I thought that I would share a bit of research that I did in working on an entirely different project. I kept coming across two railroad names, the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad and the Chicago & Alton Railroad, and wondered if they were related in some way to one another. The two names come up at times as if they were one and the same railroad. Here is what I found, and it interests me how often the corporate structure changed over the years.
The Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad (GM&N) was created as the reorganization of the New Orleans, Mobile and Chicago Railroad in 1917.
In 1940, the GM&N was merged with the Mobile and Ohio Railroad to form the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad (GM&O)
The GM&O later bought and merged the Chicago & Alton Railroad (C&A) in 1947.
In 1972 the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad merged into the Illinois Central Railroad, forming the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad.
In 1988, the railroad dropped the “Gulf” from its name, reverting its name to the Illinois Central Railroad.
In 1998 the Illinois Central was purchased by the Canadian National Railway (CN).
Quite true. You would need some sort of a ‘Wall Street’ directors playbook to keep them aoo sorted out. Don’t forget the role the B&O played in both railroads.
I rode the GM&O’s Abraham Lincoln from Saint Louis to Chicago back in the early 1970s. Quite a fun ride. I noticed all the signals were B&O color position signals and mentioned the fact to a friend with me and all he said was "those were put in during the B&O’s control. I didn’t ask any further.
Here is some more detailed information, more than I could copy & paste here.
For a while even the Chicago and Alton line had more of a B&O corporate image but then seemed to disappear around the time of the GM&O merger.
I remember being in Lemont, Illinois when the GM&O’s Abraham Lincoln blasted through town. I swear they were doing 90 when they blew through! I was impressed
You might be surprised to find it is owned by CN today /s
The Chicago & Alton had trains such as the “Abraham Lincoln” and “Nancy Hanks” while the southern based GM&O advertisers iotyself as the “Rebel Route”–not exactly likely marriage partners. I remember taking the Texas Eagle on the C&A in early Amtrak days and they still had the B&O’s unique signals.
C&A’s trains ran to Union Station in Chicago from the time the station was built in 1881, though C&A was a tenant.
C&A/GM&O’s freight houses were in the Union Station footprint, just north of PRR’s huge Polk Street fright station.
Prior to B&O control, C&A maintained a small coach yard in an area that was later obliterated by the straightening of the Chicago River. Since there was no obvious path from the C&A main line to B&O’s Grand Central Station, C&A remained a tenant at Union Station even under B&O control, though C&A’s trains were serviced at B&OCT’s Lincoln Avenue Coach Yard, where UP’s Global 1 intermodal yard is now. The one-time track connection from the C&A to the B&OCT in the southeast quadrant of Brighton Park Crossing that was used to make the move to Lincoln St. no longer exists
After the GM&O merger (and end of B&O control) GM&O used a small area near Union Station as an engine terminal. If more service was needed, the small yard at Brighton Park west of 3700 S. California was used. Amtrak still maintains a small shop there for running repairs and MOW equipment (the shop was built for the ANF Turboliners).
Thanks, rcdrye. GM&O has always remained as somewhat of a mystery in my mind. The C&A, on the other hand, seemed less a mystery. That mystery over GM&O may have a lot to do with B&O control for a time.
With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight - I feature that the B&O didn’t utilize the C&A properly during its ownership as it provided a route to Kansas City that I don’t think was used as it should with the B&O’s emphasis on the St. Louis-Chicago line.
The C&A/GM&O also had a partnership with CB&Q for trains between St. Louis and Kansas City, including the Ozark State Zephyr, the Mark Twain Zephyr, and the General Pershing Zephyr. The nose emblem on at least the 9902 and 9903 Zephyr sets said “Alton Burlington”.
I would state that a bit differently. The more you research, the more you realize how little you know. Obviously, the more you research, the more you know. It’s just that there is so much more to learn.
The Q had a controlling interest in the GM&O during the post war years, when they tried to buy the KC line in a deal that would have put the ATSF into St Louis.
B&O control began in 1923 when the C&A reorganized out of bankruptcy as the Alton Railroad. They relinquished control when the Alton went bankrupt in rhe early 1940s.
Over the years after reading about the C&A/Alton, admittedly what little is in general railroad history, they seemed to be the Erie of the west.
thank for the info always great and interesting love the history lesson .
