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Texas Eagle Detour over the old CE&I

10/01/2010 I awoke at the Drury Inn in St Louis and had an excellent breakfast then walked the same way to Amtrak and was seated in the First Class Lounge where I was able to get on-line via the cables provided, waiting here until it was time to board my train.

I walked out to the train and boarded Car 0220 and sat in Room 6 for Chicago. The train had P42DC 39, transition 39010, sleeper 32016, diner 37002, lounge 33027 with coaches 31041 and 34103. We departed St. Louis on time at 7:55 AM for the non-stop run to Chicago.

The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago to southern Illinois, St. Louis and Evansville. Founded in 1877, it grew aggressively and stayed relatively strong throughout the Great Depression and two World Wars before being purchased by the Missouri Pacific Railroad and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. MoPac merged the C&EI corporate entity in 1976 and was later acquired itself by the Union Pacific Railroad.

The C&EI was as a consolidation of three other railroad - the Chicago, Danville and Vincennes Railroad (Chicago-Danville, November 1871), the Evansville, Terre Haute and Chicago Railroad (Danville-Terre Haute, October 1871) and the Evansville and Terre Haute (Terre Haute-Evansville, November 1854). Intended to merge or purchase railroads that had built lines between the southern suburbs of Chicago and Terre Haute, Indiana through Danville, Illinois, the C&EI constructed a new line from Chicago to a Mississippi River connection in extreme southern Illinois at Thebes.

The management of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois and the Chicago and Indiana Coal Railway became intertwined and eventually a connection was built between the two railroads between Goodland, Indiana (on the C&IC) and Momence (on the C&EI). By 1894. the Eastern had merged the C&IC and the C&EI continued this vigorous growth into the next decade. In 1902, the Frisco purchased a controlling interest in the Chicago and Eastern Illinois and continued building; first\ a connection between the two railroads at Pana, Illinois, next extending the line in Indiana to Evansville and a connection with the Ohio River. However, in 1913 financial problems led to the collapse of the Frisco, and the Eastern was once again on its own by 1920. The C&EI spun off a variety of their lines, including the Coal Road (which became the Chicago, Attica and Southern Railroad). The C&EI did not survive the Great Depression intact, entering bankruptcy in 1933 and re-emerging just before World War II in 1940. The railroad continued its brisk growth once again, gaining access to St. Louis, Missouri in 1954.

The Missouri Pacific Railroad and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad began carving up the Chicago and Eastern Illinois between them starting in 1961. The line directly south of Chicago to near Danville was actually purchased by both railroads (and to this day continues to be owned and operated jointly by MoPac and L&N's successors, Union Pacific Railway and CSX Transportation respectively), but Missouri Pacific eventually merged the Eastern in 1976.

The C&EI operated many streamliners. Its own trains, the Chicago-to-Cypress service. was the Meadowlark, and the Chicago to Evansville was the Whippoorwill, and both were short-lived. The C&EI ran the Chicago-to-Evansville portion of the L&N's Hummingbird and Georgian. The railroad also participated in the Chicago-to-Florida passenger service on the "Dixie Route", with trains such as the Dixie Limited, the Dixie Flyer, the Dixie Mail, the Dixie Flagler and the Dixiana.

The train left St. Louis heading, directly east to cross the Mississippi River.

Looking south down the Mississippi River.

The Gateway Arch with downtown St. Louis behind.

Another view looking south down the Mississippi River.

We headed north and the Gateway Arch was still very visible. The train made its way through East St. Louis, where it seemed there were railroad tracks everywhere you looked.

Another rail line came into ours.

A private switcher with privately-owned passenger cars. At the road crossing at MP 294.4 our train crew had to flag the crossing. The line we are on now is joint UP/NS/KCS trackage. Our train reached the active Lennox Tower and when we reached Mitchell I would be on new mileage until we reached the route of the Cardinal which we will take into Chicago.

The train rolled northeast across the gentle rolling countryside. The first siding at Gard was filled with a Union Pacific ballast train then we crossed the Norfolk Southern, former Wabash, line at Worden before arriving at Joan siding. At this point, we were moving along at a nice fast clip as we approached Walsh Junction before going under the BNSF coal line at Toland then alongside the siding at Hillsboro. Illinois Route 16 was paralleling our route to the south on our way to Witt.

