|
Chicago River & Indiana Railroad as well as the Chicago Junction Railway controlling access to the Chicago Union Stock Yards district 
Chicago Union Stock Yard gate at Exchange Avenue. (Courtesy Chicago Historical Society) |
Welcome to our "Chicago Switching" WebSite
This WebPage started out as just the Chicago River & Indiana Railroad, but now includes all switching and subsidiary railroads in the Chicago area with a New York Central Railroad connection. Here's a preview of some of the exciting projects we have put together for you: Our feature article is about the Chicago River & Indiana Railroad . We have a great section on the Indiana Harbor Belt and the The Kankakee Belt Line . For a good understanding of the area, see our railroad map of Chicago stockyards . |
| Not only can you search hotels by city, but you can search by your favorite chain of hotels. Find a hotel room in Connecticut. |
|
| What's a "Chicago Bypass"? |
|
Why do we need a "Chicago Bypass"? YOU WILL BE SURPRISED!
Click on any doctors to the left to see why. |
Cheese Pound Cake Bread Pudding Cake |
|
About Our President About Our Company About Small Business |
|
Shipping Information Terms of Sale |
|
|
|||||||
|
Chicago River & Indiana Railroad as well as the Chicago Junction Railway controlling access to the Chicago Unon Stock Yards district |
| As late as 1964, the CR&I, a New York Central subsidiary, had 158 track miles and owned 27 diesel locomotives. |
| Chicago Junction predecessors were Chicago and Indiana Short Line; Chicago, Hammond and Western |
|
May 16, 1922: ICC authorizes NYC to purchase Chicago River & Indiana
Railroad and lease Chicago Junction Railway controlling access to
Chicago Union Stock Yards district.
The Chicago Junction Railway and the Chicago River & Indiana Railroad are terminal railroads located within the Chicago switching district. Prior to May 16, 1922, they were operated as independent belt lines, uncontrolled by any trunk line carrier, and they were used by the 23 railroads entering Chicago, impartially and without discrimination. Among these were the New York Central Lines and their chief competitors, the 6 carriers who are plaintiffs in this suit. The New York Central sought to obtain control of these terminal railroads. To this end, it made an application to the Interstate Commerce Commission, on December 28, 1920, under paragraph 18 of section 1 and paragraph 12 of section 5 of the Act to Regulate Commerce, as amended by Transportation Act 1920, c. 91, 41 Stat. 456, 477, 481.2 The authorization requested was to make an agreement with stockholders then owning these properties by which, among other things, the New York Central would purchase all the capital stock of the Chicago River & Indiana Railroad for $750,000, and the latter company would lease for 99 years (and thereafter) the Chicago Junction Railway at an annual rental of $2,000,000. Upon this application hearings were had. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and its coplaintiffs herein, intervened, and opposed granting the application. On May 16, 1922, an order was entered which authorized the New York Central to acquire the Chicago River & Indiana Railroad stock, and authorized the latter company to lease the Chicago Junction Railway. Immediately after its entry, the purchase of the stock was completed and the lease was executed. On April 10, 1923, this suit was brought in the federal court for the Eastern district of Illinois against the United States, the Commission, the New York Central, the terminal railroads, and the stockholders thereof. 5 The relief sought is to have the order declared void, to have set aside the sale of the stock and the lease, to restore the status quo ante the order, and for an injunction. The case was heard before three judges on plaintiffs' motion for an interlocutory injunction and on defendants' motions to dismiss the bill. The District Court, without opinion, denied the injunction and dismissed the bill. |
|
In the late 1940's, Chicago was the nation's railroad
capital. Today it is freight, commuters and a
greatly-reduced number of intercity passengers. At the time of the Chicago Rail Fair of 1948, Chicago had 22 Class 1 railroads, 9 switching/terminal roads; 6 industrial railroads and 3 suburban (interurban) roads. Intercity passenger trains were operating out of eight downtown terminals. |
