Illinois Central Railroad (MBI Railroad Color History) [Hardcover]

Tom Murray (Author)

Book Description

Series: MBI Railroad Color History | Publication Date: December 15, 2006

One of America's greatest railroads, serving the Midwest and the South for more than 150 years before being acquired by Canadian National in 1999, the Illinois Central ran some of the nation's most famous passenger trains (most notably the City of New Orleans), as well as a freight service renowned for its quality. This comprehensive and beautifully illustrated history of the "Main Line of Mid-America"-the railroad that brought us engineer Luther "Casey" Jones-looks at Illinois Central's motive power and rolling stock, its good old reliable passenger service and crack freight operations, and its most interesting routes. Drawing on archival records and interviews with former employees, and illustrated with photographs from collections around the country, this volume brings to vibrant life a rich chapter of American railroad history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

O Scale Trains Magazine, March 2007

“One of the nicest aspects of this book is the spread of locomotive types covered. Often, coverage within a single chapter will range from brilliantly-colored diesels from the second half of the Twentieth Century, contrasted with black and white steam locomotive portraits taken by James Shaughnessy. The contrasting styles are held together by a good layout that provides the visual consistency--or glue--to create a pleasing story.”

Book Description

This comprehensive and beautifully illustrated history of the “Main Line of Mid-America”—the railroad that brought us engineer Luther “Casey” Jones and some of the nation’s most famous passenger trains, most notably the City of New Orleans—looks at Illinois Central’s motive power and rolling stock, its good old reliable passenger service and crack freight operations, its yards and terminals, and its most interesting routes. Drawing on archival records and interviews with former employees, and illustrated with photographs from collections around the country, this volume brings to vibrant life a rich chapter of American railroad history.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Voyageur Press; 1st edition (December 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760322546
• ISBN-13: 978-0760322543
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #885,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book on a classic American road, July 12, 2008

By 

M. Schierbecker "Billy Shears" (Snellville, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Illinois Central Railroad (MBI Railroad Color History) (Hardcover)

Being the grandson of a former superintendant of the Illinois Central Railroad, this book brought back some great memories and solidified some of the stories my grandfather had told me growing up about the IC. Great pitures too! If you are a rail fan, I strongly recommend this book! A tribute to a great road still running to this day via the Canadian National.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Railroad Through the Center of the Country, February 9, 2007

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Illinois Central Railroad (MBI Railroad Color History) (Hardcover)

The Illinois Central was another of America's premeir railroads that helped to develop the contry and which now is no more. From its start in 1838 (with 24 miles of track) it grew to over 6,500 miles. Alas, in 1999 it passed into the hands of the Canadial National.

This is a colorful history of the Illinois Central from its early day through its acquisition. It is profusely illustrated,with a lot of color pictures. The text that accompanies the pictures gives an accurate telling of the story of the line and its operation down through the years.

The IC grew by acquiring other lines as well as by expanding its own tract into new areas. It remained, however a north-wouth line with its solid anchors in Chicago and New Orleans. It grew west to meet with the Union Pacific in Omaha. It grew to the south east, eventually connecting to Birmingham and eventually Miami.

Only in the last couple of pages in the book is the Canadian National merger. It has become a major railroad, from the original IC trackage from Chicago to New Orleans and CN all across Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific. But alas, it's under the CN name, not the IC.