The Chicago and Mississippi Railroad built thru here in 1854. The railroad went thru 2 name changes in 1857 and 1862 when it became the Chicago and Alton Railroad. The GM&O bought the Alton in 1949, which became the ICG. The ICG sold the line to the Chicago Missouri and Western, which went bankrupt, and the SP bought the route in 1989. This route became the current owner after the merger in 1996. The State of Illinois is working hard to spend tons of money to make this a high-speed corridor between Chicago and Joliet with Amtrak. Needless to say, this line has gone thru a ton of history over the years, I might not even have it all! A neat old GM&O box car shows off one of the past owners at the museum at Williamsville as a 7 hour late Texas Eagle screams north.
A long distance train between Chicago and San Antonio that serves several large cities along the route, including St. Louis, Little Rock, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Austin. Three times a week it carries through cars to Los Angeles via a connection with the S