|
|
| Gibson Yard on the Indiana Harbor Belt in 1950. Note the steamers at left side of photo: The IHB has just gone all-diesel. The Chicago River & Indiana Railroad and the Chicago Junction Railway will be next. (Photo clipped from an old New York Central Headlight) |
|
REFERENCE
Chicago Union Stock Yards |
|
Tramway de Nice: New for 2007
The Tramway de Nice was designed to serve most of the population of Nice, France, as the vity of over 900,000 people is situated along a seaside, the line does not have to traverse it. Instead it was drawn as a U shape, passing through the centre. The tramcars of the Tramway de Nice are unique and have been specially designed to blend in with the Niçois architecture. A standard 5 car 1435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) standard gauge tram measures 35 m but extra carriages may be added, bringing the length to 45 m. The tram is 2.65 m wide and may carry 200 passengers at 18 km/h compared to 11 km/h by bus. Are the trams noisy? No. Noise created is maximum 70 decibels at 40km/h. This is much quieter than any large vehicle such as a bus. Find out more on public transportation in Nice and the French Riviera. |
|
Now you can see the entire NICE, FRANCE TRAMWAY in GOOGLE EARTH!!!! | Yes! Open in Google Earth and follow the path of the Tramway station-by station. |
|
WIKIPEDIA: the free-content encyclopedia that anyone can edit. WIKIPEDIA contains several articles of interest to the New York Central historian or fan: New York Central Railroad List of New York Central Railroad precursors List of defunct United States railroads List of Illinois railroads List of Indiana railroads Many of these articles have been developed by our staff researchers KC Jones and Penney Vanderbilt. |
|
The New York Central System .. One of the great railways of the 20th Century. Home of the Great Steel Fleet of passenger trains including the well known 20th Century Limited. Known as The Water Level Route, serving customers between New York/Boston and Chicago. NYC-Railroad@yahoogroups.com is a place to discuss the New York Central Railroad's US operations, including the Boston & Albany, Pittsburgh & Lake Erie, Peoria & Eastern, among others, as well as its Canadian divisions through Southern Ontario as well as the branch to Ottawa. Discussion is not limited solely to rail operations, since the NYC had significant marine and trucking operations as well. Current equipment spottings are encouraged. The only restrictions are that the information relates to the NYC or other lines operating under its flag. Modellers, historians and anyone with an interest in the NYC family of railways are welcome. |
|
New-York-Central-Railroad Forum
This group is dedicated to modelers, historians and fans of the late, great New York Central Railroad-gone, but not forgotten! |
|
NYC-RR Forum
This is a discussion and sharing group for friends and former employees of the "Water Level Route", the late and great New York Central Railroad Company. Our focus is primarily historical, and mostly limited to the NYC ( and PC successor ) period prior to ConRail. Our emphasis is upon routes, signaling, towers and operations. |
|
New York Central System - About the New York Central Railroad
Forum
This is a place to share information on the New York Central System, including the New York Central Railroad, Michigan Central Railroad, Boston and Albany and Big Four. Our primary focus is on the postwar history of the New York Central's Great Steel Fleet of luxury intercity passenger trains, including the 20th Century Limited, Commodore Vanderbilt, Pacemaker, Lake Shore Limited, New England States, Detroiter, Wolverine, Ohio State Limited, Cleveland Limited, Fifth Avenue Special, James Whitcomb Riley, Southwestern Limited and Knickerbocker among other trains. |
|
| Burns Harbor in 1959 (Photo clipped from an old New York Central Headlight) |
|
Interesting New York Central links |
Flying Scotsman Hobbies in Poughkeepsie, New York Saint Joe Valley Model Railroad Club Central Indiana Railroad Information Network |
|
|||||||
|
|
There is a
"Snow Belt"
in New York State that runs above Syracuse and Utica.
It goes East from Oswego to at least Boonville. Here's the station at Boonville.
