Illinois Books

"History of the Illinois Central Railroad," by John F. Stover, Railroads of America series, Macmillan, New York, 1975. This 575 page tome covers the history of the Illinois Central Railroad from its founding to the merger with Gulf Mobile and Ohio to form the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad. The book is part of the Macmillan Railroads of America series. Its coverage is extensive and detailed.

The story of the Illinois Central is typical of Midwestern railroads of the age. Illinois had extensive raw prairie lands to be sold and developed. The land was ideally suited to agriculture, but transportation was limited. Railroads were the solution. The state legislature had already blessed the Illinois and Michigan Canal in 1832, which Congress had given a land grant in 1827. In 1836, a charter was granted to the Central Railroad Co. for a line from the mouth of the Ohio River at Cairo to Galena in the far northwest corner of the state.

In 1837, the legislature funded construction with $10MM of state securities. Most of the funds went to the Central Railroad, but other supplementary rail lines were included. One was the Northern Cross Railroad from Quincy via Decatur to Danville. Another was a line from Alton via Hillsboro and Shelbyville to near Terre Haute, IN. There was also a Southern Cross line from Alton via Salem to Mt. Carmel, and a Peoria to Bloomington line. Construction on the Northern Cross, the first railroad in Illinois (and the only one of these to get built this early), began at Meredosia in 1838 and was completed to Springfield in 1842. However this line failed to prosper. It was the subject of jokes in a time of Abraham Lincoln.

A major development was the decision of Congress to provide land-grant lands for construction of the Illinois Central, the first such grant to a railroad. This grant was arranged by Senator Stephen A. Douglas, in 1848. The act provided for six square-mile sections of public land for each mile of railroad constructed. It also provided for a branch line from Centralia to Chicago. The grant extended south through Alabama and Mississippi to Mobile for what became the Mobile & Ohio Railroad.

Once again funding the railroad proved to be a challenge. Initial attempts to sell bonds were unsuccessful, but fortunately, New York Central interests through their connections were able to market the bonds, primarily in Europe, especially in England and in Holland. Construction of the original line began on December 23, 1851 and was completed on September 27, 1856. The resulting 705-mile system was the longest in the US at the time. Other railroads were also building in Illinois. They included the Chicago, Alton, & St. Louis, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and the Chicago & Rock Island. They were built from Chicago to the Mississippi. There was also the Galena and Chicago Union, later, the Chicago & Northwestern, and to the south, the Great Western (Northern Cross/Wabash/Norfolk Southern), the Terre Haute & Alton (contested by Pennsylvania and NY Central), and the Ohio & Mississippi (B&O).

A temporary depot was built, just outside of Chicago at Hyde Park. The first passenger train ran on May 22, 1852, to the Indiana State line. The Michigan Central had completed its line from Detroit to New Buffalo on Lake Michigan. It made arrangements to build around the southern end of Lake Michigan and to use the Illinois Central tracks into the city of Chicago connecting Chicago with the East by rail in 1852. The telegraph had come to Chicago, Springfield, and St. Louis by 1848. But the railroad soon created the Illinois Central Telegraph Co. and installed telegraph lines on its routes by 1855.

The railroad set about making improvements and prospered. It reached Dunleith across the Mississippi River from Dubuque on June 11, 1855. Iowa too wanted railroads. A half-dozen mostly east-west railroads were proposed as early as 1853. Congress granted land grants for Missouri and Arkansas in 1853 and finally for Iowa, in 1856. Four east-west railroads were authorized from Dubuque, Lyon City, Davenport, and Burlington. The Dubuque & Pacific Railroad was chartered April 28, 1853 and began construction in 1855. Eventually the line was completed to Sioux City and the IC leased it in 1867. In 1862 Congress authorized construction of the Transcontinental Railroad from Omaha. There was to be a branch line connecting at Sioux City, but that was later canceled. The IC constructed a bridge over the Mississippi River at Dubuque, in 1869.

Initially, the IC extended only to Cairo, Illinois. South of Cairo, the IC cooperated with the Mobile and Ohio Railroad for connections. Southern railroads were devastated during the Civil War. After the war, the IC made an effort to strengthen those lines, and eventually reached New Orleans. The southern connection originally had been constructed at 5 ft. gauge compared to the 4 ft 8-1/2-in. standard gauge used on the Illinois Central. Under IC ownership the lines were converted to standard gauge in 1881. There was also increased use of steel rails, more powerful locomotives, the improved Janney coupler, and Westinghouse air brakes. Standard Time was adopted in 1883.

The IC also developed new products and new markets. Bananas which had been enjoyed in New Orleans were first brought to Chicago in 1880 by the IC. Fresh strawberries raised in southern Illinois were brought to Chicago beginning in 1867, eventually in special refrigerated express trains. Later strawberries from Louisiana, extended the season. George Pullman constructed his Pullman plant by the IC tracks south of Chicago in 1880. The IC began suburban service in Chicago in 1856. The Chicago fire of 1871 damaged railroad property, but it was promptly rebuilt. In 1902, the IC began construction of 750 miles of telephone lines in Illinois, Tennessee and Mississippi.

