push across the virgin prairie land of Illinois in the early 1850's, it seemed to many observers to be running the "wrong way". The new line ran north and south across the state, when nearly all other roads ran from east to west to capture the traffice of the expanding frontier. By 1856, the Illinois Central's 705 miles of charter line made it the longest railroad in the world; it was also the first land-gran railroad in the nation.

When the Illinos Central merged with the Gulf, Mobile, and Ohio railroad in 1972 to become the Illinois Central Gulf, it represented a confluence of more than a hundred different railroads. The ICG was a granger line in Iowa and Missouri, a coal carrier in Kentucy and southern Illinois, a commuter road serving Chicago, and a major rail connection to the Gulf.

By 1990 the road was a trimmed and rationalized Chicago-to-Gulf railroad returned to ownership by individual shareholders and operational management by a team of serious minded railroad people. The name Illinois Central Railroad was restored.

More Information:

Illinois Central Historical Society
Illinois Central Net

Sources: History of the Illinois Central Railroad, John F. Stover
http://www.icrrhistorical.org/icrr.history.html
 
2005 Transient Tomorrow
steve@icgrr.com

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