Find out more about Weather around the World Ominous Weather is about more than weather. Its about our environment. Its about our social issues that need to be surfaced if we want to save our environment. See Champions of our Environment like Al Gore SAS le Prince Albert II de Monaco John R. Stilgoe Ralph Nader. We have addressed several railroad-related projects that will conserve fuel and lessen pollution. Our Window on Europe spotlights projects that can help the rest of the World. We have other environmental sites on garbage trucks and Rapid response temporary shelters / portable housing. |
|
|||||||
|
| Chicago Stockyards Railroad Map This map shows the railroads in the vicinity of the Chicago stockyards in 1960. It is part of a map of the B&O Chicago Terminal Railroad. |
|
Many of my articles were published in the
CALLBOARD of the
Mohawk and Hudson
Chapter of the
National Railway Historical Society. and in the BRIDGE LINE BULLETIN of the Bridge Line Historical Society |
|
|
Indiana Harbor Belt Moody's Guide for 1954 shows IHB stock ownership as: NYCRR - 30% MCRR - 30% CNW - 20% MILW - 20% There was an outstanding bond issue of about $9 million, guaranteed by LS&MS (NYCRR), MCRR, CNW and MILW, that matured on July 1, 1957. That bond maturity might have triggered a change in ownership. According to George G. Spier in his book, TRACKSIDE around CHICAGO page 97, IHB ownership was NYC 49.5%, Michigan Central 30.3% Milw 20.2%. Book from 1959. |
| Indiana Harbor Belt from the Wiki |
| JD's Indiana Harbor Belt photos |
| Port of Indiana |
| Hammond, Whiting & East Chicago Electric Railway Company |
| Nearby Railroad Junctions |
| Indiana Harbor Belt at Yahoo! Groups |
| Don't limit yourself to a single Class I connection! |
|
Illinois Air Photo Image Database
Find a lot of the Indiana Harbor Belt here. |
|
|
|
| Interested in Penn Central? New York Central? Pennsylvania Railroad? New Haven Railroad? or in the smaller Eastern US railroads? Then you will be interested in "What if the Penn Central Merger Did Not Happen". You will also enjoy "Could George Alpert have saved the New Haven?" as well as "What if the New Haven never merged with Penn Central?" | ||
|
|
Indiana Harbor Belt Archives The Unofficial IHB Site |
|
| Click HERE or on map above to view full-size map of the Indiana Harbor Belt. |
|
| New York Central 999 goes to Chicago Museum (Photo clipped from an old New York Central Headlight) |
|
The Extent of the Indiana Harbor Belt
The West pass began at the Reynolds switch, right? When did they remove it between Superior and a rather undefined point North of 47th Street? When the West Towns diamonds were removed they made a change in the lead at the West end of the La Grange Yard. The Eastbound crossover between the Eastward track and the East Pass was removed when they depressed three of the tracks under the CB&Q bridge. How much of the CJ did the IHB at one time operate over? I was told long ago that they once delivered to the CB&Q at Western Avenue. During the late 50's and through the 60's did deliveries to the AT&SF from Gibson go via Elsdon or deliver at McCook? When did they shut down the Eastward hump at Gibson? What is the track ownership pattern between Blue Island Jct. and Rose? Between Blue Island and Superior, the owner is B&OCT (CSX). Superior is about midway between CP McCook and CP LaGrange. Between Superior and CP Rose, the owner is IHB. For answers, |
|
This lantern was once owned ny NY Central subsidiary Chicago, Indiana & Southern, which was controlled by the NY Central Railroad.. In 1914, NYC absorbed CI&S so they became the official owners. Shortly after the Indiana Harbor Belt was formed, NYC leased to IHB the northernmost seven miles of the Chicago, Indiana & Southern. The CI&S originated at the Indiana Harbor lakefront and ran south through Gibson, where it crossed what is now the IHB main, to the Nickel Plate crossing at Osborn. The segment extending from the lakefront to the Little Calumet River just south of Osborn was leased to the Harbor. The IHB has operated it ever since and is now known as the Kankakee Line. South of Osborn, CI&S extended to Danville, Illinois, and ultimately via connection with another NYC property to Cairo at the southern tip of Illinois. |
| State Line Interlocking | ||
| In its heyday, State Line was one of the most complex interlockings in the United States. It was on the Indiana-Illinois border at the gateway to Chicago. Read more about the many railroads that crossed here. |
|
|
|
|
How IHB closed an information gap with EDI
Chicago's terminal railroad, the Indiana Harbor Belt upgraded its ineffective information management systems to an electronic data exchange. Connecting roads used to call Indiana Harbor Belt "Chicago's black hole." They don't anymore. Here's why. The Indiana Harbor Belt is one of Chicago's key terminal railroads, connecting with 17 trunk line railroads at 960 nodes. An east-west clearing house for Chicago's complex network of rail lines, it handles over 900,000 freight cars per year on 475 track-miles. Business has been brisk in recent years. Find out more about railroads and electronic commerce. |
|
| The Kankakee Belt Line |
|
The Kankakee Belt Route is the nickname for the Illinois Division of the New York Central Railroad, which extended from
South Bend, Indiana, through Kankakee, Illinois, and westward to Zearing, Illinois.
