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The Alton Railroad was the final name of a railroad linking Chicago, Illinois to Alton, St. Louis, Missouri and Kansas City, Missouri. Its predecessor, The Chicago & Alton Railroad, was purchased by the Baltimore & Ohio in 1931 and was controlled until 1942 when the Alton was released to the courts. On May 31 1947 the Alton Railroad was merged into the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad.

The line to Alton and St. Louis is now mostly part of the Union Pacific Railroad system; the line to Kansas City is part of the Kansas City Southern Railway system. Metra's Heritage Corridor provides commuter rail service on the old main line between Chicago and Joliet, Illinois, now owned by the Canadian National Railway through its Illinois Central Railroad.

History

The earliest ancestor to the Alton Railroad is the Alton and Sangamon Railroad, chartered February 27, 1847 in Illinois to connect the Mississippi River town of Alton to the state capital at Springfield in Sangamon County. The line was finished in 1852, and as the Chicago & Mississippi Railroad extended to Bloomington in 1854 and Joliet in 1855. Initially, trains ran over the completed Chicago & Rock Island Railroad to Chicago. The Joliet and Chicago Railroad was chartered February 15, 1855 and opened in 1856, continuing north and northeast from Joliet to downtown Chicago. It was leased by the Chicago & Mississippi provinding a continuous railroad from Alton to Chicago. In 1857 the C&M was reorganized as the St. Louis, Alton and Chicago Railroad, and another reorganization October 10, 1862 produced the Chicago and Alton Railroad. The C&A chartered the Alton and St. Louis Railroad to extend the line to East St. Louis, opened in 1864 giving it a line from Chicago to East St. Louis.

Railroad family tree

Kansas City line

Springfield-Kansas City and Godfrey-Roodhouse

Chicago-St. Louis line

Early years of Alton

Passenger service notables

The first sleeping car designed by George Pullman was built in the C&A's Bloomington shops and introduced September 1,1859 over the Chicago-East St. Louis mainline. Sleeping cars were operated over most routes between Chicago, Peoria, Bloomington, St. Louis and Kansas City in principal train consists. Successor Gulf, Mobile & Ohio operated Chicago-St. Louis sleeping car service until December 31, 1959, the last railroad to do so between the two cities.

The first dining car, the Delmonico, named for the famous New York restaurant, built by Pullman in the Chicago Burlington & Qunicy Aurora, Ill. shops, first appeared in regular service over the C&A's Chicago-East St. Louis mainline. Two other Pullman diners built at the same time, the Tremont, and the Southern, were leased, providing dining car service on all three principal C&A Chicago-East St. Louis trains. Dining cars were a part of Chicago-St.louis train consists until May 1, 1971 with the takeover of passenger service by Amtrak.

Notable passenger trains

Stations in Chicago

First entry of C&A passenger trains from Joliet into Chicago was over the Chicago & Rock Island to that railroad's depot (later La Salle Street Station.) Briefly, passenger trains were moved over to the Illinois Central depot. On December 28, 1863 the leased J&C and Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway came to an agreement where the J&C would use the PFW&C's terminal at Madison Street, later becoming a tenant of the Union Station, opened in 1881. In 1924, with the completion of a new Union Station between Adams and Jackson streets, C&A became a tenant and its successors used Union Station up to takeover by Amtrak..

References

Alton Railroad | Illinois railroads | Missouri railroads | Transportation in St. Louis | 1847 establishments | 1947 disestablishments

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Alton Railroad".

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