A photo gallery of steam and diesel locomotives in service on this memorable Midwestern highway
Chicago and Eastern Illinois locomotives served the road well over many decades of operation.
Atlantic 222 survived until 1947. The rebuild gave the engine a Walschaerts valve gear and a pair of cross-compound air pumps (a single pump would be enough for any train the 4-4-2 could pull), but the auxiliary trucks with wooden cabin and arch remain in this 1940 vision. Photo by John B. Allen
Pacific 1016 was one of two built by Schenectady in 1913, the only Alco 4-6-2s on the road. Alco photo, CW Witbeck collection
Any resemblance between the C&EI steamer and Frisco’s is intentional, as during 1909-13, under SLSF control, the list was revised. K-2 Pacific 1016 leads the Dixie Express out of Chicago in 1946. Photo by Robert R. Malinoski
Baldwin-built 4-6-2 No. 1008 shows its 1940 rationalization for service on the Dixie Flagler between Chicago and Miami. Photo of Chicago and Eastern Illinois
C&EI’s best-known engines were the 1923 Lima heavy six Pacifics. Number 1020 shows recent improvements (a cast pilot, drop coupler, and a full set of Boxpok drivers) as it accelerates the Dixie Limited out of Chicago in a winter day. in 1947. Photo by Donald R. Deneen
C&EI’s Florida varnish “compared favorably” to the Santa Fe star among Chicago’s seven Dearborn station roads, but the unnamed No. 1 toward Evansville was a lesser light. With the ATSF stock as a backdrop, the premises depart in April 1957 with an NC&StL baggage car behind the FP7-E7 duo. dan papa collection
Chicago & Eastern Illinois 1203 is a Phase IIb F3, with low radiator fans and protected side panels between the windows. photo EMD
The strongholds of C&EI’s first road diesel vehicle list were 33 F units and 30 GP7s, two of which were on a southbound transfer at Chicago on June 25, 1961, as seen from the Monon Thoroughbred. Photo by J. David Ingles
C&EI’s last new power before Missouri Pacific, 31 GP35s, had dynamic braking. Their first six-engine diesels were 14 SD40-2s in 1974 in MoPac blue. Louis A. Marré Collection
MoPac instituted a “C&EI circular saw” emblem in 1963, evidenced on the renumbered GP9 340 towing caboose 17 built at Oaklawn in October 1969. Photo by John S. Ingles
C&EI was a railroad that transported coal and, apart from a few early shifters, stayed afloat during World War II. Three E7s and a group of F3s made quick work of dieselizing the line beginning in 1946, with the last steamer running in 1950. Missouri Pacific assumed control of C&EI in 1967, and the railroad formally merged with Missouri Pacific in October 1976. .
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