Customer Reviews

Illinois Central Railroad (MBI Railroad Color History)

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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.

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.