The couple across the hall remembered me from a California Zephyr detour across Wyoming that Carl Morrison and I took about six years ago. What were the chances they would be with me on two different Amtrak detour trips? We passed through Nokomis as we rolled northeast.

Central Illinois countryside before we came to the siding at Ohlman then continued through Rosamond, then onto Pana and its siding.

There is an old tower from the former crossing of the Illinois Central Charter line, as well as a station in Pana.

We had reached the flat lands, where the glaciers once were, as we made our way to Findlay Junction, where the Chicago and Eastern Illinois (Union Pacific) coal line from Southern Illinois joins our route.

Findlay Junction.

Very soon after the junction was West Okaw River.

At Sullivan, we crossed the Illinois Central (Canadian National) line from Mattoon to Decatur then travelled the flat lands to Cadwell, where a southbound Union Pacific train was in the siding. From there, we passed through Arthur and continued on to Tuscola, where the siding was empty.

The train crossed both of the lines, the Illinois Central main line and the CSX Indianapolis-Decatur, here. Our route then ran slightly more north to Villa Grove, where there was a seven-track yard and pilot crews were changed. We departed there at 10:59 AM and ran by the siding at Block then at Grover, the train crossed the Norfolk Southern line, formerly Wabash, while I was picking up my to-go order of an Angus Beef hamburger, which hit the spot. We continued through Royal and on to Ellis on a good run north.

A mile of fields with rolled hay were passed as we proceeded to Goodwine, after which we slowed to enter Woodland Junction, where CSX joined our route for the trip into Chicago.

Woodland Junction was at 12:16 PM.

Our train crossed the Toledo, Peoria and Western at Watseka, with the station in this scene, then continued north, passing through Ben, Pittwod, Martinton and Papineau.

The train crossed the Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern at St. Anne before going through Wichert and Momence.

The Kankakee River.

We crossed the former New York Central line to Streator at Momence then made our way to Grant Park and into Beecher.

The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Beecher station built in 1881.

Missouri Pacific caboose 13649 built by International Car in 1974. The train rolled onto Steger and Chicago Heights as we approached Chicago and at the Beecher crossover, we did just that to pass a slow-moving Union Pacific freight before continuing through Crete.

Crossing the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern at Jay before travelling through Twelfth Street and Thornton.

Our crossing of the former Grand Trunk Western, now Canadian National, and just past that point, where the Cardinal route joins this, is where my new mileage would end. We dropped our pilot conductor at Yard Center and the Texas Eagle detour would end officially at 21st Street. After we crossed the Chicago River, we finished this most excellent detour over the former Chicago and Eastern Illinois at 3:12 PM.

With less than three minutes until the Southwest Chief's departure time, Texas Eagle conductor Bobbie Price took me from Track 25 to Track 16. He alerted the fine rear conductor who opened the door on the rear car and I boarded and told me to catch my breath then walk three cars forward and find a seat, which I did. This train was the same one that I stepped off in Kansas City yesterday, except a that the transition sleeper had been added. On this trip to La Plata, I would just ride and relax then received a 6:00 PM dinner reservation as we ran down the triple track Racetrack. I did Sudoku Puzzles and enjoyed the views of Illinois.

At 6:15 PM, walked into the dining car and was seated since never called 6:00 PM. Guess who was finishing his dinner? None other than Bob Riskie, my former Amtrak conductor and good friend who had been in North Dakota and was going to Los Angeles to see his son before returning to Bend, Oregon. I was seated with an older couple going to Los Angeles and enjoyed a New York steak; no char dogs for me on this trip through Chicago. Then it was time to do something I had not had to do since 1/1/2008, which was to pay for a meal in coach on an Amtrak dining car. Since that date, I had always ridden in a sleeping car where meals are complimentary. After that, I visited with Bob through Fort Madison then returned to my seat until about twenty minutes before my station arrival. I took my luggage downstairs and talked with Bob who came to say goodbye, and with our conductor, before we stopped at La Plata and I detrained.

The fabulous Maria Snodgrass, Depot Inn and Suites manager, picked me up and took me to the hotel were Brock handed me the key, which to my surprise, was the Victorian Suite. I used the sauna tub before calling it a night.