Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway
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| Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway | |
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| Reporting marks | EJE |
| Locale | Between Waukegan, Illinois, and Porter, Indiana |
| Dates of operation | 1889–present |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge) |
The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway (AAR reporting marks EJE) is a short-line railroad that operates in the suburbs surrounding Chicago. The railroad is a link between Class I railroads serving Chicago and local industries in northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana. Nicknames for the railroad include "The J" and "The Chicago Outer Belt Line".
On September 26, 2007, the Canadian National Railway announced it plans to purchase a majority of the EJ&E, leaving only a small stretch of track in Indiana which will be reorganized as the Gary Railway.
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[edit] History
The predecessor of the EJ&E, the Joliet, Aurora and Northern Railway was incorporated on April 30, 1884 for the purpose of constructing a new railroad from the Indiana state line west through Joliet and Aurora to the banks of the Mississippi River opposite Dubuque, Iowa. Actual operations began in 1886 between Joliet and Aurora.
By that time, another railway that would become known as the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway planned to construct a rail line from Valparaiso, Indiana, to Joliet, Illinois, then north to join the Milwaukee Road near Elgin, Illinois. The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern purchased the completed portions of the Joliet, Aurora and Northern Railway in October 1888 and began its own operation on January 1, 1889.
In January 1891, the EJ&E acquired two more important links: the Gardner, Coal City and Northern Railway which ran from Caster, Illinois, south of Coal City, Illinois, to Walker, Illinois, near Plainfield where it joined the EJ&E; and the Waukegan and Southwestern Railway which had been building from Waukegan, Illinois toward Elgin. This completed the trackage from Waukegan to McCool, Indiana, just east of Griffith, Indiana.
EJ&E moved to serve industries in the Hammond-East Chicago-Whiting industrial district by acquiring trackage rights in 1894. However, construction of the present line to Gary, Whiting and South Chicago was begun in 1899 by the Griffith and Northern Railway. Connections with the Chicago, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway and the Western Indiana Railway further penetrated the district. EJ&E subsequently acquired both lines. In 1901, United States Steel Corporation purchased the EJ&E.
In 1988, U.S. Steel and the Blackstone Group formed Transtar, Inc., a non-carrier holding company, which became the shareholder of Elgin, Joliet and Easter Railway Co., as well as several other affiliated companies including the Birmingham Southern Railway Company, Delray Connecting Railroad Company, Union Railroad Company, Fairfield Southern Company, Warrior and Gulf Navigation Company, The Lake Terminal Railroad Company, Mobile River Terminal, and the McKeesport Connecting Railroad Company. The operations of Transtar subsidiaries include railroad freight transportation, dock operations, and inland river barging. The subsidiary companies, several of which are more than a century old, have been formed over the years to meet the transportation needs of various steel production facilities that were predecessors of U.S. Steel. In March 2001, the Blackstone Group ended ownership interest in Transtar, which then became a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Steel.
On May 16, 2006, the EJ&E was the recipient of the 2005 Bronze E. H. Harriman Award for employee safety in group C (line-haul railroads with less than 4 million employee hours per year).[1]
On September 10, 2007, Crain's Chicago Business reported that Canadian National Railway was in talks to purchase the EJ&E.[2] The purchase agreement was officially announced on September 26; CN will purchase a majority of the EJ&E. The purchase is expected to close in mid-2008, pending United States Surface Transportation Board approval, and is valued at $300 million. U.S. Steel's Transtar subsidiary, the EJ&E's current owner, will retain some railroad infrastructure in Indiana and reorganize it as the Gary Railroad to continue serving U.S. Steel's plants there.[3][4]
[edit] Motive Power
[edit] History
In the past, the EJ&E was a frequent customer of the Baldwin Locomotive Works in its steam and diesel days. The Baldwin DT-6-6-2000 diesel-electric locomotive was originally designed for the railway. Along with the center cab fleet, Baldwin VO660s and VO1000s made up most of the railroads fleet. The railroad also purchased many EMD SW1200s in the 1960s through the 1980s, which currently are the most common engines on the line. However, by the 1980s, the Baldwin fleet had been phased out, and replaced with EMD power. The EMD SD38-2 is the second most common locomotive on the line, and is used for regular freight service, with a usual consist containing two SD38s pulling the train back to back. Other power on the line includes 3 EMD SW1001s, and EMD NW2 which works with a calf unit in Joliet, Illinois, a EMD SW1500, and an EMD GP38-2, EJ&E 703, which is the main form of power on the Waukegan Local, a train service which runs from Waukegan, Illinois to Mundelein, Illinois.
[edit] EJ&E Photos
 An EJ&E GP38 |
 2 EJ&E SD38s |
 An EJ&E SW1200 |
[edit] Communities
The EJ&E connects the following cities and large towns:
- Waukegan, Illinois
- Lake Zurich, Illinois
- Barrington, Illinois
- Elgin, Illinois
- Joliet, Illinois
- New Lenox, Illinois
- Mokena, Illinois
- Frankfort, Illinois
- Park Forest, Illinois
- Gary, Indiana
[edit] References
- ^ Association of American Railroads (reprinted by Norfolk Southern Railroad) (2006-05-16). Railroads Set Another Employee Safety Record in 2005. Retrieved on 2006-05-24.
- ^ Tita, Bob. "Rail deal offers city a remedy", Crain's Chicago Business, 2007-09-10. Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
- ^ "CN Railway to buy EJ&E line for $300 million", Reuters, 2007-09-26. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
- ^ Canadian National Railway (2007-09-26). "CN to acquire key operations of Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway for US$300 million". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
[edit] External links
- Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway
- RAILChicago - Chicago RAILExperts
- Shortlines of Chicago Historical Society: EJ&E history
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