It was marketed as the "Kankakee Belt" route to connect with
western railroads and avoid the congestion of the Chicago area.
This line was sometimes referred to as the "3 I Line", in reference to the line serving as an Iowa, Illinois and Indiana connector. Today, the Norfolk Southern operates the Kankakee Belt Route (ex-Conrail, ex-NYC, Kankakee Belt Line). Sections at the east end (to South Bend) and West End (Zearing area) have been removed. The Kankakee Belt Route sees around eight to ten trains daily, from the BNSF (old AT&SF main line) at Streator, Illinois to Norfolk Southern Railway interchanges and facilities in Indiana. It still serves as a Chicago bypass. |
| It's gone now although sections remain, but here are some pictures |
|
| This New York Central map from employee timetable shows the path of the Kankakee Belt. Click on it to enlarge. |
| The Kankakee Belt Line and connections (1964) | |
| Location | Railroad |
| South Bend, Indiana | New York Central and Grand Trunk Railway |
| North Liberty, Indiana | Wabash |
| Walkerton, Indiana | B&O and Nickel Plate |
| Hamlet, Indiana | Pennsylvania |
| Knox, Indiana | Nickel Plate |
| North Judson, Indiana | Pennsylvania and Erie |
| San Pierre, Indiana | Monon |
| Shelby, Indiana | Monon |
| Schneider, Indiana | New York Central |
| Delmar, Illinois | Milwaukee |
| Momence, Illinois | Chicago & Eastern Illinois |
| Kankakee, Illinois | Illinois Central and New York Central |
| Reddick, Illinois | Wabash |
| Dwight, Illinois | GM&O (Alton) |
| Streator, Illinois | Santa Fe, Burlington |
| Lostant, Illinois | Illinois Central |
| Depue, Illinois | Rock Island |
| Ladd, Illinois | Northwestern, Milwaukee, LS&BC RR |
| Zearing, Illinois | Burlington |
|
RailwayStation.com has provided a
1942 Quiz Book on Railroads and Railroading. Here's some interesting questions and answers: |
|
When did the "Iron Horse" reach Chicago? The first locomotive to reach Chicago (the world's greatest railroad center) was the "Pioneer," which arrived by the sailing vessel "Buffalo" October 10, 1848, for service on the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad (now the Chicago & North Western). The "Pioneer" made its initial run out of Chicago on November 20 of that year, and by 1850 it was running as far west as Elgin. This historic locomotive is now preserved in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The first train from the East entered Chicago over the Northern Indiana Railroad (now the New York Central) in the spring of 1852. |
|
Head End Railway Express and Railway Post Office |
|
|
On passenger trains, railroads operated lots of equipment other than
sleepers, coaches, dining cars, etc. This equipment was generally
called
'head-end' equipment, these 'freight' cars were at one time
plentiful and highly profitable for the railroads.
In the heyday of passenger service, these industries were a big part
of the railroad's operations, and got serious attention. We have text and pictures not found elsewhere on the Web. |
|
| What ever happened to my Penn Central stock? |
|
Penn Central gobbled up the stock of New York Central, Pennsylvania and New Haven Railroads.
But what ever happened to the company and the stock? Is it worth anything?
Ever hear of American Premier Underwriters? |
|
JAZZ ON THE FRENCH RIVIERA
Sidney Bechet (1897-1959) Bechet's style of playing clarinet and soprano sax dominated many of the bands that he was in. He played lead parts that were usually reserved for trumpets and was a master of improvisation. Many African-American jazz musicians came to France and to the French Riviera because of the warm and friendly reception of the French people. Because the Riviera is an "outdoors" place, the "jazz festival" was born. In France, there are over 250 jazz festivals: mostin July and August, and most in the French Riviera. Bechet summered many years in Juan-les-Pins on the French Riviera. A statue there, presented by the city of New Orleans, commemorates his life. |
|
||||||
|
Traveling in Europe? You will probably need to make a FERRY RESERVATION. Stop by and see our Reservations Center. |
|
|
|
JWH Rapid Response Temporary Housing On site containers become residential accommodation, offices and much more! Services we provide are: Transportation to your site. Site preparation for your portable shelter. Assembly of your portable shelter. Subsequent enhancements or moving of your portable shelter. |
| We can find you tickets for all the great music, sports and cultural events. We have the best prices and most availability of any ticket seller. |
VISIT OUR TICKET BOOTH |
|
|
|
|