In 1893 automatic block signals were installed on the tracks south of Chicago. In the 1920s, the commuter service south of Chicago was electrified. In 1913, the IC used an equipment trust for the first time to lease/purchase railroad equipment. Double tracking was installed south of Centralia to Cairo, and later to Fulton, KY. The railroad undertook educational programs along its route to encourage better agriculture. In 1906, a six-car special train called "The Corn and Seed Special" operated on the southern lines. In 1927, the "Soybean Special" followed.

Several famous persons were associated with the IC. One was Casey Jones, whose cannon ball incident happened on April 29, 1900, on the southbound out of Memphis headed for New Orleans. The five Sullivan brothers of Waterloo, IA, enlisted as a group and were killed in action in World War II. Their father, T. A. Sullivan, was a conductor on the IC. George B. McClellan served as vice president of the Illinois Central beginning in 1858. In 1855, James F. Joy was a company attorney.


On October 1, 1895, the IC completed a 99 year lease for a portion of the St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute. The agreement gave the IC direct entry into St. Louis via DuQuoin, and connection to Paducah. The rest of the Alton line became part of the Big Four. In 1899, the IC obtained the Springfield to East St. Louis portion of the old Wing Milling Co.'s Wings Road. This route provided direct connection to St. Louis from the north.

During World War I, the government took over operation of the nation's railroads. A major problem was a shortage of railcars. Unloading of cars in the East was delayed, and hence the cars were used for storage. The IC managed to avoid bankruptcy during the Great Depression, but they were forced to suspend their dividend reluctantly. During World War II, a shortage of crude oil developed when German submarines torpedoed tanker ships enroute to East Coast refineries. Some 20,000 idle tank cars were pressed into service in early precursors of unit trains carrying trainloads of oil. From a prewar level of 580K tons (1939), IC shipments of crude oil jumped to almost 9MM tons in 1942.

In 1952 automatic block signals were installed on the 165 mile Edgewood cut off north of Fulton, KY at a cost of over $1 million. Centralized traffic control became available in the 1920s, but in 1930, only 554 miles had been installed on US railroads. Costs were prohibitive. IC's first installation in the 30s was 1.6 miles at the Cairo Bridge. At the end of World War II, IC had 32 miles of CTC. In the 1950s, 21 miles was installed between Ottawa and Gilman IL; in 1960, 37 miles outside of New Orleans along Lake Pontchartrain; and then 126 miles from Bluford IL to Fulton KY; by the end of 1964, 390 miles of CTC was installed. Single track with CTC could often replace double track. Hence pulling up double track justified the installation of CTC. In the 60s radio telephones were installed on many diesel engines and some cabooses. Automatic hotbox detectors were installed in 1960, greatly reducing the incidence of hot boxes.

The first computer, an IBM 650 with magnetic drum memory, arrived in 1955 in the accounting department. In 1957, the stores department was converted to a punched card inventory system using an IBM 705 with 7000 vacuum tubes.

In 1962, IC reorganized as a holding company, under the name Illinois Central Industries, or ICI. The new company undertook development of its real estate holdings-especially the air rights over rail yards in downtown Chicago. Projects included the construction of the Prudential building, and various similar ventures. The company also made non-railroad investments, including Waukesha Foundry Co., Signal-Stat Corp., Pepsi Cola Bottlers of Chicago, Dad's Root Beer Co., Perfect Plus Hosiery, and Midas International.

Piggyback freight service became important. Service was initiated between Chicago and Memphis in 1968. The first unit train was a grain train that began in 1967 under the name Rent-A-Train. In 1970, 36-car unit trains of sewage sludge ran from the Chicago Sanitary District to Arcola, IL for use as fertilizer.

In Chicago's worst rapid transit accident, on October 30, 1972, a commuter train of four bilevel Highliner cars overshot the 27th St Station and then backed into the station. It was rear-ended by another train, resulting in 45 dead and more than 350 injured. This was the worst US rail accident since 1958 when a Jersey Central commuter train ran through an open drawbridge.

In 1966, the railroad began installation of microwave communications links between New Orleans and Jackson, MS. The network was later extended to Chicago. It provided 420 voice channels and allowed data transmission at speeds up to 3000 words a minute. In 1970, the railroad began installing computer readable automatic car identification labels on its 50,000 freight cars. This is part of the Tele-Rail automated information network, which allows trackside data collection recording the location of freight cars.

Discussions of the merger of the IC with the Gulf Mobile & Ohio had been ongoing since 1962. The GM&O had been formed only in 1940 by the merger of the Mobile & Ohio with the Gulf Mobile & Northern. In 1947, it had absorbed the Alton Railroad. The Alton had been formed in 1850, but had had a financially shaky history, and had been reorganized in 1931 and in 1942. In 1946 it had 958 miles of track from Chicago to St. Louis and extending to Kansas City (from Springfield, IL). The merger was completed in August of 1972.

The book ends with an appendix listing: Presidents of the Illinois Central, total mileage of the system from 1850 to 1972, income by decades, major products carried, freight and passenger traffic data, equipment data, number of employees, and operating ratios and dividends. Extensive references, bibliography and index. The ICG had a main network stretching from Chicago southward to New Orleans and Mobile including St. Louis and Memphis with branches extending to Sioux Falls, Sioux City, Omaha, Kansas City, Shreveport, Montgomery, Birmingham, Nashville, Louisville, Indianapolis, and Madison, WI.

This is one of the finest summaries of Illinois railroads available. It contains extensive information not only on the Illinois Central, but on the other Illinois railroads too. Readers will find it a valuable source of information.

This is part of a seminal history of the Navy in World War II. Anyone who is a historian should take some time and read this series. Sometimes dry, sometimes very well written, it gives the grand panorama to a naval war that rewrote the book on how the Navy would operate. A book that has been rewritten since.

It is an honor to be the first to review this book by Admiral Morison for Amazon.com. This is the first book I've ever read by this renowned historian, and it is outstanding in both detail and clarity. Admiral Morison (as he is referred to in Stephen Ambrose's history of D-Day) tells this story clearly and with dramatic narration, as much as any history which strives to be complete can be. I intend to read his RISING SUN IN THE PACIFIC next, and I may try to read the entire series on U.S. naval operations in WWII, given time. This book is essential to an understanding of D-Day and, along with Mr. Ambrose's books, gives any reader a great deal of insight into the most dramatic day of the 20th century, and maybe in the modern history of the world.

After finding out that my father served at Guadalcanal (sadly after he passed away), I became very curious about what it was like. This book summed up everything I wanted to know about Guadalcanal and the surrounding battles. The writing style is crisp and accurate and you get a feeling of being there. One minor caveat, this was written shortly after the war, so some of the words are not PC for today's world. Ignore it though, it shouldn't offend anyone but the most sensitive.

If you like WW II history and want to know more about this epic battle (actually battles - land and sea) this is the best book to get all you need to know.

When I was a pre-teen, in the 50s, a friend of mine's father had served in the submarine service in the Pacific & had the complete set. He let me read them and that started me on a life-long fascination with history. They are finally back in print and, after over 45 years, I now own the complete set myself. They are just as good now as they were then and I cannot recommend them too highly. I plan on leaving my set in my will to my grandson.

Excellent Book. A must have for genealogist researching Wayne or Clay counties in Illinois. Goes back to 1st family who founded both counties, where they came from, and much much more.

Important insights into the manner in which we Christians have distanced ourselves from our kind--the other animals of the world. Raises questions that open thinking and acquaint us with recent cutting edge scholarship. Difficult first chapter on methodology but interesting content.

Not following in the footsteps of ones father is not an entirely new concept, says "Holy Fathers, Secular Sons: Clergy, Intelligentsia, and the Modern Self in Revolutionary Russia". Around 1860, the sons of clergymen were allowed to leave the strict caste of the clergy to pursue their own interests if they so pleased. What followed was an interesting endeavor where the sons began to push social reform throughout the country, and interestingly enough, did so by retaining the values of the Russian Orthodox Church. "Holy Fathers, Secular Sons: Clergy, Intelligentsia, and the Modern Self in Russia" is a must have for community library collections on history for tackling an event that's so under covered by most libraries.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This line-by-line commentary by a classical scholar is written for non-specialists. It is keyed to the popular translation by R. Lattimore, used in many college courses. Jones points to special features of the poem (such as "ring composition"), explains place names and other obscure phrases, and suggests interpretations of various scenes. There is a wealth of information here. Rather than summarizing the poem (like Monarch notes and other shortcuts around the reading process), this commentary is designed to make your reading deeper and more historical.

In An Honest Calling attorney Mark E. Steiner makes good use of his professional training and years spent in helping to compile Lincoln's legal papers.

Study of Lincoln's law career has long been hampered by the scattered nature of Lincoln's court documents throughout Illinois and the Midwest. Now they are gathered together, and Steiner has made a fine presentation of what they reveal about Lincoln's "day job," which may have consumed as much of his time as politics did. Steiner deals with Lincoln's law practice in general and with some individual cases revealing Lincoln's handling of particular issues (including slavery and railroad corporations). Civil and criminal practices are covered.

This is an excellent introduction to Lincoln's law practice, and will also interest persons seeking information about the influence of attorneys on the Western frontier.